The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

When Hasula was trapped within the World in the Sleeve, he was fully aware of what was happening around him. He understood he encountered an attack that was made by manipulating space. He could predict the possible changes what would occur. Since Su Meng dared to come, he definitely had a way to escape by seizing the various opportunities. The alliance between the grassland and Zuo Dao would be in chaos as Hasula was captured. This allowed the Sword-Enshrining tower to take a breather.

When he thought of these, blood rushed to his face. He felt that he was humiliated as he was filled with self-reproach. If only he felt that he was less proud, he would not think that he could block the strike from Su Meng. He would have chosen to dodge, which would result in a different outcome. Not to say that Su Meng would be completely surrounded, but at least the situation would not be as chaotic.

Damn that guy! The reason he dared to do so even, though he just promoted to the Realm of Guru, was because he had many adventures. Once Hasula escaped the trap, he would show Su Meng who was boss! Hasula swore that he would break out of the barrier and was determined to do so. He turned around and slashed out his sword. These slashes looked like lightning in the dark night.

Dong! Meng Qi sliced the knife that was trailing him from the back.

Hasula looked ferocious. He seemed to be one with his sword, as he slashed towards Meng Qi at the speed multiple times of sound. It looked like a beam of light, so fast that it could not be captured by human senses.

The foundation of his beliefs and his way of the sword were speed. His guru domain was also about speed. When the two came together, it was unimaginable. It was sufficient for a normal human to escape the shackles of Earth and enter the vast cosmos. He was confident that he could run out of the area covered by World in the Sleeve.

For any martial arts in the world, only speed was unbeatable!

Speed did not mean weakness. Instead, things that were fast could cause more damage or create a bigger explosion.

Anger and embarrassment were channelled into energy, as this strike by Hasula was the best he could do. He was at the peak of Exterior Scenery. He had it all: his realm, strength, the power of his dharmakaya and his understanding of martial arts!

Meng Qi only saw a flash of light. Before he could blink, the sword was already right in front of him. He could only tilt his head slightly to avoid the center of the forehead.

Dong! The sword slashed onto the body of Meng Qi's celestial field a hundred feet away. The slash could be seen from the neck to the left elbow, as the reminiscence of the strike glowed light golden. Horrifying waves of air which formed gales tore the golden light apart and pushed the indomitable statue back. It held close to the statue without being shaken off. The gale sliced open the skin, the light golden blood and flesh before slashing onto the glazed shoulder bone.

The slashed ran out of energy once it reached here. It could no longer continue forward as it waited to be recalled for another slash. It had the power to slice the heavens and earth apart, yet it was stuck to the shoulder bone. The flesh and bone held onto it tightly, as it tried to return to the owner slowly. The advantage of speed disappeared quickly.

Seeing that his sabre was stuck onto the flesh and blood, Hasula panicked. Before he could make a decision, he saw a slash of the sword came down hard. It seemed to be channelled for a long time, as seen from how it was rotating in a regular pattern and felt it as though it could cut through everything.

At that instant, he used all his might to get back his treasured sabre. He used the momentum to shift to the right. He had no time to use the Robe of the Golden Tent Warrior.

Crack! A crystal-clear sound was emitted. Hasula saw his own robe of the Golden Tent Warriors had a tear in the elbow area. His mortal flesh felt a chill before his entire left hand fell off. The cut was clean with magical charm.

Boom! The sound of him passing through the layers of airflow just sounded off. Fresh blood gushed out.

Hasula's sword reflected light once more. He retreated high up into the air. He saw Meng Qi holding his Jade-Slashing Sword on his right hand calmly. Meng Qi's face had no signs of any pain as his primordial spirit was shaken and empty. He said coldly,

"A slash for a slash, again!"

I would be a dumbass if I were to do it again! Hasula was not stupid enough to trade slashes with a guy that trained his flesh and blood to the Realm of Guru as he had not lived long enough to die doing so. His flesh and blood were wriggling to stop the flowing of blood at the cut on his broken arm. He became one with his sword once again, as he slashed towards Meng Qi in a beam of light.

This time around, he learnt his lesson. Wanting too much would result in a spill, going overboard would place himself in danger. Hence, he left an adequate amount of leeway. Every slash could only cause white marks on the golden aura. Once he landed a strike, he took cover immediately.

He planned to accumulate the damage done so as to swing the battle in his favour. As Su Meng's body had no shortage of wounds, he could only use his speed to create more wounds. He was impossible to guard against. Finally, he would layer the damage on a single spot to widen and deepen the wound until his sword could penetrate into the internal organs or the head to destroy the world inside or the primordial spirit.

