The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The moon was high up in the sky, and the surroundings were covered with faintly discernible smoke. The huge lake was like a mirror with tiny silver scales, its quietness made people feel relaxed and happy.

A figure stood proudly on the peak, overlooking the lake and the night scenery. The clouds were hanging upside down in the sky, rotating and rising upward, looking magnificent.

“The past twenty years were like just a day, so what if there are ups and downs in life?” the figure let out a sigh that sounded both emotional and joyful.

Behind him were over ten to twenty people – there were beggars with disheveled hair, monks in kasayas, priests in plain robes, and men and women in various attires of the pugilistic world.

Among them,a scholar-like man smiled and said, “So, what if there are ups and downs in life? Master Yu, you have comprehended the difficulty of life and death, understood the meaning of emptiness and touched the Door of the Celestial World. Your state of mind has really gone up another level.”

“Master Yu no longer needs to depend on other people’s internal functional activities, and can fly up anytime and anywhere. He is the first person capable of doing so in thousands of years in the pugilistic world. Of course, so what if there are ups and downs in life…” the woman in royal court attire next to him smiled, not hiding her respect for him but also showed quite a bit of resentment.

Yu Banshan was the head of the Golden Lake Sect, the current leader of the martial arts world. He had shown a powerful manner since he started, sweeping the world in ten years and had not met any match, and was called the number one person in a thousand years. After that, he stepped out of the pugilistic world and seldom fought with others, but instead competed with himself and heaven. After spending ten years, he finally surpassed the predecessors and reached the level of flying up by himself today, the purpose of inviting his friends was to bid farewell.

He turned around, his clothes were simple, and there was a green jade ruler hanging at his waist. He was almost forty but didn’t look old at all, adding a mature charm instead to the fine young man in the past. His eyes were like a sea with hidden glow and unpredictable depth, making the various pugilistic world experts feel a sense of powerlessness like they were facing the heaven and earth.

“Having reached this level, if I don’t open the door before me and see what there is at the end of the martial arts journey, I will definitely die with regrets. I have to take this step no matter how much I cannot bear to do so,” Yu Banshan looked up at the sky, his presence and the rolling sea of ​​clouds looked majestic and spectacular.

He bid farewell to his good friends.

The woman in the royal court attire who spoke just now showed undispellable confusion and loss, forcing a smile, “I wonder what the Celestial World is like? Can immortals be seen everywhere?”

Fantasizing about the Celestial World and the situation after flying to heaven was a common thing for every martial arts practitioner. Now, Yu Banshan was setting off there to experience it personally, so it was inevitable that everyone in the room was curious.

Legend has it that the Celestial World was full of exotic flowers and plants as well as spiritual treasures. The celestial beings there were powerful and lived for eternity!

Yu Banshan laughed, “The Celestial World must be different from the mortal world, I only hope to have the chance to talk about the path of Taoism with an immortal.”

His tone was full of yearning.

After bidding farewell to each and everyone, Yu Banshan stared at the woman in royal court attire and said with a smile, “Jinxiu, I’ve let you down for half my life, would you like to go to the Celestial World together with me?”

Go to the Celestial World together? Everyone around them were stunned. Yu Banshan could fly up to heaven without the help of others and also bring along one person?

What level of cultivation and realm is this!

The eyes of the woman in royal court attire, Qi Jinxiu, suddenly turned foggy. It took her a long while before she nodded and choked sobs, “I know, I know that you are devoted in martial arts practice. I have never really blamed you for the past decade…”

Looking at Yu Banshan’s right hand that was stretched out, she took a step forward and held his hand, standing side by side with him and leaning against the cliff, looking really like a loving couple in the misty surroundings.

Yu Banshan nodded his head again bidding farewell as he held Qi Jinxiu by the waist. The surrounding wind and clouds experienced sudden changes, and the moonlight was being hidden.

Bang!

A purple thunder fell from the sky, mighty and unstoppable, illuminating the surface of the lake until it looked like daytime. Only the edge of the cliff was foggy and unclear, showing a faint air of supremacy.

After the lightning died off and everything was calm, Yu Banshan and Qi Jinxiu were already gone.

Everyone sighed, fantasizing about the Celestial World, feeling lost and hesitant.

From today onwards, Yu Banshan and Qi Jinxiu are considered ranked as celestial beings?

…

The void cracked open, showing deep and dark swirls. Yu Banshan seized the fleeting opportunity, rushing through the space-time barrier.

His primordial spirit became dizzy and his vision blurred. By the time he recovered his senses, he found himself and Qi Jinxiu in the barren hills, surrounded by trees and greenery. Spirituality filled heaven and earth, making people feel relaxed.

“This is the Celestial World?” Qi Jinxiu looked around, full of curiosity.

This is the legendary Celestial World?

Yu Banshan closed his eyes and sensed for a while, before saying with some delight, “This is indeed the Celestial World, filled with air of vitality. PractiCing here for a month is better than a year in the past.”

“Really?” Qi Jinxiu tried breathing in and out, and immediately showed joy on her face, “It’s indeed the Celestial World!”

Here, there was hope for her to comprehend the difficulty of life and death and to understand the meaning of emptiness!

