The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

The corpse opened its scarlet eyes that looked like an ocean of blood. In an instant, the surrounding became misty, twisted, and chaotic.

Meng Qi's vision was blurred for a second and his Primordial Spirit felt slightly dizzy. Then, he saw many lines that came from the outside world penetrating through the chaos and clinging to the glabella of the huge corpse.

The willpower and Primordial Spirit travelled along the lines and drilled into the corpse, which were then combined with a drop of blood that was produced by the corpse. A body with flesh was formed and it fell on the mountains and rivers.

Just when Meng Qi wanted to take a careful look, the scenes changed one after another. Sometimes he saw the powerful Primordial Spirit flying out of the corpse's glabella and travelling to the outside world along the lines. Sometimes the corpse was triggered and its entire body became transparent. Sometimes the huge scarlet eyes were wide-opened but there was no sign of vitality in them…

A small frown creased Meng Qi's forehead as he was sunk in thoughts, The corpse opened its eyes, causing the time to be disordered. Thus, the significant things that happened in the past had been projected.

So, the essence of the fragment is a corpse. Is it a powerful corpse that can transform its Interior View into a vast universe?

So, the process of reassembling Nangong Chong's body was not due to an ability of creating things out of a void; instead, it came from the blood of a huge corpse?

So, the resurrection of the body of Wu Youming and the others has also indirectly relied on this force?

Feeling as though he had understood something, Meng Qi soared into the air and flew to the terrifying-looking corpse. He wanted to take a look at its glabella.

As the distance between Meng Qi and the corpse was very close, in the blink of an eye, Meng Qi had came to the top of the corpse. He was able to see the scarlet eyes clearly!

Inside the eyes, no pupils were seen. There were only endless waves of blood that were full of killing intentions and a sense of death. In the middle of the blood ocean, an indistinct stone tablet that did not belong to the world was seen. Four familiar people were floating on top of the stone tablet - the Female Monarch, the Foolish Monk, the Taoist Master, and the Witch of the Black Mountain!

Why were they in the eyes of the corpse?

It seemed that the corpse was not resurrected although it had opened its eyes. Was it just a triggered response?

…

Things had been odd because even a guru could not escape from being killed. After asking Qin Shuanglian and the others for more details, the Taoist Master and the Foolish Monk rushed to the ghost village without any delay.

The village was not too far from the mansion of the Taoist Master. It was located at a remote and unnoticed place that was close to the mountain where the wild beasts ran wild.

In the village, the houses were old and dilapidated. White cloth was hung in front of every house and strings of paper money were swaying on the trees. Other than that, everything was in dead silence and no signs of human habitation could be found. The wind blew through the village occasionally, and the paper money was swirling in the wind. A sense of creepiness could be felt.

Nevertheless, the Taoist Master and the Foolish Monk were unique people - the amount of ghosts they had seen was more than the amount of dogs the ordinary people had seen. Having a strong mind, they were not bothered by the creepiness of the village. After observing the changes of Qi Ji in the world, and combined it with the information given by Qin Shuanglian and the others, they had made a deduction about the source of the creepy atmosphere.

There was an ancient tomb near to the mountain. It was discovered by the villagers because of an earthquake. After digging out and taking away the treasures inside the tomb, the villagers had died dreadfully one by one. Even the taoist priests and monks who came to catch ghosts could not escape from death. Since then, this village had been named ghost village.

The ancient tomb was once explored by Qin Shuanglian and the others. Strangely, no coffin was found. They could only see a crack that seemed to go deep into the ground. However, the guru from the mansion of the Taoist Master who went inside the crack to explore had also died tragically. It was very likely that Fang Zhidong had gone inside, too.

"Amitabha," the Foolish Monk chanted the name of Buddha in a low voice while holding the Ksitigarbha Transgression Script in his hand.

Flipping through the sutra, the Foolish Monk chanted at a fast pace. The writings on the sutra soared into the air and shone golden lights that looked like a soft glow on an azure stone. They lit up the surroundings that made the village look like the Pure Land of Buddha. Immediately, the chilly feeling and the sense of death had vanished.

The ground cracked, the seeds sprouted, and a lot of lotus flowers were blooming.

Surrounded by the glazed writings of the sutra, the Foolish Monk stepped on the lotus flowers and went into the crack in the ground.

Holding a longsword, the Taoist Master who wore a tall and ancient Taoist crown followed behind the Foolish Monk. Behind him, the roaring dragon and tiger were transformed into the symbol of Tai Chi or Yin-Yang.