This was one of the best ways to defeat someone who had a powerful body, on par with finding the weak spot of that person.

Meng Qi's left shoulder was more damaged. He could not recover, for now, hence he chose to grow out two extra arms. He held Heaven's Pain and the Dark Turtle sword with both hands. If he could not catch up to Hasula's speed and run him down, he used his sword and channelled the Immobile Golden Lotus to form a blooming lotus. His essence and spirit came out through the acupuncture points in his hands and legs. They were connected to earth a hundred feet below to form an impenetrable defence.

As he stabilized himself, Meng Qi tried to use his physical body to tank the attack. He decided to use the Grand Burial of Galaxies, which was an area of effect skill, to harm Hasula. However, Hasula's speed was so fast that he was already miles away whenever Meng Qi tried to use the skill. He was unaffected as he was far from the center of the explosion. Evil Dispersing Thunder, which was on a similar power level, could only affect about ten miles from the epicenter at Meng Qi's current power level.

The celestial field could not hold out for long. Meng Qi stopped hiding his true powers and activated his guru domain and revealed his dharma.

Instantly, Hasula felt the changes in the sky. Half of it was brightly lit, while the other was completely dark. On the bright side, the sun and the birds could be seen. On the dark side, it was limitlessly deep and contained dense clusters of stars. There were multiple moons, which hid the chaos within.

Under his foot was what the ground which resembled a turtle. There were mountains and rivers around, there was fire and ice, opposite poles of electromagnetism. It looked as though everything was there to manifest another world or numerous galaxies. There was a blurry façade of the mortal world that surrounded Su Meng, while everything else was the world created by Meng Qi.

Before Hasula understood what was happening, he saw layers of space, each coming from a unique world, leave the mortal world and speed behind Su Meng. It condensed all matter, energy, time and space.

The surrounding turned chaotic, as balls of energy were stuck to Hasula. These balls weighed him down, causing him to slow down rapidly. Additionally, there was chaos in time and space, hence, he felt he was restricted in the primal chaos. He could only slash towards Su Meng at a decent speed.

This was the first time Meng Qi completely activated his guru domain ever since he entered the Realm of Guru. When he was fighting against the Vile Heavenly Demon, he only used the initial state of the primal chaos to disrupt the essence of various things. Now he sensed how the unlimited and vast sea of mana was condensing into his Indestructible statue of Yuan Shi. The amount of energy was condensed to the point he himself felt restricted, as though he was going to be suppressed, then collapsed.

The Statue of the Immortal behind Meng Qi sat cross-legged. It felt small or and insignificant. The sea of mana was condensed to its limits, as it exploded together with the physical body and the primordial spirit before reforming back to the original state.

Right then, Yuan Shi opened its eyes. It managed to and entered the state of the Creation of the World. It could split oneself into Yin and Yang and understand the different changes of a world. This was the state of Creation of the World.

Meng Qi was about to slash out as he suddenly thought,

In the end, that was the essence of the singularity of the multiverse?

That's right. According to the makeup of the Interior Realm, the location of each acupuncture point corresponded to each universe. The world within one was closely related to this world: both were born from Yuan Shi.

This way, didn't Yuan Shi seem similar to a Singularity?

Since it was a Singularity, following it shouldn't it be the splitting of Yin and Yang and the formation of the various elements such as fire, wind and water? These should form naturally from the strike, and this strike should blow off from Creation of the World!

At that moment, Meng Qi got a revelation and decided to test it out.

One can only learn from fighting a strong foe and grinding one's skill.

Sensing that the energy and matter around was fully condensed and in control, Meng Qi opened his eyes abruptly as he had an idea in mind. His form remained as his sword slashed out.

This was his desperate move as he left himself no way out. It was a slash that could break anything.

As Hasula's slash attacked Su Meng and his Form of Dao from behind at a good angle and speed, he suddenly saw a slash of light slice open the chaos and was going straight for him.

He was about to raise his sword to parry the attack. He suddenly realized the condensed energy was slashed open by this slash. The energy expanded infinitely and exploded in an unimaginable way.

After the Creation of the World was the Big Bang!

In the Big Bang, Yin and Yang were separated, elements such as earth, fire, wind and water were formed as the matter was born, naturally!

Meng Qi was affected by what he learnt from the Tyrant's Six Decapitations and almost went down the wrong path. There was a difference from his Interior Realm. Luckily, he managed to remain a clear mind.

We could only refer to the Dao of others, but not believe it completely!

