The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

In the battle of Nu River, the great warrior, the great Master “Shi” had summoned a true Immortal who had performed wonders, severed the Heavenly Passage, and undid the demonic aura plaguing the land.

Seeing that Du Huaishang was invested with divine blessings that could signify heavenly mandate, Wu Che, the Marquis of Wutong, General Kou Jin, and many others immediately surrendered. Only Du Gushi, the Martial Monarch was adamant in his refusal to yield. He battled nine great warriors to his death, slaying two and injuring three of his opponents before he breathed his last.

The Revolutionary Army crossed the Nu River and reorganized while they sent word to the capital.

Before long, news of the dramatic battle spread far and wide, piquing the interest of everyone who heard of it.

At the same time, there was an intriguing tale of one of the most powerful warriors of the former generation, one who was known as the “Heaven-defying Dragon.” He was rumored to have passed on many years ago, but his abode was recently discovered. It was wide open, without any magical barriers in place. It seemed to have been recently inhabited, and there were no signs of plunder.

Meng Qi and his companions were returned to the Samsara Square where dense mists lingered. He felt the humid atmosphere moistening his skin as he was stripped of all fatigue and weariness. Even the damage to his Dharmic Form due to his use of the Nature-involving Knack had been restored.

He had always suspected that unknown detriment may lie behind the healing of the Dominator of the Samsara of Six Realms, but their adventures in the World of Samsara had often put them almost at the brink of death. It left him no choice but to accept the goodwill of the slavemaster who was also their benefactor and hope that he would discover alternatives in the future.

“The Revolutionary Army led by Du Huaishang has crossed Nu River and is on its way to take the capital. The main task has been completed and you will each receive a reward of 4,500 Karma points.

“You slew a Top Class Master Pro and two Peerless Master Pro from the opposing faction. You will each receive 7,000 Karma Points.

“There will be no evaluations for this task. You will each be awarded a Reincarnation Charm.

“With the completion of your second Death Task, you will now tread deeper into the World of Samsara. You will discover more ancient relics and encounter other Samsara travelers of different tribes and ethnicities, including demons, monsters, immortals or other supernatural beings. Unique tasks that reward disciplines and skills of the Dharmakaya Realm, as well as Precious Weapons and artifacts of the same Realm, shall also be open to you. Your rewards will no longer be restricted to skills or disciplines that may be incomplete or have costly drawbacks. You can also select a name for your company and also select a site as a haven—a sanctuary in a world that you are truly familiar with. You can select three portals of entry around the actual world that will lead to the Samsara world itself, and Time in both worlds shall be in sync but it will not be an ancillary dimension.”

“We have indeed been given more freedom and prerogative after the completion of the second Death Task…” Meng Qi thought to himself, swelling with emotion, as he stepped out of the swirling mist.

The final privilege mentioned might seem hardly useful since his admission into the guild of The Immortals, but there may come a time when he would need it. There was a snag, however: they did not have any world or dimension that they were fully familiar with.

Apparently, they were getting promoted too fast, that they had limited experience in the worlds of Samsara!

He had barely sighed when the voice of the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms reverberated again.

“Qi Zhengyan has elected to withdraw from the company and become an independent Samsara traveler.”

Meng Qi’s thoughts and eyes froze. Sadness crept from his heart as he took in the news. “So comes what had to come after all…”

“This…” Jiang Zhiwei had noticed that Qi Zhengyan had been behaving strangely since the end of their previous mission. Her suspicions had grown during the course of this mission but never had she imagined that Qi Zhengyan would withdraw from the company so abruptly. They were close-knit friends who had survived fire and steel together. Was there no way of resolving whatever discord they may have?

Ruan Yushu pursed her lips glumly. In the previous Death Task, their companions had died, and now there was the agony of separation.

Their adventures in the World of Samsara had opened her eyes—a doted and pampered daughter of a noble family—to the torment and powerlessness of Man’s fragile and abiding mortality

Having endured pain due to the death of his companions, Zhao Heng was only surprised and faintly shocked this time, recalling Qi Zhengyan’s quirks recently.

“Qi Zhengyan has left you a message, do you wish to listen to it now?” The lofty voice of the Dominator came again.

Jiang Zhiwei and Meng Qi looked at each other. He nodded gently and hoarsely said, “Yes.”

There was a pause before the familiar voice of Qi Zhengyan echoed.

“The first twenty years of my life were ordinary and mundane. It was not until I met all of that everything changed. Since then, I have been exposed to various martial disciplines and skills, was supplied with weapons, and had the opportunity to increase my strength, all of which have helped me improve. More importantly, I have been fortunate to know a band of brothers and sisters—siblings that have my back during battle.”

Qi Zhengyan normally revealed nothing of his feelings and emotions, but they could detect melancholy in the words he uttered.

