The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Along with the conveyance light, a sword was piercing through the sky. Jiang Zhiwei and Meng Qi were surrounded by white clouds that looked like a snowy sea.

Jiang Zhiwei did not seem to be curious about the experience of Meng Qi at all, regardless of the gray kasaya he was wearing, the dispirited look on his face, and the fact that he had gone missing for ten years. She was merely bringing him to Jiang Dong.

However, she was not quiet either. With a gentle and clear voice, she spoke at a steady pace, “Sister Yushu has devoted all her time and energy to the zither. She is getting more and more elegant. Hehe, of course, the only exception is when she eats.”

“After a lucky encounter in the Samsara Mission, she has obtained the remnant of the Music Score of Dragon-Tortoise Longevity. After continuous attempts, she is finally recognized by the Zither of Limbo as its new owner. A year ago, she has entered the ninth level of Heaven and reached the peak of the Exterior Realm. In the Jiang Hu, she is well-known as the Zither Fairy. She is often described in many wonderful ways.”

“Everybody has been saying that the Old Master Ruan will die before Senior Shou Jing and the great-grandmother of the Clan of Xiahou. However, with the help of the Eastern Longevity Elixir, he has extended his lifespan, thereby having plenty of time to pursue the path of Dharmakaya. As he isn’t in a hurry to break through to the realm, he has more time in guiding Sister Yushu to use the Zither of Limbo. Unfortunately, Senior Shou Jing – who is said to have the greatest potential – has failed to enter the Dharmakaya Realm. Becoming a Dharmakaya is a process of transforming oneself from a mortal human being into an immortal being. Apparently, the journey to heaven is full of challenges.”

Meng Qi listened quietly without saying a word.

With a gentle voice, Jiang Zhiwei continued saying,

“In recent years, Sister Yushu has completed a lot of missions of the Fairy World. Lately, she finally has enough good deeds to exchange for the Music Score of Dragon-Tortoise Longevity. After combining it with the Sky-Splitting Song from her own family, she seems to be able to take a glimpse at the past. It’s really mysterious…”

“From the Samsara Worlds, she has collected a lot of music scores and food recipes. Now that she has become a good cook – well, at least she cooks better than me. In the beginning, there are so many failed attempts. The chicken wings were roasted on the outside but raw on the inside; the fish was charred; and the soup was as salty as seawater…”

Speaking with a smile, Jiang Zhiwei was telling the stories in detail. Meng Qi was able to imagine the scenes in his mind.

“… Zhao Heng has ascended the throne for more than ten years. At present, he is having control over the Emperor Sword. He has become more mature and dignified. However, as the Great Jin Empire is constantly being invaded by the North Zhou Empire, sooner or later, he will need to fight against Gao Lan. Recently, he has become more and more quiet. Although he is trying to hide his worry, I can tell he is anxious deep down inside.”

“Limited by this, after he became a guru, the Force of Living Beings isn’t helping him much. Now, he is still at the ninth level of Heaven. He sees no hope of entering the third level of Heavenly Stairs.”

“However, he has many lucky encounters in the Samsara Worlds, and all of them are helpful in increasing the power of the Emperor Sword. This might be due to the arts he learned from the Astounding Book and the Force of Living Beings, as they are able to bring good fortune to him.”

“Four years ago, Brother Qi has finally got rid of the Nine Nether and suppressed the Devil’s Claws using his own martial arts. He is neither affected by the weapon, nor becoming cruel and extreme. However, his ideology… um, isn’t welcomed by the major sects and families. They regarded him as an enemy, named his sect as the Red Demonic Sect, and listed it as one of the Nine Demonic Sects.”

“I neither agree nor disagree with Brother Qi’s ideology. For the time being, I’ll be taking a neutral position.”