As the two strikes collided, the light from Hasula's strike dissipated as wind and waves much time larger than the Big Bang engulfed him!

Boom!

After some time after the collision, the wilderness and mountains surrounding the area were reduced to rubble as though they disappeared from this world. Within an area of a thousand miles, there were many craters. The clouds high above were blown away and only the sun could be seen.

At the bottom of a particular crater, a figure stood up shakily. That was Hasula, with less than half of his hair remaining. He was completely naked, as there were many protruding bones and the uncountable number of wounds and burnt areas. His treasured sabre in his right hand was covered in dust. A small part, the size of a grain of rice, of the blade was chipped off and the whole blade was filled with dents.

He squeezed out everything he had, including all secret techniques, treasures, and skills, that would inflict damage to themselves. He managed to evade the head on the explosion and fend off the Big Bang and survived. However, he was severely wounded and was at the edge of dying. He had difficulty moving.

Suddenly, he saw someone descend as he focused his vision on him. That was Su Meng. He was no longer gigantic with two heads and four arms and reverted back to his normal body. However, his aura was still monstrous and his vision was clear. He was about to slash out towards Hasula.

Again! Hasula was afraid. He gathered all remaining energy, as he became one with his blade. He escaped at the speed one-tenth of that in his prime into the distance, as he disappeared soon after.

After confirming he had really escaped, Meng Qi descended into the crater. He lay there as he did not want to move at all.

He would never try a new, self-created technique in the middle of a fight ever again!

That upgraded Creation of the world drew all strength from him. The Big Bang was not biased and damaged everything in its path. Luckily, he was at the epicenter of the explosion. From there, the fireball explosion travelled in all kinds of directions, but he managed to evade the blast. Even so, he had to squeeze out every single drop of energy to wear the Kunlun Taoist Robe and chant the Arts of Eight-Nine so that he would look unharmed. This also forged a fake vibe and aroused the fear in Hasula's heart to scare him away.

If Hasula stayed, Meng Qi might not have sufficient strength left to chant the Chant of the Heavenly Wills. If that situation arose, he had to use his physical body in order for him to stand a thirty-percent chance of winning. It was not worth the risk, as God knew what other tricks that man had up his sleeve.

However, he was proud that that slash managed to injure a person at the peak of the Exterior Realm, who was only lightly injured and drained. However, even though that move could harm the enemy, it could hurt one's self, too.

Meng Qi spat a mouth of blood as he suffered severe internal injury. He took in the worldly Yuan Qi at a crazy rate in order for him to restore his strength.

…

In a radius of ten thousand miles, we could see the light of axe swings. Sometimes, a black hole formed. At other times, it looked like the realm of the opponent would drop at any time. This forced Sir Luda to be at the disadvantage. However, his sword skills were of a high level by the small structure of his strikes. He could draw power from the vigourous ocean, the five natural elements, as well as the power of the void to fend off against Gu Erduo's Scorpio Axe.

Ever since Gu Erduo activated and used the Power to Banish Fairies, both of them had yet to clash their weapons. Immortal Chonghe found the chance and managed to bring both of them into the fairy-slaying sword formation. Strikes of red, green, black, and whit, were consistently hitting Gu Erduo, as they bent the earth, fire, wind, and water elements. The void was twisted as time dilated. All matters within the vicinity turned into energy and extinguished all the attacks from the axe.

However, as the Scorpio Axe was activated with the Power to Banish Fairies, the different strikes turned to nothing.

Even when Immortal Chonghe and Sir Luda joined power, they were still at a disadvantage against Gu Erduo. They were trying to hold on desperately and waiting for the time limit that Gu Erduo could summon heavenly troops.

As his right hand trembled and he summoned red strikes from his sword, Chonghe saw purple shooting stars streaking across the sky into the horizon. Seeing that the north looked gloomy, he knew that Cui Qinghe and Da Man had died as both anomalies appeared at the same time.

Not every death of a Dharmakaya would result in anomalies; not every method of death would result in an anomaly. However, the sighting of a death anomaly definitely meant a dharmakaya had died!

His vision turned deep and serene, as he recalled the quote that was lingering in his heart for a long time.

"In the sixth death mission, we had successfully killed Mister Luda, Lu Zhi Ping. The reward is a Hao Tian Jing Fragment. Failure will result in death."

…

When Cui Qinghe was struck by the spear Tai Li was wielding, Kong Wen had his hands on the relics which belonged to the Godly Monk Yuan Kong. Each relic was radiating light, coming from the layer of glaze. The Golden-Bodied Luohan expanded as though it was going to fill up the entire sky. The vague voice of the Buddha reverberated through the body right down to the very core.

