The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Judge a person by his actions, not by his character, as no one in the world has a perfect character. Even though such a saying was too absolute, it did make a certain sense. There would always be a dark side present in each man’s character, which existed due to both our innate selfishness and external influences by the society. Most of us did not pay much attention to such negative thoughts, and would soon forget about them. However, when these dark intentions were exposed to others, one would feel incredibly ashamed as if one were walking naked on a bustling street, or perhaps, even be more shamed than that!

Meng Qi stared at the reflection of his face in the gentle stream, which changed between malice and kindness from time to time. He looked at his evil self, listening to the darkest thoughts in his mind, and felt immensely shameful and angry, and naturally resisted and denied those intentions.

But after hearing the words “righteousness is gone and benevolence no longer exists”, Meng Qi laughed and spoke softly.

“Yes, I’m not entirely good.”

The normal expression of himself in the river became twisted and confused, as it didn’t expect itself to admit so fast and so easily.

He relaxed and no longer resisted. Staring at the steam, he slowly continued.

“I’m not a good man.”

“I love to show off my skills in front of others. I’m easily arrogant and proud.”

“I’m petty and would definitely seek revenge. I’d definitely fight back if others bully me, and will not allow myself to suffer.”

“I’m greedy and often rely on luck. I will jump right into danger as I know there are powerful masters that can back me up.”

The face in the stream distorted once more, and a cruel smile crept up. “As long as you know.”

The smile faded and Meng Qi remained calm as he continued once more.

“I still often have all kinds of desires.”

“As for Gu Xiaosang, she has many tricks up her sleeves, and one could never understand her. As her rival, it is right for me to attack and defeat her, but to trample over her and humiliate her would be my inner dark desires. It would be because of her immense beauty and her mysterious and mischievous character, which attracted me intensely. I’d definitely not be interested in her if she was ugly or uncultured.”

“As for Zhiwei, I understand that my lust and desire for her is normal. But after she chose to follow the Sword Principles, any hatred or resentment of her would be due to my selfishness, and have nothing to do with her.”

“As for Yushu, Brother Qi and Zhao Heng, my selfishness allowed me to feel that they are slow and unable to keep up with my progress, becoming my burden. That, too, had nothing to do with themselves.”

…

He analyzed his inner dark desires, revealing the root of his thoughts, facing himself directly. He grew calmer as he spoke.

The twisted face seemed less sinister, but its eyes remained pitch black. It said in a deep voice, “What do you want to say?”

Meng Qi straightened up, placed his hands behind his back, and strolled towards the stream.

“Everyone has sinned.”

“Yes, so all those who entered the door and saw their own evil nature could not face themselves, regardless of how righteous and benevolent he could be, ” the evil Meng Qi said.

Shame and anger had already left Meng Qi.

“I have many shortcomings, I have all sorts of dark desires, but I’m not their slave!”

“It is easy to conquer others, but difficult to conquer yourself. It is a long and repetitive process, and not one of sudden inspiration. I’ll need to keep alert and reflect always!”

“As for my dark desires, I have nothing to worry about as long as I can control them and allow them to pass away without affecting my actions. Zhiwei chose her path and I am happy for her. My resentment is only a slight ornament that I know is not right and will pass away with time.”

“Brother Qi, Yushu, and Zhao Heng cannot improve so speedily, and this I should help them with, just like how they had helped me. I had been a burden before too. Yes, I’m selfish, but I have emotions too, and I can distinguish right from wrong!”

“Gu Xiaosang has immense beauty and infinite charm, but I know the preciousness of life and her murderous tricks under her beautiful looks. I know I meant nothing to her, and don’t desire to be specially treated by her, thus, I can see her beauty as nothing, and strike when I need to!”

The face of evil Meng Qi sank, and he no longer spoke.

Meng Qi crossed the stream and did not turn back.

“The door at the back mountain of Shaolin wrote ‘those with righteousness and benevolence, do not enter’, training Muscle-bone Strengthening Scripture incorrectly will cause our dark nature to strengthen. I had always suspected such sayings”

“Before I came in, I asked myself how I would be if I practiced the Muscle-bone Strengthening Scripture incorrectly.”

“What will happen?” the evil Meng Qi asked subconsciously.

“I once told Duan Rui that everyone is evil. Benevolence and malice coexist, like the separation of Yin and Yang, transforming into one another, like shadows underneath the sun.”

“Resisting it, rejecting it, and trying to eliminate it are all poor solutions. Good and evil are as one like how shadows are formed by our body and could never be eliminated. Even if one succeeds today, it will appear again once sunlight reappears, and would affect our mind and soul even more. The more we think of it as evil, the more it reaches our nature.”

Meng Qi spoke with a gentle and calm voice as he brushed the branches in front of him aside, “As long as you can be unaffected by dark thoughts, and be able to control them, you will be ‘good’!”

He suddenly looked solemn, seemingly like a fairy chanting.

“At the beginning of the world, there is neither Yin nor Yang.”

“At the beginning of life, there is neither good nor evil!”

As he chanted, all his Aperture acupoints opened, completing his Immortal Primogenitor Form, making all dark and faint, combining Yin and Yang.

The evil Meng Qi shrieked with resentment. His twisted face went back to normal and his pupils regained their dark shade, making his eyes clear. Benevolence and malice had combined and his mind was back in his control!

Without turning back, Meng Qi opened his strikes and walked towards the mountain peak at the core of the dilapidated ancient temple.

If not for the fact that he cultivated Immortal Primogenitor Form and had been in contact with Duan Rui, resulting in him already thinking about the matter, it would not be easy to control that evil spirit.

