The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Inside the spacious cabin with the fresh flowers and beauties, the Night Emperor was holding a chess piece in his right hand, his eyes filled with passion for great things. Everything was poetic and dreamy, but the inspecting ambassador of the Heavenly Way Alliance Yin Feilong was unable to appreciate this scene, his mind filled with various thoughts and wild guesses.

The Night Emperor seemed to be implying something, could he really have discovered that matter?

But it cannot be determined just like that, there's also a high chance that he's just acting mysteriously. There's a need to test further…

Hu Yanran smiled out of politeness as she said, "Mister Lishang, you're a supreme in today's world. How would we be able to guess a supreme's thinking? It's just that the Island of Ten Magnificence is my teacher's residence, and you not paying my teacher a visit upon arrival would invite malicious gossip."

She avoided Meng Qi's question, pointing at the core of the question euphemistically and politely.

Meng Qi held a chess piece with his thumb and index finger, smiling jovially, "The Island of Ten Magnificence has the largest offshore street system, its port is opened to all martial arts practitioners and marine passengers, but I'm the only exception?"

Well… Hu Yanran was speechless. The Island of Ten Magnificence had indeed no rules stating that Dharmakayas were forbidden, but couldn't the Night Emperor consider her teacher's feelings and also the possibility of a conflict?

It is said that the Night Emperor is unrestrained by formalities and does whatever pleases him. Indeed there's a reason behind this, and looking at things now, it is certainly the case!

Facing a Dharmakaya whom no one knew what he would do next, Hu Yanran didn't dare to use her teacher, the Heavenly Way Alliance, and also the five old deities to push others, in case it backfired.

All of a sudden, the place was quiet and the atmosphere became strangely awkward. But Meng Qi was relaxed and composed as he appreciated the contemplating beauty with knitted brows, showing no signs of contempt in his eyes.

Yunyue who was serving at the side gave it a quick thought before interrupting smilingly, "Sister Yanran, you're well-known for your beauty and it is indeed true now that I've seen it. I really pale in comparison to you."

When exchanging identities, Huo Lishang had mentioned not to provoke a Dharmakaya supreme, because the strength transmitted through the Thousand Illusion Mask was limited and could easily result in blunders. Therefore, Yunyue and the others dared not provoke the Yin Master's people. Seeing the situation turn bad, she quickly chipped in to liven up the atmosphere.

With her taking the lead, Liushang, Xiapei, and the other concubines also joined in the conversation, and the place was suddenly bustling. They chatted from Hu Yanran to the Yin Master, and from the Island of Ten Magnificence to the different islands and cultures of the Seven Seas, including the exotic plants and remains of various residences. Hu Yanran made use of this opportunity to get out of the situation, chatting happily. Meng Qi also chipped in from time to time, and everything became merry and joyous.

Yin Feilong listened quietly at the side, his mind filled with numerous thoughts. Testing such things required much intelligence — he couldn't talk too much and let others discover any secrets or clues, and also couldn't harp on unrelated matters as that would be of no use. Knowing how much to say and when to stop was a challenge.

After thinking for a while, he had a plan. He caught on Liushang's words and joined in the chat smilingly, "I've also visited many remains and mausoleums these few years and discovered some ancient books. Their descriptions of the Seven Seas and Twenty-Eight Worlds were strange and mysterious, and very thought-provoking."

"What kind of descriptions are they?" Yunyue asked curiously, showing her pretty dimples.

Yin Feilong looked at Meng Qi, only to see the Night Emperor smiling cooly as usual, showing no change at all. Hence, he pretended to ponder a bit before saying, "They described the Seven Seas and Twenty-Eight Worlds as the real world, the real pure land or the Heaven of Daluo."

Speaking until here, he stared at Meng Qi's eyes, wanting to see if the Night Emperor had any unusual reaction, but those eyes were dark and deep like an illusory night sky without any ripples.

"Real world, real pure land, Heaven of Daluo…the wordings and terms seemed to reveal the specificity of our world…" Hu Yanran seemed to have heard this kind of description for the first time, while Yunyue, Liushang and the other concubines were also surprised and curious.

Real world, real pure land, Heaven of Daluo… this outside celestial world sounds interesting… Yin Feilong and the Yin Master seemed to have some unusual secrets… Qu Baimei's death was probably not so simple, it wasn't just about the identity exposure of a member of the Immortal World or the leak of the Golden Turtle Island matter… Meng Qi was a little affected from listening, but his emotions were completely masked by his slow-beating heart.

He slowly placed the chess pieces in his hand onto the chessboard, forming a huge dragon, before looking back at Yin Feilong with a smile, "You're indeed knowledgeable, Ambassador Yin."

Having said that, he looked around at Hu Yanran, Youhu, etc., with a faint smile, as though solving the doubts of the beauties, "Dao encompasses everything; there is nothing else before or other than it. There are no words to describe it, as everything said would be wrong. One just needs to know that every living thing is born from Dao; spiritual by nature but polluted by external factors, like a wanderer far away from home and unable to return to it, which is extremely sad."

"From the beginning of Dao, heaven and earth separated — clean air rose to become the Nine Levels of Heaven while foul air went down to become the nine realms of hell. The middle became the four elements which formed where we are, which is the most basic part. The other worlds derived from here, changing their rules as the air here changes. Thus, they are not stable and have a feeling of unreal. In contrast, here is real and unchanged since ancient times, hence the real world."

"In the real world, the 'ego' is the 'self,' and the remaining breathing ones in the world would be 'additional selves'… although an 'additional self' could also turn into a 'self'… it serves to show the eminence of the real world, which is also the Legendary path."