"All life was born clean. It cannot start or destroy itself. Even if the life was born of from a mirage, it cannot sin or be blessed.

The White Tiger Demon King was shocked. As the idea appeared, he almost blurted out, "Self-sacrifice! Is the Bald Kong Wen asking to die?"

The Giant Golden Buddha face had no emotion though it was emphasizing with all lifeforms. He opened the meditative mind and raised his right hand. His fingers made a shape as though they were pinching a flower. An imaginary Borneo that was golden in colour fell right between the fingers.

The scene was filled with zen as though it was depicting a profound truth which could not be described in words.

The White Tiger Demon King and the Demon Bull Kui were stunned. Millions of thoughts went through their heads and they felt as though they understood the concept of emptiness, the meaning behind the Combination of the four elements and Twelve Wisdom. Their minds and bodies felt at ease, as though the Realm of self, Realm of destruction, Realm of Huan Xi and Realm of Peace, were only one step away.

The Smiling Flower technique used was even closer to the original meaning of zen.

Kong Wen waved his right hand that he used to pinch the Borneo Flower and formed a palm. He attacked toward the Tiger Demon King and the Demon Bull Kui as though he was trying to give a warning.

As the zen sound changed and became more empty,

"The heart will create all rules and destroy all rules!"

In the sound of Zen, the purple lightning in the void, all weapons and elements were destroyed at will, as everything turned to emptiness!

Slap! The already heavily injured White Tiger Demon King was struck right at the centre of the head by that slap. He woke up immediately and realised he himself did not comprehend the zen.

"Wah!" The tiger howled in a shrill way. The howl pierced the clouds. Even though the skull of the White Tiger Demon King did not split into two, it was still sunken. It felt as though its primordial spirit was about to scatter in the wind. Its soul sank into dead silence, as it saw nothing but darkness. The soul and spirit were destroyed.

It flew back but did not die as it had a strong physical body. However, he lost the ability to fight and was at the edge of death.

Kong Wen did not chase him down to ensure that it was dead. He took a step forward as all five fingers in his right hand closed together to form a point. Right then, a colourless flame burnt the dharmakaya of Cui Qinghe to nothing. As heaven and earth sensed this, it sent a purple shooting star streaking across the night sky. Tai Li lifted his spear and pierced upwards which burnt away the Formation of Nature. Purple lightning used the flame as fuel, while the flame used the stars as fuel. The formation soon was fragmented and shattered.

He had to use this time when the Self Sacrifice was still in effect to severely injure the Demon King of Peacocks, Tai Li!

The vision of the Demon King White Tiger was blurred and he finally came about. When he saw the Demon King Bull Kui gave up on surrounding Immortal Yun He and came over to support, his relaxed a little. After forming the Demon Alliance, they stopped trying to kill each other.

Right then, a clean and transparent finger appeared in the void and tapped him on the shoulder.

Kong Ling's voice sounded off immediately, "All shall return to the saviour in the other realm."

Blood was drained from the Demon King White Tiger and flowed into this finger and his body withered rapidly. He saw an emotionless pair of eyes as he turned around, shocked.

The Wizard King of this World had a taunting look in his eyes. Even if Death Finger could not absorb Zuo Dao's dharmakaya, but the Dao could if the target was the sneaky group of demon kings.

From what happened today, improving one's strength was of the utmost importance!

The Demon King White Tiger was shocked and angry but fell into eternal darkness soon after.

The Demon King Bull Kui brandished his huge electric hammer. However, all of the flesh and blood of the Demon King White Tiger were absorbed into the dharmakaya of the Wizard King of this World and pushed his power level up.

The Wizard King of this World entered the void and appeared behind the Demon King Bull Kui. He used his two, transparent daggers and battled the demon.

Immortal Yun He used the Shang Qing Immemorial Talisman and set up layers of formations to battle the Blood Sea Rakshasa.

The Demon King of Peacock, Tai Li, saw the Giant Golden Buddha spring forth. He smiled coldly as he used the Finger of formless Calamity. Colours of red, green, yellow, white, and black, appeared simultaneously.

Even though he had yet to complete the Holy Light of Five colours, his opponent was not the real Buddha

The five colours brushed past the Giant Golden Buddha, as the Buddha was swallowed instantly.

Tai Li was in the real Demon King mode. He held in his hands two holy spears as he was trying to shake off Kong Wen and replicate the battle with Cui Qinghe. The five colours behind him suddenly trembled. It was split from the centre and showed a statue of a Golden-Bodied Luohan which seemed like a Buddha.