A little carelessness and darkness would expand within him, forming a real evil spirit. He would then join Gu Xiaosang, Brother Gao, and Duan Rui as a psychopath with a split personality.

…

Tortoise script floated above, shining at the four below. But except for Duan Rui, the rest all had strange expressions.

Wang Siyuan no longer seemed elegant and weak. He curled his lips and spoke elegantly while staring at the white-haired elder in front, “Choosing not to practice Derivation Sutra despite his great talent makes him not deserving of being a member of the Wang family.”

The white-haired elder snorted and said, “Such arrogance, such sick minded, such craziness. They disgust me.”

The middle-aged man who somewhat resembled Wang Siyuan stared at Wang Siyuan. “In your heart, you probably looked down on me, your uncle, the short-lived guy who cultivated Derivation Sutra!”

With a slight smile, Wang Siyuan looked slightly crazy. “The world is my chess board, all living are my pieces. I am fighting with ancient powers and future fairies and Buddhas. These are ambitions that yall can never understand!”

“All things change, how can I predict all of them?” He looked up at the blood red sky filled with black gas with his deep eyes, full of curiosity.

Duan Rui was dumbfounded at the side as he could not understand why the three man of the Wang family would suddenly quarrel, revealing each other’s faults and making a fool of themselves.

All of a sudden, Wang Siyuan’s insane look calmed. He said with a smirk, “Don’t worry, let’s just get used to them. Everyone has dark desires and negative thoughts.”

While speaking, his face became slightly distorted and then he started quarreling with the other two again.

Duan Rui Immediately realized that something was amiss. Looking at the rundown Buddhist temple, the rotting seven treasures and the withered bodhi, he shouted, “There is something amiss!”

“This demonized pure land can enlarge all darkness in one’s heart. If one resist, reject or try to eliminate them, hey will grow in power and can then fight oneself. If you allow it to grow and just slightly control it, you will be fine once you leave this place.” Wang Siyuan explained to Duan Rui when he returned to normal, saying as he smiled, “This is why I only allow the two elders with the worst relationships with me to follow me. Anyways, their relationship won’t worsen.”

“If not for our master, who would even care about you!” the white-haired elder without pupils shouted with rage.

Duan Rui suddenly froze. “Isn’t this myself?”

He looked at the stream beside him and saw his dark eyes and twisted face.

The Wang Siyuan beside him seem crazy and ridiculous at times, and yet calm and composed at others.

He whispered, “Our heart knows no good nor evil, good and evil are created by our mind. To know good and evil is to have a conscience and to be good and eliminate evil is to be moral.”

…

After controlling his inner demons, Meng Qi successfully reached the foot of the mountain. He did not meet any other Skyscraping Devil or zombie along the way.

The mountains in front of him staggered obviously into seven levels, decreasing in size as one ascends. Ancient rocks and wethered trees spread throughout the hills. Meng Qi took in a deep breath and was ready to return midway. He then stepped onto the mountain path.

His vision changed, and the surroundings became chaotic and unnatural. An especially unusual and terrible breath that seemed to be able to suppress the Celestials appeared, making Meng Qi shiver in fear.

A man sat cross-legged beside the path. His face was blurry but bitter emotions seemed to appear on his face, sighing with emotion.

“So that’s why.”

Meng Qi was so nervous that he almost blurted out the word “Ananda”.

Fortunately, he settled down in time and realized that it was only an illusion with the breath like that of the Human Emperor’s Ancient Path.

Looking further into the distance, he saw a bronze giant standing up to the heavens. Thunder tattoos and lightning surrounded him, creating a world of its own.

“Thunder God.” Meng Qi walked forward carefully, unsure why he would see all these illusions.

Even further away stood Devil-rinsing Primogenitor Zhen Wu with his Taoist robe and a mysterious Buddha with a golden lotus blooming under it.

There seemed to be a Taoist hidden in the deepest place, but there was neither direction nor Yin and Yang there, making it hard to find out any information.

Next to this Taoist, there seemed to be a Golden Buddha with one finger pointing to the sky and another pointing to the ground.

Are they all ancient powers associated with me? Meng Qi suddenly understood.

This is what he was most worried about, and is the obsession that disturbed his calm mind. Ancient powers are mysterious, powerful, and unknown in purpose. How could one not guard against them?

It is because of this that Meng Qi cultivated Fruits of Karma. Other than supporting his secret techniques, it is one of the few karma techniques that Exteriors can be exposed to!

Exterior chapters of Eight Nine Mysteries and Heavenly Golden Scripture all only had descriptions on karma, and not any techniques that he can directly cultivate.

Meng Qi suspected that all connections to him would become significant when he becomes Dharmakaya, and regardless of what the ancient powers do, it would all eventually end in karma. Only when he understands and practices techniques related to karma, could he truly be able to deal with such threats!

Perhaps he was frightening himself, and the ancient powers were long dead. But Meng Qi still didn’t dare to be careless; he needed to be prepared for anything.

Meng Qi walked forward carefully and realized that the ancient powers didn’t move at all. As he climbed over the layer, he saw a string of broken prayer beads.

Is this a treasure used to activate the array?

It had be broken… No wonder only illusions remain and not any movements.

Wang Siyuan and others stared at the white mists and the human figures on the mountaintop as they reached the mountain. He smiled and reminded Duan Rui, saying, “This is a spiritual barrier created by Peace Quietude Split of the Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmanship. Looks like the treasure activating the barrier is still intact. You have to be careful not to be affected by it.”