Deeply believing in the power of the Ksitigarbha Transgression Script, the Taoist Master was not afraid of the evil spirits. Also, everyone knew that the first battle after he became a guru was to conquer the Ghost Town. He defeated the Ten Ghost Lords, wiped out millions of ghosts in the town, and sealed the crack in the ground that led to the Nine Levels of Underground. This battle had brought peace to the human world.

Since both of the Great Gurus were experienced fighters, they had never underestimated the danger of this place. Letting out their senses, their footsteps were in sync as they were both cautious and vigilant.

Walking a long distance in the crack, it got darker as they went deeper. They tried to let out their spirits to explore the way ahead, but the spirits had disappeared once they got in. The more they went deeper, the colder it was.

Suddenly, the Taoist Master and the Foolish Monk came to a bright place. They were in an unusually wide underground cave that was enough to fit a palace.

In the corner, there were a few streams of Yin that were letting out chilly air and filling the cave with mist. It was the streams that had engulfed their spirits.

The Taoist Master and the Foolish Monk carefully looked around the cave, but they did not find anything unusual.

The Foolish Monk suddenly opened a pair of hidden eyes that were pale gold, lustrous, and translucent. Everything in the cave had come into the sight of his Heavenly Eyes, but still, no suspicious traces could be found.

Just then, the Taoist Master snorted coldly. He clapped his left hand on the back of his right hand, and his robe suddenly swelled. Several streaks of clear light were flowing around, and a huge word "kill" had slowly revealed itself in the void behind his back. The color of the word was very light; apparently, it was not fully activated yet.

"Something strange is in the cave," the upper body of the Taoist Master swayed slightly. Along with a loud roar, the dragon and the tiger behind his back coiled into a circular shape, wrapped around the word "kill" and destroyed it.

The Foolish Monk thought for a moment and sat cross-legged on the ground. He took out a withered-yellow wooden fish and the Ksitigarbha Transgression Script, and put them in front of himself. While knocking rhythmically on the wooden fish, he was chanting the Ksitigarbha Transgression Script at a quick pace,

"Namo Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva-Mahasattva…"

"…those who have been preached to, those who are preaching to the others, those who have yet to be preached… those who have attained enlightenment, those who are working on attaining enlightenment, those who have yet to attain enlightenment…"

"From now on, I vow to rescue all the sinful and miserable beings from their sufferings in myriads of inexorable doom, in every world, in every hell, and in the three evil paths. I will help them to stay away from the evil paths that lead them to hell, to become an animal, and to become a hungry ghost. Only after saving all the beings from misery, I will realize enlightenment and become a Buddha."

The mantra gradually became louder. It was majestic, solemn, pure, and peaceful. The golden light of an azure stone - emerging from the void - was shining all over the cave and dispelling the mist. The golden petals of the Udumbara flower were falling slowly, and clear springs were gushing out from the ground while being accompanied by the appearance of gold, agate, crystal, and other beautiful stones.

Boom!

All of a sudden, the ground quaked and the cave shook violently as if they had been affected by the sutra.

The Foolish Monk raised his head suddenly, and the light of Buddha was emitted from his eyes. Behind him appeared a magnificent, golden statue of the merciful and compassionate Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. At the same time, the Ksitigarbha Transgression Script flew up and was turned to the last page.

The Foolish Monk opened his mouth and uttered the sutra word by word. His voice sounded like thunderclaps. It was as though a Buddha was giving his teachings.

"As long as hell is not empty, I vow not to become a Buddha. I will enlighten all living beings before I attain the supreme wisdom of Bodhi."

Boom!

In the sounds of thunder, the earth cracked rapidly, as if a giant had opened his eyes!

Inside the eyes was a boundless ocean of blood, with an indistinct and seemingly untouchable stone tablet in the middle of the ocean.

On the front of the stone tablet, a line of words could be seen.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!"

Toward the end, the words got bloodier, more hideous and was filled with a greater sense of death.

"The Seven-Kill Tablet!" the Taoist Master thought of the words of the Master of the Sect of Ether.

Why was the stone tablet here?

Thinking about that, the Taoist Master and the Foolish Monk flew toward the ocean of blood with their quickest possible speed.

Although they did not know what the stone tablet was for, it was undoubtedly an important item because even the Witch of the Black Mountain was pursuing it with all her efforts. It must not fall into the hands of the enemy!