“Also, look at the sky,” Yu Banshan pointed at the sky again.

Qi Jinxiu stared at it, only to see the night sky full of stars, but every star was as big as the lamp hanging in front of her eyes. They seemed not far away, were as bright as the moon, and not like something that belonged to the original world.

“Sure enough, it is the Celestial World…” Qi Jinxiu no longer had doubts.

At this moment, she looked across and noticed an ordinary Taoist temple not far away, covered by trees and hidden in the night.

“Brother Yu, there is a Taoist temple over there. It’s late at night now and we are not familiar with the Celestial World. Shall we ask to stay there for the night and wait till dawn?” Qi Jinxiu suggested.

Yu Banshan pondered for a while and said, “The spiritual air in the Celestial World is so abundant, there must be many beasts that have become spirits, and it is really dangerous to walk through the deserted hills at night. Let’s go over.”

Hearing Yu Banshan agree, Qi Jinxiu hesitated instead, “Brother Yu, we do not know if the head of the Taoist temple is good or evil, it is equally dangerous to hastily ask to stay for the night just like this.”

Yu Banshan laughed, “Not an issue, if the power of the Taoist master is higher than me, he would have already noticed by now and we also wouldn’t be able to escape now. Let’s take things as they come.”

Qi Jinxiu’s wish for many years was fulfilled in a day and was at the stage of feeling that she would die without regrets. Seeing Yu Banshan’s firmness, she said nothing more, holding hands with him like a young couple as they walked toward the Taoist temple.

When they got close, they finally saw the inscribed board. On it were three huge words, “Jade Mirage Palace!”

“The name sounds very much like Taoism…” Yu Banshan believed more so that the head of the Taoist temple wasn’t an evil person, and gently knocked the door under the stars.

Knock knock knock.

The knocking sound echoed. After a moment, a lazy voice was heard, “Who is it?”

“My wife and I lost the way while passing by this place and do not dare to walk further late at night, so we could only ask to stay here for the night if it’s convenient,” as they were at an unfamiliar place, Yu Banshan dared not disclose they had flown up here.

After waiting for a while more, the door creaked and slowly opened backward.

“Ah?” the door had just opened when Qi Jinxiu exclaimed and took a step back, almost falling on the steps, but was fortunately pulled by Yu Banshan.

Behind the door was a monster! A green monster with green branches!

Yu Banshan controlled the turbulence in his mind as he stared at the other party with caution, not striking rashly.

“Why are you shouting? Haven’t you seen a Daqinggen spirit before?” the monster who opened the door snorted. “Master asked you go to the guest hall to rest.”

The people here can get the tree spirits to guard the door, it’s indeed the Celestial World! Yu Banshan and Qi Jinxiu look at each other. Seeing the monster wasn’t frightening, their fear lessened and felt more emotional instead.

With Daqinggen leading the way, they walked around the wall and walked through the courtyard, ready to go to the guest room. At this moment, the sharp Yu Banshan saw through the wall a pool of blossoming lotus flowers. Just seeing made him feel like he could smell the fragrance. A green-robed priest with a wooden hairpin on his head was sitting next to the pool. Raising his left hand, he seemed to be talking to it while his right hand was playing with a fruit that seemed to reflect starlight.

He is the head of this Taoist temple? Yu Banshan nodded thoughtfully. At the same time, he listened attentively and seemed to hear the head of the temple asking, “What is the origin of this fruit? What uses does it have?”

Following his gaze, Qi Jinxiu also saw this scene. After entering the guest hall and sending away Daqinggen, she laughed, “The head of the temple seemed quite strange, he was actually talking to his left hand.”

Did he think that his left hand had turned into a human?

“Let’s not speculate about matters of the Celestial World,” Yu Banshan didn’t say much as they were in someone else’s Taoist temple after all.

Qi Jinxiu said, “Brother Yu, should we pay the head of the temple a visit and find out more about the Celestial World.”

“Not for the time being, this will expose ourselves. We shall go to crowded places and slowly explore after leaving this Taoist temple,” with a rich experience in the pugilistic world, Yu Banshan exercised caution.

Qi Jinxiu nodded and said, “Also, this Taoist temple looks ordinary, we most likely wouldn’t be able to find out anything important.”

The two didn’t say anything all night but meditated until dawn when they walked out of the guest hall and hadn’t had the chance to meet the head of the temple. Under the guidance of Daqinggen, they finally found their way to get out of the mountain, reaching the city at the foot of the mountain in an hour.

Before entering the city, Yu Banshan and Qi Jinxiu saw silhouettes flying across the sky, some sitting on flying birds made of copper and iron, some had wings on their back, some were stepping on auspicious clouds, and some had hidden swords.

This made Qi Jinxiu, who was still unable to convey, open her eyes and exclaimed after a long while, “It’s really a sign of the Celestial World!”

Seeing this scene, Yu Banshan was also pleased and excited.

The two had just entered the city holding hands when someone next to them passed them a document. They looked at it and saw that it was a Great Mountain Sect Recruitment Brochure.

Recruitment Brochure? What’s this? The two looked blankly at each other, feeling lost.

Is this a custom of the Celestial World?