“Senior Brother Zhang is a true and honest person. He never looked at us with disdain or contempt despite our humble background. He is, with no doubt, a true Senior Brother to us all—a person worthy of our admiration and respect. Sister Jiang Zhiwei only has her study of swordsmanship in her mind, but she is generous, noble and warm of heart, sprinkling everyone around her with sincerity and kindness. I would have fallen for her if we had not met under such circumstances. Sister Ruan Yushu is altogether different from what I envisioned a daughter of a noble family would be. Despite her frosty demeanor, she is actually a kind person. A person who looks upon everything with an impartial eye and never one to shy away from danger. Zhao Heng keeps in his heart a dignified ambition, but he set aside all differences of standing and prestige to mingle with us.

“Meng Qi wears a silly and whimsical facade, but he is actually one who has an eye for even the most delicate detail about everyone around him. A noble and warm person at heart, he would do anything for a friend—even charge headfirst into battle for a brother. He is a person I would gladly trust with my secrets. I might have long fallen into the Devil Path if not for his outspokenness and candor.”

Multitudes of intense emotions filled Meng Qi. He felt his nose throb as he muttered. “Damn you, Senior Brother! Do you have to be so eloquent at a moment such as this?”

Ruan Yushu’s eyes were reddish and Jiang Zhiwei braced herself, hardly breathing as sadness lingered over all of them.

Qi Zhengyan continued. “Still, we are hardly the only ones living in the world. There is no friendship that is completely free from the trappings and restrictions of the mortal world. I received the legacy of the Devil Lord during our adventure at the Devil Tomb. It was when all else had failed during our adventure at the Holy Mountain that I was forced to embrace the corrupting contagion of evil. Through the numerous adventures we had together, especially the meditation and assimilation of the Wordless Stone Stele and Meng Qi’s interpretation and adaptation of the teachings of the School of Mo, I was able to form my own insights—a vision that I will do anything to realize!

“I may not descend into the path of evil, at least not in the conventional sense, but there will inevitably be conflicting ideas between us—clashes that would have made our separation unavoidable.”

He began to expel all emotions from his words, becoming lukewarmly composed with a hint of pensiveness. “I have always admired people who wield dominant strength and powers and are able to befriend anyone regardless of their beliefs and standpoints, but now I know: Separation is inexorable, friendship or kinship be damned. We will walk our own separate paths when the time comes, not because of good or evil but because of the ideas we choose to embody.”

“What ideas were they?” Jiang Zhiwei directed the question at Meng Qi, certain he would know about it.

Meng Qi briefly relayed the visions that Qi Zhengyan had once expressed to him. By the end of his account, Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu had slumped into silence, fully comprehending the schism that had formed between their beliefs and Qi Zhengyan’s. They both frowned, troubled by his heretical aspirations. They have no hate or anger towards him, but yet, they could find no way to accept his apostatic beliefs. They could only sigh in defeat!

Normally, one of mild age and experience such as they would never be able to fully comprehend the trials and tribulations that stood before one’s realization of visions and dreams, but Qi Zhengyan’s words had impressed upon them the struggle that he was willing to undertake.

Zhao Heng stared blankly into the air, betraying nothing of what he thought.

Qi Zhengyan’s message had been paused by the Dominator when Meng Qi was explaining Qi Zhengyan’s predicament to the others. It now resumed.

“We may have to fight each other in the future if we meet. I will give no quarter, and I expect you to do the same to me. As long as you remember to go to the grave and offer a prayer or two during Qingming, that will be good enough for me.”

Meng Qi sighed. Sadness and distress rushed like waves over him together with the anguish of helplessness. Qi Zhengyan’s words were delivered in a simple and ordinary tone that belied its cruel significance, making it harder to bear than even his future conflicts with Gu Xiaosang.

“Perhaps this is part of one’s growing pains, to painfully accept the inevitable…”Meng Qi smiled bitterly to himself.

Qi Zhengyan sighed, and then his tone changed. The melancholy in his voice subsided as he continued, “There have been mentions of the relationship between He Who Fishes and He Who Is The Fish in the recollections of the Devil Lord. In previous eras, during the pre-ancient age, the many entities were inherent to the Realm of the Legends since their birth. This made them intrinsically different from mere mortals and demons. They had countless different projections of themselves— external personalities that existed in many other parallel worlds. This made them immortals. Existences that would never fade nor perish. However, as one era withers and another replaces it, the change in the environment of Nature caused rifts that gradually separated the external personalities from their actual forms, allowing them to slowly shape into separate existences themselves. Thus, even mortals and demons began to shape external projections of themselves although it is hard for them to notice the link between different worlds and dimensions.

“You must not only communicate with your parallel self which resides in the Shards of Cosmic Glow to achieve the Realm of the Legends, but you must also reach out to all your external personalities scattered in all other worlds and dimensions, assimilate their existences as part of your own, and return them all to you. Then you shall be a Legend: the Singular Existence across all worlds and dimensions.