Just then, a slender and fair hand was hitting from the sky. Four of the fingers were put together and the thumb was pressed on the index finger, which made a shape of a beak. It was the hand of a person in black robe who was flying rapidly toward them like a proud phoenix. The flame that came with the person was burning the sky and steaming a part of the blood ocean.

"The Female Monarch…" the Taoist Master was already ready for unexpected encounters. He slashed the longsword obliquely upward. The statues of dragon and tiger behind his back were connected end to end, and they revolved rapidly. The Mana of his entire body and the forces he mobilized from the world changed seven times in a flash - Yin, Yang, Yin, Yin, Yang, Yang, Yin. As a result, sometimes the void around him was frozen that gave a chill to the marrow, sometimes it was warm and bright that all the dirt was eliminated.

This was the proud work of the Taoist Master that combined all martial arts of the mansion of the Taoist Master - the Seven Turns of Dragon and Tiger. In an instant, he would release seven waves of power - either Yin or Yang - which accumulated layer by layer like the ocean waves. Every attack of Seven Turns of Dragon and Tiger would be totally different as it was based on the order of Yin and Yang. To block the attacks completely, the enemy must be able to guess the correct order of Yin and Yang in order to counter it accordingly. Otherwise, the power would explode, which would lead to a chain reaction that was equivalent to being attacked by several Taoist Masters simultaneously!

In such a short period of time, one would need to be as strong as a Dharmakaya to make accurate deductions, or get to know the habits of the Taoist Master in advance in order to distinguish whether the attack was Yin or Yang. Otherwise, who would be able to respond to the attacks so quickly?

Therefore, the best way to deal with this attack was to retreat. The intention of the Taoist Master was to force the Female Monarch to back off so that he could reach to the Seven-Kill Tablet first.

With an indifferent look in the eyes, the Female Monarch spread her right fingers. Unexpectedly, she did not escape; she was staying in place to take the attack instead.

The Yang-fire and Yin-fire was changing successively to eliminate every attack of the Seven Turns of Dragon and Tiger. Yang, Yin, Yang, Yang, Yin, Yin, Yang - every counter-attack was correct!

Following the disappearance of the Seven Turns of Dragon and Tiger, the Female Monarch brushed her five fingers on the longsword of the Taoist Master. The turbulent power turned into flame and burned toward the Taoist Master along the longsword.

Zeng!

How did she guess all of them right? The Taoist Master was in shock while shaking the longsword hard to get rid of the flame.

Due to his unstable Qi Xie, the longsword in his hand trembled, and he almost fell into the ocean of blood.

In just one move, he was already injured.

The Female Monarch took advantage of this chance and started to launch attacks that immediately put the Taoist Master in a disadvantageous position.

The longer the Taoist Master fought, the more he felt frightened. He seemed to be transparent in front of the Female Monarch. She could always deal with his attacks in advance, or find a hidden weak point in his moves. Therefore, he was fighting in a very passive way - in the fifty numbers of deducing Yin and Yang in the world, only forty-nine numbers were used; therefore, before one attained enlightenment, no matter how powerful the martial art was, there would always be imperfection!

On the other hand, the Foolish Monk had encountered with the Witch of the Black Mountain who was wrapped in a robe. With a calm facial expression, the Foolish Monk thrusted his fist forward - it was a seemingly ordinary punch. The golden writings on the Ksitigarbha Transgression Script were floating in the air. They were linked together and shining lights of an azure stone. To set up a strong defense, he safeguarded the Xumi Mountain with his form, and activated the Steadfast Boundary.

In the face of this punch, the Witch of the Black Mountain suddenly opened his mouth and spewed out a streak of dark light.

When the dark light fell on the golden glazed writings of sutra, it burst into strange giggles that gave people a feeling of decadence. Instantly, the golden writings were stained. The Steadfast Boundary was cracked a little, and was wrapped in strange, dark shadows.

"The Relic of a Fallen Monk!" finally, there was a change in the Foolish Monk's countenance.

The Witch of the Black Mountain let out a strange laughter and said, "It's specially prepared for you!"

The game of The Witch of the Black Mountain had been launched for ten years. Although no player had stepped into the realm of Great Guru yet, many of them had challenged the Foolish Monk and the Taoist Master before, either in a fair and above board manner, or in a despicable and shameless manner. Such data was fed back to the game company again and again, which was then analyzed and simulated by the optical computer. Under continuous improvement, the simulation had gradually become accurate.

