The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Meng Qi had expected the face-to-face meeting to be a private affair, but the moment he realized that Madam Baihua had chosen to meet him with so many Heterodox Demons present, including Soul-chasing Demon Monarch, he had prepared himself. He stayed on guard against any provocation and probing. His speech, charm, and overbearing manner earlier were to create an impression of a formidable, confident, and undecipherable devil so as to affect his opponents’ spirits. He wanted them to be cautious and conservative in dealing with him in order to improve the odds of his success.

Therefore, after sighing he remained seated upright and maintained an unperturbed demeanor. His temperament was as refined and introverted as ever. He smiled faintly at Soul-chasing Demon Monarch as if a master of the latter’s level was beneath him.

Feeling rather surprised, Soul-chasing Demon Monarch closed his half-open eyelids. “Is Merciless Tyrant really that strong to warrant such confidence?”

Subconsciously, his estimation of Meng Qi increased. Even Linghu Tao, Duanmu Bei, and the others felt the same. Meng Qi’s calmness in the face of chaos and adversity was rooted in his confidence, and his confidence was rooted in his strength!

“Just how strong has he become?”

Soul-chasing Demon Monarch was not one to be trifled with, having been immersed in the heterodox path for many years. How could he allow himself to be intimidated? He was dressed in the manner of a refined talent. With his eyes still closed, he took a breath. “Madam, your daughter is as lovely as a fairy; her beauty takes my breath away. This lowly one wishes to take her as my concubine.”

Thanks to the presence of ‘Six-apex Devil’ Linghu Tao, Soul-chasing Demon Monarch was confident. However strong Merciless Tyrant was, how could he win against someone who had made the Black List several times? Even if he were to suffer a defeat in Merciless Tyrant’s hands, he felt no fear for his life!

Nothing held him back, not when he had both power and an avenue for escape.

Madam Baihua chuckled, having been placating her ‘daughter’ all this while. “How fickle, Mr. Soul-chasing. In the past, you told me I’m far lovelier than immature young ladies. Now that you’ve seen my daughter, you’ve forgotten an old woman like me.”

She teased him without restraint, prompting the Heterodox Demons to burst into laughter. It eased the strained atmosphere.

Soul-chasing Demon Monarch laughed heartily. “Well, a man can’t always have what he wants. But if I do want both, what would you say?”

His partially open eyes revealed a bizarre radiance like that of disorderly souls. He glanced at Meng Qi rather provocatively.

Meng Qi’s eyes were placid as he smiled. “Soul-chasing, why don’t we spar a little?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he stretched his hands and gave his right palm a little shake while building a vacuum in his left palm. He did not threaten Soul-chasing Demon Monarch verbally nor make a sincere request. Instead, he took the most direct approach and made a move.

Meng Qi knew his own strength. It was only during that brief moment when he exploded with the powers of Law Phenomenon and two-headed, four-armed giant that he would have the ability to contend against a Peerless Master Pro in the Four-fold Heaven realm. If he could find a chance to use his Dharmakaya movement, there might be hope for him to prevail and kill his opponent. However, under ordinary circumstances, the first step of the Celestial Ladder remained a gulf that was nearly impossible for him to overcome.

To make things worse, he was unable to unleash his true strength while disguised as Merciless Tyrant. In an ordinary battle, he had no chance to win against Soul-chasing Demon Monarch, a genuine Peerless Master Pro who had crossed the first step of the Celestial Ladder.

More importantly, he had to keep from getting exposed in front of heterodox masters like Linghu Tao. He must not let his impression of profound mysteriousness turn into a joke and elicit a scornful, perfunctory answer from Madam Baihua. Otherwise, all hopes of a follow-up would end.

Under these circumstances, where his realm and strength were no match for his opponent, Meng Qi had to take advantage of external circumstances like time, place, and occasion of battle!

Provoking a fight in a prayer hall in the Ci’an Temple where Linghu Tao had sought refuge would cause Soul-chasing Demon Monarch to have misgivings. The latter would not use his Devil Arts for fear of damaging the place.

This way, the power of the Dharma Form would be greatly counteracted. Meng Qi knew he must not give his opponent the chance to leave this place during their spar.

Merciless Tyrant’s instantaneous action astonished even the Heterodox Demons who were used to killing without blinking an eye. “He’s indeed cut out to be a Devil Lord! He speaks not a word of nonsense!”

They watched as a cold ripple extended toward Soul-chasing Demon Monarch from a distance as Meng Qi gently shook his palm. His left palm was scorched black as if condensing a vortex. Its force of absorption seemed to suck Soul-chasing Demon Monarch’s body in until it seemed that he was about to get thrown in.

