The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

It was as if an ancient, malevolent thought had been awakened. It fell from a certain spot from high above. The purple Devil Form, with eyes of fire and black teeth, seemed to be turning tangible as it corrupted its surroundings.

Dark Broadsword’s Space Ring flew toward that thing, returning itself including every item inside it to its origin, becoming its ‘flesh’ and ‘blood’.

In the blink of an eye, the Devil Form took on a visibly tangible form. It interweaved with the Dharma and Logos, and corrupted heaven and earth with its degradation, demonstrating a devilish profoundness. Its might could nearly rival that of a Dharma Form that had crossed the first step of the Celestial Ladder.

This was Dark Broadsword’s Vital Spirit that he formed by burning his Blood Essence and sacrificing his items and lifespan – the ultimate skill of the Mark of the Devil that had fallen into oblivion!

The purple Demon Form possessed arms of varying thickness. One was a thick as a bucket, with a great pitch-black palm as large as a bamboo basket. It emitted a suction force that could devour the world. The thinner one was clutching onto a long sword condensed out of Devil Qi. If he breathed normally, the surroundings would most certainly poison or corrupt his body and Vital Spirit.

The malevolent-looking Dark Broadsword spread his hands as the Devil Form flew out from behind him. The Devil Form thrust the sword in its hand at Meng Qi.

Devil Qi swirled in the air as the suction force proved to be terrifying. The Black Light Formation that Soul-chasing Demon Monarch had laid down earlier began to shake and crack.

However, right at this moment, Dark Broadsword noticed the figure of the nearby Merciless Tyrant become faint and indefinite. The green silhouette seemed incredibly far away, forming a large distance between it and the Devil Form. It was as if the Devil Form would need to travel unbelievable distances just to attack him!

Meng Qi employed the use of I, the Unique and Righteous to spur the illusory body movements!

The thrust of the devil sword condensed the black gas into a long streak of pure sword light. It streaked across the ‘void’ like a knife slicing through tofu. As it pursued its target, the gravitational attraction force of the devil palm heightened. It was as if it wanted to directly drag the faraway elegant and lethargic green silhouette over.

The surroundings suddenly turned dark. The sword light seemed to be shuttling in the vast sea of stars but no matter how hard it tried, it could never quite reach the ‘other’ side to meet Meng Qi.

So close, yet so far!

Suddenly, Dark Broadsword’s eyes froze and shock was apparent on his visage. Merciless Tyrant had morphed into a two-headed and four-armed creature and was glaring at him with four eyes while standing at the end of the dark sea of stars.

One of Merciless Tyrant’s faces wore a compassionate expression while the other was cold and apathetic like a Devil. He lifted his four arms simultaneously, each of his palm forming a hand seal. They were brimming with a gloomy coldness tainted with a deathly air, the depravation of worldly affairs, the heat torching the world, as well as profound Zen Philosophies neither in this shore, the other shore, or the midstream.

The first three aspects were unified under the final hand seal imbued with the wishes of Buddha and formed an integral whole. It then struck Dark Broadsword.

“The sea of bitterness is boundless; I, this merciful Devil, will extinguish your life and ferry you over to the Buddha!”

Kaboom!

A muffled explosive sound rang out. The purple Devil Form whose momentum had waned after crossing the layers of the void could only try its best to defend itself. It was barely able to block three palm strikes but its Devil Qi was being detonated. Pitch-black darkness fell and the life-preserving light shattered entirely.

“The sea of bitterness is boundless; I, this merciful Devil, will extinguish your life and ferry you over to the Buddha!” The two-headed creature spoke at the same time, emitting majestic, apathetic voices. Mysteriously, the final palm stroke restrained its abstrusity of being everywhere yet nowhere. It reduced the remaining defense into nothing and instantly struck the Devil Form on the top of its head.

Whack!

The head of the purple Devil Form shattered like a watermelon being dropped from a high altitude. Numerous deep cracks appeared on its body before shattering into many small pieces. It could no longer retain its solid form.

The sea of Vital Qi in the world was instantly purified, eliminating all signs of contamination.

Returning to his original form, Meng Qi flicked his finger and sent a silver-white sword light flying out. The light crossed the sky, transformed into innumerable sword lights, and fell amid a dazzling, dream-like backdrop. They spiraled ominously, as if each of them possessed spiritual nature or had obtained exquisite and personal control, and exterminated majority of the scattered pieces of the Dharma Form.

Despair clouded Dark Broadsword’s face as he took in all this. He accelerated the burning of his Vital Spirit, deciding to self-detonate!