“He Who Fishes is the actual existence of an entity or a person, while He Who Is The Fish is one of the many external personalities projected from the actual being.”

Qi Zhengyan’s voice faded, signifying the end of his message.

“The people of the Everlasting Tribes are actual existences of themselves, while I am an external personality projected on to Earth by an entity who is the One Who Fishes before I was drawn to this world?” Meng Qi began to understand the gist of the message. What about the “many worlds and dimensions”?

He tried hard to ponder on the words in the message, eager to pry any details that he might have missed, but there were still pieces missing from the puzzle. He turned to look at Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu and Zhao Heng, noticing the blank looks on their faces. Clearly, they knew nothing about the matter as well. With a few questions to his companions, Meng Qi found that the hardly knew more than he did about the connection between the actual world they were in and other worlds and dimensions.

“I have to return and ask my Teacher about this.” Jiang Zhiwei remembered her teacher, Su Wuming, who was knowledgeable in such matters.

Hearing the name Su Wuming, Zhao Heng remembered Master Lu. He exhaled heavily and said, “To think that Master Lu has achieved such powers. What he did reminds me of the legendary entities we have read about in legends and fables.”

“I believe there may be other secrets. Otherwise, the barbarians of the North and the evil folk would hardly dare emerge when he wielded such powers.” Jiang Zhiwei replied, deeply interested in the Master Lu who was once named “The Greatest Swordsman under All Heavens.” Her gaze drifted to Meng Qi, knowing that he would surely know more about him since it was he who had produced the wooden figurine.

Meng Qi smiled weakly, “I do not know much myself, but I have to go to Huamei Heights to thank him since it was his wooden figurine that saved us. I hope he will be able to resolve our questions.”

However, he immediately thought of another complication. “Would this be considered disclosing the secrets of the World of Samsara?

“But we are still alive, would this not count?”

“Let us first exchange our spoils for Karma Points and then trade for information about our next task.” Jiang Zhiwei said hastily, repressing her curiosity.

Zhao Heng removed a huge double-handed sword. It was the one that had thrown Jiang Zhiwei off her feet. “Du Gushi threw it and it fell near one of the boats, so I kept it.”

“Good.” Meng Qi exhaled and set aside his thoughts and doubts about Qi Zhengyan’s explanation about the One Who Fishes and One Who Was The Fish. From his bag, he took out the Divine Lord of Plenitude and Miao Cong’s Precious Weapons and Space Ring.

Jiang Zhiwei glanced at the items. “The first few items are the bounty you reaped when you slew the Lord of Shadows, right? They should be yours alone since you did it by yourself.”

Miao Cong was killed by Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan together when Jiang Zhiwei and the others were keeping the assassin at bay. Hence, his items would be equally divided.

Unfortunately, the assassin had brought hardly anything with him so that he could easily escape, and his Precious Weapon was destroyed by Meng Qi’s Saber of the Shattered Jade during their skirmish.

Without saying much, Meng Qi exchanged the items of the Divine Lord of Plenitude for 7,800 Karma Points, the Space Ring, healing elixirs and the Precious Weapons of Miao Cong for 15,500 Karma Points, and the double-handed sword of Du Gushi for 5,000 Karma Points. The sum was divided among them so that each of them received 5,125 Karma Points. With the 3,100 Points and 6,000 Points returned to him by Ruan Yushu and Zhao Heng respectively, Meng Qi’s total rose to 39,915 Karma Points.

Jiang Zhiwei had 16,625 Points, Ruan Yushu 13,525 Points, and Zhao Heng had 10,925 Points.

“I plan to exchange for more time and a Reincarnation Charm to be used together for my training. I want to try for the First Celestial Ladder.” Zhao Heng was the first to speak.

They could, at most, exchange for a year’s time to be used in conjunction with the period accorded by a Reincarnation Charm.

Meng Qi looked at the Reincarnation Charm and remembered the Apotheosized World. The “treasures” left in the Jade Virtual Palace that Yang Jian had told him about appeared in his mind, but he did not intend to go now. Not only was the Jade Virtual Palace still mysteriously hidden from sight, but the Palace was also constantly watched by many powerful enemies. A hasty venture there without the Realm of a Grandmaster could put him in greater danger than his most recent Death Task. It would be safer if he first improved his powers and invited Primogenitor Lingbao to go with him. However, he would not be able to enlist the help of the leader of The Immortals if he were to enter the Apotheosized World for more than a year to train. Duke Huan alone would hardly be sufficient to help him.

Yang Jian’s message had left greatly anticipating a visit to the Jade Virtual Palace, but there was no such thing as being too cautious.

“Still a bit short of 40,000 Karma Points.” Meng Qi frowned.

“Forty thousand Karma Points? Do you intend to exchange for the second volume of the Muscle-bone Strengthening Scripture?” Jiang Zhiwei’s head turned as soon as she heard his murmur.