The forces of absorbing and shaking were so in sync that their powers amplified each other to reach their peak.

Soul-chasing Demon Monarch was not angered. On the contrary, he was pleased. Though Merciless Tyrant’s attack was very powerful, it showed that he had not crossed the first step of the Celestial Ladder.

Even so, he was wary that Merciless Tyrant was feigning weakness in order to trick him. He dared not underestimate his opponent so he opened all of his Aperture acupoints. A cyan-colored statue of Evil Lord appeared behind him, its feet on a legendary rain-summoning dragon. Colorful serpents hung from its ears. The statue had a featureless face save for a pair of mostly black pupils. His eyes emitted circular bizarre lights that sucked in one’s Vital Spirit.

Soul-chasing Demon Monarch clenched his fist and threw a punch, as did the statue behind him. Illusion merged with reality as Dharma and Logos interwove with each other.

The seemingly simple punch produced a cyan light that instantly tore the ripple apart and shattered the force of attraction. Then, it aimed straight for Meng Qi’s stomach.

Meng Qi pushed his palms forward, causing the ruptured cold ripple to abruptly protrude forward and turn burning hot. It was as if a miniature sun had materialized in the space between him and his opponent. The blinding radiance was accompanied by searing heat. The terrifying force obstructed that simple, unadorned punch!

He had turned Yin into Yang!

The pitch-black vortex in his left hand turned even colder, in stark contrast with the miniature sun. Neither side came close to each other. Yin and Yang filled the void in equal parts. It was as if the void had become an immense black-and-white millstone. It undid the force of the punch and tore the power of the Dharma and Logos apart. It clung to Soul-chasing Demon Monarch’s right hand and placed him on the core of the millstone, slowly suppressing him.

Linghu Tao nodded slightly when he saw what happened. Merciless Tyrant had evidently progressed in his cultivation. Though still weak, his grasp of the Yin-Yang Shift, Grand Sun, and Chaotic Hole was exquisite. He was so good that it was as if he was a grandmaster. He had summoned them casually without any ado and instantly plunged his opponent into peril.

Linghu Tao assumed that the apparent weakness was because Merciless Tyrant had misgivings about his presence so he did not unleash his true strength. The restrained display of power seemed to indicate that Soul-chasing Demon Monarch was not worth Merciless Tyrant using his Dharma Form!

The millstone gently rotated against a black-and-white backdrop. Though Soul-chasing Demon Monarch was surprised, he was not frantic. It would have been stranger if Merciless Tyrant failed to demonstrate even this magnitude of power.

After considering the current situation, he extended his left hand and transformed his right fist into a claw. The muscles of the Dharma Form of Evil Lord behind him bulged.

There was an ear-grating creaking sound as he slowly exerted force into his two hands and tore apart the black-and-white millstone like it was paper.

That was not the crucial point, however. His eyes suddenly flew wide open, revealing deep, pitch-black pupils that seemed like a bottomless demonic abyss. They emitted a bizarre radiance. Simultaneously, the eyes on the Evil Lord statue turned convex and interweaved with the Dharma and Logos, changing the world around them!

Meng Qi found his surroundings turn dark as coldness entered his Vital Spirit. All kinds of desires rose within him, sending his spirit into a spiral of dizziness. A great cyan Evil Lord state appeared in the distance, magnificently towering over him. Its feet were on a legendary rain-summoning dragon. It produced waves of evil that caused uncontrollable shivering in one’s mind and body.

Soul-chasing Demon Monarch chose the Soul-chasing Demonic Eye out of his several killing techniques because he knew he could not damage his surroundings. He directly used the statue of Evil Lord to suppress his opponent’s soul.

Evil Lord took a step forward, filling the space between heaven and earth. It extended its hands down to capture Meng Qi’s soul.

Suddenly, the refined, aged figure clad in a green robe rapidly expanded to form a Big Golden Buddha. Solemn and merciful, the figure exuded great feelings of serenity, absolution, wisdom, and bliss. These feelings surpassed heaven and earth and exceeded limits, forcing the statue of Evil Lord into a corner.

In front of the Big Golden Buddha, the towering statue of Evil Lord was no more than an ant!

This was the opportunity that Meng Qi had been waiting for ever since he made the first move!