Kaboom!

His final curse resounded amid the violent explosion.

“They’ll avenge me!”

With his left hand, Meng Qi threw a punch so heavy that it seemed to bear the weight of a mountain range. It was to the extent that his darkened palm had a pitch-black tiny needle-shaped hole on it. Then, the dispersing force of the explosion reached him.

His gaze was deep and unfathomable as he pointed at the Vital Spirit that Dark Broadsword left behind. He planned to seize the opportunity to use the Supernatural Power of Shaking Heaven and Hitting Earth.

Suddenly, the sound of zither pierced through the air and sent tremors down Meng Qi’s spirit. The execution of his skill became a little sluggish and he watched helplessly as Dark Broadsword’s life exhausted completely.

“The zither tune of the Third Childe of the Ruan Clan? It doesn’t sound powerful…” Meng Qi muttered doubtfully without much annoyance.

The ship bobbed with the surging of the waves. The deep blue color shone through from under the surface.

Meng Qi inhaled as a realization hit him. “A zither tune that targets the Blue-blooded People? The Ruan Clan sure is full of secrets. I need to carefully ask the little foodie the next time I see her…”

He felt somewhat helpless as he looked at the spot where Dark Broadsword blew himself up. His plan was to question the latter, not kill him. He did not expect Dark Broadsword to be this desperate.

“Perhaps my image as a Devil earlier was a little too effective and maybe Dark Broadsword valued his Secret Scrolls more than his life…” Meng Qi’s eyes focused on the spot, where he noticed a condensed drop of purple blood on the ground. The drop of blood was brimming with the evil-engulfing devilish nature.

He spread his hand and absorbed the drop of Devil’s blood. Dark Broadsword’s words before his death abruptly reverberated in his mind.

“The Devil returns to the world, and the Saint follows!” Meng Qi muttered, mulling over the words as he held the drop of blood in his palm.

It was rumored that Devil Lord had 12 Evil Saints working under him. After losing his life after successive defeats in wars, his flesh and blood integrated with the earth and his thoughts scattered into the void. Were they the ones who directed the awakening and borrowing of the Devil Lord’s thoughts?

“In other words, this is a drop of blood extracted from the Blood of the Evil Saint. I wonder who it belonged to…” Meng Qi stared at the drop of blood that had clearly faded a great deal before sealing it and tucking it away in his space ring.

His brows suddenly furrowed as he pondered over the matter. “They’ll be back for revenge… The Saints will follow… The Devil will return to the world… It sounds like a secret organization with the goal of supporting the Devil Lord. I’ll need to make some time to ask the Immortals if they encountered anything similar.”

Meng Qi calmed himself amid the increasingly lofty and frenetic sound of zither and fled the junk ship. He returned to the Zhu family manor to tie up loose ends.

He could basically predict the changes that would take place after this.

…

Inside the memorial hall of the Yun family.

Ninth Childe took in a deep breath. The plans and arguments that he had considered earlier fleeted across his mind but he was abruptly hit by the feeling that the late Master, who had planned everything in advance, was observing him from heaven.

He spared the similarly restless Second Childe a glance before looking at Thirteenth Childe. He noticed this younger brother of his appeared calm and not the least bit vexed as if everything was within his control.

“This is bad! How can Thirteenth Brother be so calm? Could he have something else up his sleeve?” Ninth Childe thought, his heart throbbing. Finally, his gaze landed on Sixth Childe.

“Sixth Brother appears indifferent as if a little dejected…” Ninth Childe’s feeling that something was not quite right grew stronger.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw Sixth Childe take a step forward and solemnly said, “I’m removing myself from the race for the next Master. I’ll be focusing on cultivating instead.”

“What? Sixth Brother is calling it quits? Impossible!” Ninth Childe was deeply stunned. In the past decade, he had never seen his brother show any signs of giving up the seat.

He could not help stealing glances at his two other brothers and saw Thirteenth Childe retaining his calm demeanor, without any change in expression, while the shock was blatantly displayed on Second Childe’s face.

“Did Thirteenth Brother get his hands on Sixth Brother’s weak point and force him to drop out?” Ninth Childe’s heart slowly sank. Things were not as simple as he thought they would be but he was fairly certain that he had a 50 percent chance at victory.

While everyone in the Yun household was grappling with their own thoughts, He Jiu abruptly cried, “Please wait a moment!”

“What do you have to say, Young Heightslord?” Sixth Childe was confused. Eastsea Sword Village had always maintained a policy of non-interference in the affairs of the Yun family. It was the basis of their great camaraderie.