“As the Flying Yaksha, Yan Wuwo has become a Half-Step Dharmakaya, the Fairy World is still operating fine. Nonetheless, quite an amount of members has died in the Samsara Missions, including Chun Yangzi, Chi Jingzi, and the Immortal Woman in Li Hill. After recruiting new members for several times, currently, there are twenty-nine members in total.”

“The Buddha Dou Mu is still the same as before. She has only completed one or two Samsara Missions in the past ten years. With a Heavenly Weapon, she is able to deal with the missions with ease. Nevertheless, she isn’t getting any closer to the Dharmakaya Realm.”

“Now, both Sister Yushu and Zhao Heng have completed the Deadly Mission for the third time, so we can do Samsara Missions together again.”

Jiang Zhiwei had been speaking continuously in a melodious voice. After getting all the information that he missed out in the last ten years, Meng Qi was feeling as though he had never left.

“What about you?” Meng Qi had finally asked. Looking downward, it was as though he was closing his eyes.

“Me?” Jiang Zhi chuckled. “In the past ten years, I’ve completed two missions. I’ve gone to the Shushan World and the debris of the Demon Realm. Seeing many different ways of practicing martial arts, I have a new understanding of how different cultivation methods can lead to a same destination – Da Dao. Well, six years ago, I’ve got a Deadly Mission, and then I’ve been taking a rest until now.”

“Before I entered the third level of Heavenly Stairs, I’ve suppressed my power. With the help of the General Principles of the Seven Strokes of Heaven Interception, I’ve learned the rudiments of the skills – Seeing True Self through the Dao and Spreading Dao to the Universe. It was until then that I broke through to the current realm. Therefore, I’ve got one mission more than other people.”

“In the past few years, there are a lot of battle records, but only a few of them are worth mentioning. The Frenzied Wanderer of the Six Seas has a strong willpower of martial arts, making him impervious to the influences of demon and difficult to be disturbed by any changes. On the other hand, the Living Buddha of Rotary has an extremely strong spirit that isn’t any weaker than a Dharmakaya. After combining it with the secret scriptures of Buddhist, he can turn illusions into reality and make people suffer in the sea of misery. In the debris of the Demon Realm, the Ghost Mother is a dangerous being who is very unpredictable. Once she identifies a weak point in the opponent’s state of mind, the opponent will be falling into hell immediately, and there will be no way to get out of it…”

Speaking of these things, Jiang Zhiwei could not help talking about them in detail. She enjoyed recollecting the memories.

…

Jiang Zhiwei had been telling a lot of things that happened in the past ten years, which created vivid scenes in Meng Qi’s mind. Although he did not participate in the things they went through, he felt connected to them after hearing all the stories.

In the end, Jiang Zhiwei put up a straight face while frowning a little, “Do you know the content of the mission this time?”

“I didn’t check about it,” Meng Qi sighed.

Last time, he was totally not in the mood to check about the information of the next mission. Nevertheless, he could roughly guess it.

As the conveyance light had already entered Jiang Dong, Jiang Zhiwei thought for a while and said, “I’ll tell you the detailed information later. In short, we are going to return to the Spirited Mountain.”

Return to the Spirited Mountain?

Thousands of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have gone into extinction, but the stories of the Great Sage from the Spirited Mountain have been passing down generation by generation…

The angler that I once peeped in the Immortal Valley is also at the Spirited Mountain…

As expected… Meng Qi did not say a word. Without a change of countenance, he was suppressing all his emotions.

…

The conveyance light fell on the peak of a hill.

Waiting in an ancient pavilion, Wang Siyuan had already made some tea on the table. Along with the soothing fragrance of tea, the atmosphere here was serene and quiet.

At the first sight of Meng Qi, Wang Siyuan was stunned. Immediately after that, he was coughing violently. The cough was so bad that it was hurting his lungs and Primordial Spirit. Blood was coughed out like a drizzle, which added a color of bright-red to the ancient pavilion.

“You’ve come to this point… no wonder my divination method isn’t working very well,” said Wang Siyuan with a sigh. He lifted his cup and took a sip of the tea in order to swallow the remaining blood inside his mouth.

Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei sat opposite him without saying a word. The gray kasaya of Meng Qi was swaying in the mountain breeze, but he remained stationary like a statue.

Only the muscles on his chest were still wriggling. They were eliminating the black flesh and blood, and healing the wound slowly.

Wang Siyuan put down his tea cup and touched his lips with his right hand. “The integration of body, Primordial Spirit and Form will lead to the Dharmakaya Realm. It implies the start of Immortality. If I were the angler, I would pull up the fishing rod at this moment. Otherwise, once the fish goes beyond my control, it will bring more harm than good.”

“This tribulation is inescapable.”

“From the Ancient Times to present, no one has ever succeeded in resisting the tribulation.”

These words were said abruptly, but Wang Siyuan believed that both Jiang Zhiwei and Su Meng would be able to understand it.

“Without immortality, all living beings will face the same ending. Death is the final destination of everyone. Dying earlier or later – it’s just a matter of time,” said Meng Qi in a seemingly depressed manner.

Wang Siyuan coughed twice and stopped talking about this topic. He said, “Aren’t you interested in the secrets of the Ananda Pure Land at the back mountain of Shaolin?”

“In the past ten years, I’ve found many prisoners on death row to learn the Sinew-changing Scripture reversely, but no one succeeded. Duan Rui is very clever – he has made some changes in some minor parts of the scripture. As he has become more famous in recent years, he has surely left behind a lot of traces. If we really want to track him down, it’s not difficult to do so.”

If Mister Wang – who owns the Peerless Ancient Book of Heavenly Weapon – wants to track someone down, almost nobody can escape from him!

Jiang Zhiwei had been listening quietly before she suddenly interrupted, “Mister Wang, are you interested in the Ananda Pure Land as well?”

With the help of the Heavenly Heart of Sword, Jiang Zhiwei could sense the slightest change of emotion of Wang Siyuan!

With a pale face, Wang Siyuan shook his head with a smile, “This is something the Wang Family can never let go.”

“Where is Duan Rui?” Meng Qi asked in a deep voice.

Wang Siyuan made a grasping gesture with his hand, and countless glimmers converged. Inside each glimmer, there were numerous pictures and symbols, which gradually condensed into several counting rods.

…

On the north side of the Grassland, Duan Rui put his hand into the chest of the person in front of him, grabbed his heart, and pinched it bit by bit. Despite doing something so cruel, he looked satisfied.

Due to the reappearance of the Frenzied Blade, Duan Rui had been feeling anxious and easily-irritated recently. This horse bandit was too foolish to have blocked his way!

“The Hundred-Flaw Heavenly Demon, the Immortal Heaven is returning soon. Why aren’t you going back to meet him yet?” Seeing Duan Rui’s cruel act, the Brocade-Weaving Idleman, Shao Changge frowned and started urging him.

Ying Ning, standing on the side, was looking at them with a smile. She was not interested in the cruel act, but she did not mind seeing other people doing it.

…

The counting rods had fallen on the table. Wang Siyuan was about to pick them up when he suddenly saw a withered hand stretch out in front of him and seize all of them.

This hand belonged to Meng Qi!

The pale face of Wang Siyuan was flushed as he whispered, “The Principles of Karma?”

Meng Qi did not answer. Being stared by Jiang Zhiwei and Wang Siyuan, he slowly took over the counting rods. Holding all the rods, he stretched his right hand into the void.

…

With a cold expression, Duan Rui was about to say something when the void in front of him suddenly twisted. A hand came out and grabbed his head!

In the next moment, Shao Changge, Ying Ning, and the entire Grassland had disappeared from his sight. He saw a monk in a gray kasaya with a withered face looking at himself!

Surrounded by beautiful mountains, the river was flowing rapidly, and the iron chain on top of the river was cut into half. The scenery of Jiang Dong had came into the sight of Duan Rui!