In a situation where he could neither compete with his opponent’s strength nor realm, he had plotted for a gradual advance. He wanted to force Soul-chasing Demon Monarch into a battle of minds through the use of favorable external conditions. Martial artists in the Devil Path would more or less practice Devil Arts that would harbor a desire for massacres and a taste for others’ misery. When they were restricted from fully unleashing their techniques, they would unconsciously choose such a path. Naturally, Meng Qi was well aware that Soul-chasing Demon Monarch possessed the Soul-chasing Demonic Eye technique.

If one knew himself and his enemies, one would not be imperiled even in a hundred battles. Meng Qi surpassed Soul-chasing Demon Monarch in terms of mental cultivation and all sorts of unorthodox techniques. Moreover, he still had the Gist of Trueness of I, the Unique and Righteous to suppress his opponent’s Vital Spirit.

The solemn Big Golden Buddha held its hands together to suppress Evil Lord, its voice like thunder as it spoke.

“If you use reality to meet me or your voice to beseech me, you would have fallen into depraved ways and fail to see the Buddha.”

The immense Zen Philosophies resounded in Soul-chasing Demon Monarch’s mind, causing his Vital Spirit to sway.

He found himself in the embrace of his favored concubine. As time passed, the concubine underneath him slowly decomposed into a rotten corpse that oozed pus before reducing into bones. The beauty of his concubine was gone.

He then found himself enjoying delectable food that was served continuously. Hunger ravished him. Like a hungry ghost, he could not stop eating even when his swelling stomach burst. The pain was unbearable.

Then, he was a Mongolian gazelle whose body was speared through. The cutting pain struck deep into him. He was then chopped into pieces and gnawed on by multiple people.

He realized that he had experienced different unfortunate encounters, causing rage and resentment to surge from the depths of his heart. His enemies were like flames that burned his spirit and he was forever unable to free himself from them.

The six divisions in the wheel of karma were no longer in the dark. Only the world of humans existed. If his heart was not at peace, everywhere he stepped on would be hell.

The illusory affairs of life fleeted across his eyes like blurry scenery as he experienced reincarnation over and over again. His Vital Spirit became more erratic.

Suddenly, a Zen sound that stirred his Vital Spirit echoed next to his ears.

“All of reality is a phantom, and all phantoms are real. Cast aside your murderous intention and meet the Buddha!”

The Buddhist melody spoke of the laws, sounding like thunder.

While Soul-chasing Demon Monarch was still dizzy, the Big Golden Buddha before his eyes morphed into a green-robed figure with deep-set features and frosty white hair on the temples. In his elegance was the impression of the vicissitudes of life. He lifted his right hand and gently slapped Soul-chasing Demon Monarch.

Upon closer inspection, the seemingly ordinary slap was filled with indescribable abstrusity. It was as if it existed in every inch of the void yet existed nowhere at the same time.

Not here, not there, not anywhere but through repentance!

The slap harbored deep Zen Philosophies as well as an austere impression of the extinction of one’s desires. The contradicting feelings unified perfectly under the resounding of Zen sound.

Soul-chasing Demon Monarch unconsciously raised his hand to block it, only to realize that the powerful, spotlessly white palm had somehow stopped before his forehead.

“This palm stroke!” The pupils of Linghu Tao and Duanmu Bei shrank in disbelief. Not even they were confident they could block it!

Merciless Tyrant was indeed an unmeasurable abyss!

Meng Qi steadily pulled his right hand away, his breath still introverted and profound. He appeared calm and composed.

“Don’t think it’ll be that easy to block the Seven Immortal Illusions that was activated using I, the Unique and Righteous as the core!”

This was his Peerless Godly Kung Fu and the number one palm stroke in the world. Even if his grasp of it was pitifully basic and he had no way of directly using it, he was able to take advantage of the great flaw of the already mentally unstable Soul-chasing Demon Monarch.

Madam Baihua’s expression changed ever so slightly and she forced herself to smile. “So, Mr. Tyrant has adopted Buddhism!”

Meng Qi smiled. “I happened to obtain the cassock and alms bowl inheritance of a senior monk during an adventure in Bomi. I didn’t think much of it at first but after going through it out of boredom, I realized the error of my ways in the past and achieved supreme enlightenment. I was able to merge the Teachings of Buddhism and the Devil Arts into a comprehensive art.”

He put his palms together as he spoke, his expression refined and dignified.

“The world is like a sea of bitterness; all living things sink into depravity. Since everything is an illusion, why not destroy them all?”

The Heterodox Demons found this to be both absurdly hilarious and terrifyingly shocking. Subconsciously, they began to look at Meng Qi with reverence.

“Since he easily defeated Soul-chasing Demon Monarch, wouldn’t that make him strong enough to qualify for the Black List?”