He Jiu lowered his hands and his deep gaze swept the memorial hall. “This involves a traitor in the Yun family colluding with the Blue-blooded People and affects the safety of the people here. Since our village has maintained a great friendship with the Yun family for many years, we cannot leave the matter of selecting the new Master to someone else,” he said solemnly.

His voice suddenly boomed, turning even graver.

“I, He Jiu, the Young Heightslord of Eastsea Sword Village, insist on intervening in this matter on behalf of the village even if it means bearing infamy!”

He was so valiant and awe-inspiring that his momentum stunned the Yun family. No one dared to speak. In fact, they were glad that Eastsea Sword Village would take the lead to help them. After all, the involvement of the Blue-blooded People being proven true had caused great unease in them.

Ninth Childe and Second Childe suddenly had a bad feeling. Meanwhile, there was finally a slight shift in Thirteenth Childe’s expression. Things did not develop as he had expected.

He Jiu eased his darkened expression and made a vow, saying, “Eastsea Sword Village will provide protection until we’re certain that the Yun family is completely safe and will also refrain from intervening in specific matters of the family.”

This was a covert promise to protect the family without forcing them into subservience.

Thus, a Tai Shang Elder saluted him. “Please instruct us, Young Heightslord.”

He Jiu looked directly at Ninth Childe and his brothers and went straight to the point.

“I nominate Sixth Childe.”

“What?” Second Childe and Ninth Childe blurted out simultaneously. Thirteenth Childe’s breathing turned heavy. All of them were about to protest the intervention of Eastsea Sword Village.

They felt as if their delightful dream had been evaporated right before their very eyes.

He Jiu looked at Second Childe and Ninth Childe. “You’re all suspects in the Blue-blooded People incident.”

Ninth Childe had long prepared an argument in his mind and was about to defend himself when He Jiu shot him an apathetic glance and said, “Back garden of the Zhu family manor.”

Ninth Childe’s face paled instantly. “H-How did Eastsea Sword Village find out about that?”

He Jiu used the same gaze to look at Thirteenth Childe and said placidly, “In certain matters, we can blame our momentary lapse of judgment. If you repent, change your ways, and stop going down the Devil Path, we won’t pursue the matter provided you’re not the murderer of the late Master.”

His words were vague and confusing, leaving a way out for the experts in the Yun family to retreat.

Thirteenth Childe had no idea what kind of intel He Jiu had received so he did not dare to take a risk. Gnashing his teeth, he said, “Sixth Brother, I am, as a younger brother, willing to serve you as the Master of the family.”

Suddenly, he and Sixth Childe turned to look at He Xiu at the same time. They recalled how the child had delivered him a letter that day. Could there be someone providing intelligence to Eastsea Sword Village?

Back then, this incident did not escape their attention but the informer had done this so blatantly that the news could not be intercepted. Wary that it might be an attempt by Eastsea Sword Village to lure them, they dared not pursue and investigate the child out of guilt.

Retrospect caused resentment and regret to stab their hearts. Upon closer thought, however, the informer must have something up his sleeve to dare tattle on them, unafraid of pursuit and might even retaliate.

Thirteenth Childe’s mask of calm disintegrated entirely. He lowered his head, hiding an expression of disbelief. He did not expect to fail so inexplicably after planning and scheming for so long.

Ninth Childe and Second Childe were both socially adept people and knew to not fight when the odds were stacked against them. They expressed their support for their Sixth Brother in unison.

Sixth Childe was bemused and was barely able to follow what was going on. Only when He Jiu repeated that Eastsea Sword Village would not pursue past mistakes, did he heave a sigh of relief. He was nearly moved to tears.

Better to use people who had made mistakes in the past and wanted to make up for their wrongdoings than those with merits!

After He Jiu was done, he turned to look at Ninth Childe. “Hurry up and take us to the back garden of the Zhu family manor so we encircle and annihilate the group there!”

“Yes!” Ninth Childe said coolly, but not without shuddering first.

…

With He Jiu and He Xiu taking the lead, all the Exterior experts had surrounded the back garden of the Zhu family manor in an impenetrable siege. However, after scanning the vicinity, they found no one inside!

“We’re one step too late.” He Jiu exhaled.

Inside a carriage slowly traveling on a street far from the manor, Madam Baihua and Ying Ning were staring at the Zhu family manor. They still had a sense of lingering fear and alarm.

Opposite to them was a green-robed Meng Qi with white hair on the temples. He sat there, looking relaxed and serene.