The Golden-Bodied Luohan reached out and grabbed the two wings that Tai Li had and smashed his head downwards.

This was the most common move in Shaolin. It was the Art of Iron Head. However, Kong Wen used it at the most appropriate time possible.

Bang! Tai Li was stuck so hard his back was twisted. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he stabbed his spear upwards to avoid the Giant Golden Buddha.

After he performed the Self-Sacrifice, his power level was close to that of a Bodhisattva!

…

Outside the Sword-Enshrining Tower, the grassland forces and the Zuo Dao alliance decided to send five gurus to support Hasula, which included three Golden Tent Warriors and two shamans. The remaining forces would continue to attack the Sword-Enshrining Tower in order to take over in the shortest amount of time possible.

"I am Gao Lan, King of the Great Zhou. Wherever there is a citizen of the Great Zhou dynasty, there will also be me!"

A majestic voice resonated in the ears of the head of the Cao family. The head of the Cao family, who was controlling the remains of the earth fairy, passed the electric purple Bo to the remaining gurus to defend their home just in case someone decided to ambush the backlines.

Right then, he heard that familiar voice. Two tears streaked down his cheek as he had a ruthless smile that was filled with relief. He activated the remains of the earth fairy and made it explode!

According to the pact, internal fighting would result in death. However, if one was not even afraid of death, why care about the pact?

The remains of the earth fairy expanded in size. When current Huan Xi Bodhisattva the rest realised, they reacted in fear. Some tried to run away while others tried to stop the explosion.

Boom! A sea of flames and light devoured an area of thousands of miles. Tens of thousands of feet up in the sky and down into the ground were also burnt. The silhouette of the Lan He Temple began to turn fuzzy.

The head of the Cao family felt pain all around his body as his vision was blurred. His primordial spirit was about to dissipate, as he was only left with a few thoughts in mind.

The situation of the middle forces of the North Zhou Dynasty and grassland experienced a great change today.

Xian Zhi, your death was not in vain!

The emperor will look after the Cao family and he will reward them with unique martial arts!

As for the current situation, one who was not improving would deteriorate!

…

Mister Luda was using all his might to keep Gu Erduo occupied. He would feel tired if he continuously used his strong heavenly troops. His resources were consumed at a slower rate. If he continued to keep this stable pace of attack, Gu Erduo would be heavily injured and forced to retreat.

At the moment, he felt that there was a shift in the space-time continuum. It originated from the Immortal Chonghe.

"What?" Using his sword to protect himself, he did not struggle as he realised he was shifted out of the Fairy-slaying sword formation even though he did not understand the reason behind Chonghe's actions.

He saw the Immortal Chonghe pushed out of his Dao crest. He ignited his primordial spirit as the colours of red, green, black, and white, in the Fairy-slaying sword formation began to shine brightly. It closed in on Gu Erduo.

Gu Erduo felt that besides destruction, the formation radiated something different. It gave rise to layers of changes, as each change bore the power to devour all matter and energy, even more than that of his axe. This trend did not seem reversible, as everything became more chaotic. The amount of energy was dropping steadily as everything was on the path to nothingness. At the end of the day, perhaps Gu Erduo's own dharmayaka would be devoured.

He activated the Scorpion Axe and the Power to Banish Fairies. He could only delay the inevitable, but soon he joined in the chaos.

"What is Chonghe doing?" He looked up into the sky. Even though he could not see Chonghe's figure, he could still feel a pair of calm eyes on him.

Chonghe fused his consciousness into the formation as his dharmakaya added fuel to the rampage. His heart was calm. Suddenly, he recalled an event in the past.

When he first entered the cycle of incarnation, he was just an ordinary disciple of the Pure Yang Sect. He could only survive thanks to the help from brother Ziyun.

Back then, everyone was fascinated by how magical incarnation was, as it gave them a wonderful experience. No one was lost in what to do. However, Brother Ziyun was the first to be stressed. He had a question. If the master of the Six Dao of Samsara gave him a mission that went against his morals, such as killing his own family or betraying his sect, what should he do?

At that point of time, Chonghe did not understand the significance of the question, hence he did not answer. Brother Ziyun could not come up with an answer, as he died.

Today, he went through all the vicissitudes of life. He finally understood and could give brother Ziyun an answer.

The Fairy-slaying sword formation was overflowing in energy. The dharmakaya of Chonghe and the formation fused as his consciousness started drifting. He answered his past doubts,

"Since ancient times, the most difficult thing to do is to accept death peacefully!"

Chonghe said in a calm, modest and upright way.