Meng Qi used words that corresponded to the Night Emperor's identity to describe the real world, which weren't accurate enough but sufficient to make people understand.

Hu Yanran's eyes shone from listening, looking as though she had a great realization. The Seven Seas and Twenty-Eight Worlds had endless inheritance, so she had a certain understanding of the Legendary path. However, the manuals and scriptures were often difficult to understand unless one had attained a certain level. But now, the Night Emperor describing the real world with the help of the Legendary path had made her completely understand what the Legendary path, as well as 'self' and 'additional self' were. Similarly, she had also understood the concept of the real world.

Yunyue and Liushang, etc., looked at one another blankly after listening. The Night Emperor would usually also mention related things, but had never been this clear and thorough and had never talked about the term real world. To think this fake Night Emperor actually knew so many secrets!

He's a member of a mysterious organization, so it's not unusual for him to know so many secrets… they consoled themselves this way.

Yin Feilong lost himself from listening, and his mind only had one thought:

The Night Emperor knew!

The Night Emperor knew about that matter!

With thoughts running and his brain feeling as though it was boiling, Yin Feilong forced a smile and said, "I've made a fool of myself in front of the expert talking about the real world in front of Mister Lishang. It's getting late now, we shall make a move."

Meng Qi looked at him smilingly without saying much. Although Yin Feilong was a guru, there was still Yin Master Xu Bei above him so he wouldn't know many secrets. It was good to let him go back and report so as to see the Yin Master's reaction.

Yin Feilong and Hu Yanran bowed and walked toward the outside the cabin. Just before reaching the door, Yin Feilong's expression changed and suddenly turned back, saying in a low voice, "Yin Master will come and visit you."

Meng Qi nodded lightly and looked composed, but the faces of Yunyue, Liushang, etc., changed color.

After Yin Feilong and Hu Yanran left, Yunyue immediately turned and showed a pair of cute canine teeth, "Master, you can't provoke the Yin Master. He has the Ten Directional Netherworld Eyes, and might see through the Thousand Illusion Mask!"

"Even if the Ten Directional Netherworld Eyes doesn't live up to its name, the Yin Master could still see through the loophole after being in contact for a while," Liushang also said worriedly.

Didn't we tell you not to provoke a Dharmakaya supreme?

Do you really think you're the real Night Emperor, a real Dharmakaya supreme?

No matter how convincing a person in disguise is, he could be exposed the next moment under such circumstances!

"Master, shall we, shall we just leave?" Youhu said anxiously.

Looking at the slightly blaming and worried eyes of each of them, Meng Qi said calmly, "At this stage, if we leave hastily, wouldn't the Yin Master notice something wrong and come after us?"

"Just take things as they come, you don't have to go on any further."

The expressions of Yunyue, Liushang and the other concubines changed a few times before they forced a smile and asked to be excused. It was only after they exited the cabin and arrived at a sea of flowers that their faces fell.

"This person really doesn't know the immensity of things. The Ten Directional Netherworld Eyes are known for seeing through changes," Yunyue said angrily.

Liushang pouted and pulled a long face as she said, "Master had already told him not to provoke a Dharmakaya supreme, he really thinks that he is the Night Emperor?"

"Forget it, Master is known to be unrestrained by formalities, and exchanging identities isn't really something important. Let the Yin Master see through and ridicule all he wants." Xiapei whispered.

They did their best to treat him as the real Night Emperor, but he kept doing things that took them by surprise and made all of their acting look unconvincing.

"We don't have a choice." Yunyue and the rest sighed.

…

"Old Deity, the Night Emperor had indeed found out about that incident. He already knew what the real world is exactly," Yin Feilong reported back to the Yin Master, Xu Bei.

Inside the green pond with ripples, a face appeared and became taller, turning quickly into a man in a black Taoist robe covering his whole body. The surrounding became dark as the lights were all absorbed.

"I'll go meet Huo Lishang then," the Yin Master cast his gaze on the port.

At this moment, Yin Feilong reminded, "Old Deity, you have to take precautions that he might be a member of the Immortal World, Heavenly Lord Yuanshi."

…

As the chilly wind blew, a black silhouette appeared at the bow of the Night Emperor's ship. Xiapei who was standing guard beside the cabin door suddenly shivered before saying nervously, "Welcome, Old Deity. Master is waiting for you."

The Yin Master took a glance at Xiapei and felt it was strange that she lacked boldness. He had heard that the Night Emperor had spoiled his concubines until they all had bad tempers. This concubine shouldn't be so afraid of him with the Night Emperor backing her up.

The Yin Master stepped into the cabin feeling puzzled. At this moment, he saw only darkness in front of him, as though he had come to nighttime from daytime, and into the starry sky from the Seven Seas. In the dark night, a man in white was sitting up straight and his breathing was deep, as though he was a deity dominating this world, looking solemn and immense.

The Night Emperor had another breakthrough? The Yin Master's heart skipped a beat. This feeling was no less than seeing the Primeval Deity!

Xiapei who followed in was rooted to the ground. This… this is the real master who has returned?

…

Yin Feilong returned to his own mansion, pacing back and forth in a quiet room as he pondered over the Night Emperor's purpose in coming and whether he was a member of a mysterious organization.

Maybe he would wear the mask of Heavenly Lord Yuanshi to deal with him?

Right at this moment, he suddenly felt a chilly wind behind him. Walking over subconsciously, he saw a black-robed man standing in the corner, his face wearing the mask of Heavenly Lord Taiyi.

Oh no!

It's Heavenly Lord Taiyi who came from the Immortal World!

The Night Emperor isn't a member of the Immortal World!

Yin Feilong was enveloped by darkness just as this thought came up.