Therefore, the Female Monarch and the Witch of the Black Mountain had fought hundreds of times with the Taoist Master and the Foolish Monk respectively. They had a very good understanding of their habits, their moves and their secrets. For example, the Female Monarch knew that when using the Seven Turns of Dragon and Tiger, the Taoist Master tended to choose a certain order of Yin and Yang subconsciously. Also, the Witch of the Black Mountain knew that the Relic of a Fallen Monk was able to restrain the Steadfast Boundary.

One who knew his own strength and that of the enemy would win every battle. Hence, it was unavoidable for the Taoist Master and the Foolish Monk to fall into an absolutely disadvantageous position!

This was the incredible effect of combining high technology and martial arts! The Female Monarch got more confident as the battle progressed. On the other hand, after trapping the Foolish Monk, the Witch of the Black Mountain had rushed to the Seven-Kill Tablet without any hesitation!

Seeing this scene from the eyes of the huge corpse, Meng Qi was alarmed. He threw his Primordial Spirit into the electric body. At the same time, his real body in the mansion of the Taoist Master had sensed the Qi Ji, and thus flying to the blood ocean!

As the two bodies met in the air on top of the blood ocean, Meng Qi's Primordial Spirit had returned to his real body. Feeling vigorous and spirited once again, Meng Qi could feel the authentic power in his body that was strong and familiar.

Nevertheless, the return of Primordial Spirit inevitably took some time. At the moment, Meng Qi already saw the Witch of the Black Mountain seizing the Seven-Kill Tablet.

"You're late," the Witch of the Black Mountain was in a good mood. Her robe was fluttering in the air, and her scarlet eyes were full of mockery.

Meng Qi squinted his eyes and took a step forward that went across the void. Without saying anything unnecessary, he had decided to launch an attack!

The Primordial Spirit of the Witch of the Black Mountain shook the void as she laughed aloud, "It's useless. Do you know how mysterious the Seven-Kill Tablet is? Apart from turning time into a disordered state, exploring the past and present life, and carrying out undetectable assassinations, it also allows the owner to return to the past for a short period of time!"

"I'm aware that your realm of The Rise of Yellow Sky is very powerful. To be honest, I'm surprised that it is able to replace the ether. Since you're not affected by the backward flow of time and you can travel across two worlds freely, it's easy to defeat you but extremely difficult to kill you."

"But now that I have the Seven-Kill Tablet in hand, I can actually go back to the past and kill you when you're still weak!"

In his hands, the Seven-Kill Tablet suddenly shone brightly and wrapped his entire body. Instantly, time and space had become disordered, and Meng Qi could only watch the Witch of the Black Mountain disappear.

As the light faded, the Witch of the Black Mountain appeared on a cliff and saw a calm teenager feeling the ether.

"Liang Wuji!" shouted the Witch of the Black Mountain.

The teenager opened his eyes and looked at the demonic monster in front of him. He was shocked, "You are…"

Before Liang Wuji finished speaking, the Witch of the Black Mountain had smacked him into a pool of blood. His lingering willpower was echoing around,

"What on earth did I do wrong?"

Feeling satisfied, the Witch of the Black Mountain clasped his hands behind his back and activated the Seven-Kill Tablet again to return to the future.

Following the death of Liang Wuji, the Master of the Sect of Ether had changed to a different person. Although Sun Junlin was training hard, after all, he was not talented enough to attain the highest realm, The Rise of Yellow Sky. As a result, he dared not challenge the Witch of the Black Mountain, therefore he was still alive and kicking.

Meng Qi came and became an experienced senior of the Sect of Ether who had just finished the Isolated Practice. He explored the Lanruo Temple with Sun Junlin, and there was little change in the things that happened subsequently. Also, Meng Qi's identity had been changed in the memories of Yan Chixia, the Foolish Monk, and others.

However, in the world of Nangong Chong, the person in the video was still the Master of the Sect of Ether!

"…so he really went back to the past… but the change in the timeline is only limited to the current universe…" although Meng Qi was aware of these changes, his old memory was not affected at all.

He finally understood why his memory was not changed - it was because of the Seal of the Dao!

The seal was the cause of all results, the source of all things, and the beginning of all changes!

Meng Qi was getting used to the changes caused by the tablet. With the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, he looked at the empty area in front of him and said to himself,

"Killing Liang Wuji has got nothing to do with me, though…"