The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Once Xuan Zhen agreed to take over, Meng Qi was not so concerned any more. He left for Happycloud Heights straightaway.

“I think I just did a selfless good deed without asking for a reward…”  He thought about his action in a playful manner as he entered the heights.

“Knock, knock.” He heard someone knocking as he walked passed the screen wall facing the gate of the heights. As he stopped subconsciously to take a look at the gate, a familiar figure came to view as the side gate was being pulled open.

Upon recognizing the new visitor, he flashed a bright smile and walked towards the gate, saying, “I assumed you would only arrive in two more days Who would have thought that you have reached so soon?”

The new visitor was Jiang Zhiwei. She was in her favorite light yellow dress with her long thick hair tied up casually. The image of her holding her long sword was so beautiful and radiant, free and easy.

Zhiwei had opened all nine of her Apertures since the end of their last mission. As Meng Qi saw her again after all this time, he felt that she had kept her talent in swordsmanship. Instead of looking sharp and imposing, she had become more composed and unfettered. Even though others may not be able to recognize her as a swordsman at first glance now, Meng Qi could still imagine her valiant figure and the impressive burst of energy she would give off as she used a sword.

“You know how impatient I was when I knew I could challenge Shapeless Sword!” Zhiwei smiled at Meng Qi as she continued, “Your travels to the South also ended so quickly.”

“I guess I have been a really idle person.” Meng Qi joked.

Seeing Jiang Zhiwei’s outstanding demeanor and that the two were really close friends, the gatekeeper faintly guessed their identities and rushed inside to report their arrival. The two were left alone to ca up.

“Are you also going to reside in Happycloud Heights?” Meng Qi asked.

Jiang Zhiwei shook her head in denial and said, “Ying City is considered the Capital of Ling County, hence the Sword Pavilion here under my sect can provide me with accommodation. There is no need to trouble Shapeless Sword on this matter.”

She was not afraid of the pressure given off by He Jiu, and she simply felt no need for lodging at another’s place when she had her own place to reside in.

After chatting about everything they had been through for the past few months, Meng Qi used Secret Voice-sending technique to tell Zhiwei that The Myths had set their eyes on Senior Brother Qi and himself.

He did not mention the grudge borne in the Samsara World nor the Demoness Gu, but especially emphasized Dongyang Villa, for he was afraid that the Exterior-level masters of Eastern Sea in Happycloud Heights might eavesdrop on their conversation. If the secrets of the Samsara World was known to others, Zhiwei and himself would be obliterated, hence he had to find another time to talk to Zhiwei about these things in detail.

Jiang Zhiwei sensed that Meng Qi was hiding something on purpose, for she knew it was almost impossible for Qi Zhengyan to escape solely with his own capabilities. At the same time, she also understood that there were reasons for Meng Qi to hold back certain things, so she replied in a serious manner, “I will report this matter to my sect to see if it is possible to seek assistance from my Uncle Masters in charge of the River East. Meanwhile, please take caution when you are outside.”

“Sure.” Meng Qi nodded and continued, “By the way, I have also come to know of Wolf King’s whereabouts.”

He then told Zhiwei about his encounter with the Beggar Sect.

“Wolf King…” The desire to challenge a powerful master glinted in Zhiwei’s eyes, but that eagerness was soon replaced by a sigh as she said, “It’s a shame he is injured now.”

She really wanted to have a fight with Wolf King that would push both of them to risk their lives. However, she knew that Wolf King would not fight her in the way she wanted, he would prefer to hide his presence in the dark, and wait until the perfect moment for him to land a deadly strike as his opponent arrived.

“I will ask my sectmates in this area to help us with the search. Once his whereabouts are confirmed, we will execute our attack.” Jiang Zhiwei knew about the incident where Wolf King tried to murder Meng Qi with a sneak-attack, so she did not hesitate to decide to joint in the assault on him in return. That was called an eye for an eye.

Meng Qi first nodded at her plan, then reminded her immediately, Consider the case in which there may be an ambush. It is safer to have one more person to assist us with our plan. Hmm, I think Brother Wang Zai from Zhou County would be suitable.”

“Wang Zai’s father is the youngest Great Master in the Wang family. As the current Minister of Revenue, he is definitely one with authority and status. If anyone wanted to do harm to him, they must be prepared to face the potential consequences first. Moreover, with Unstoppable Strike, Unmovable Strike and Nine Saint Swordplay techniques, he should absolutely not be underestimated in his strength. If he ever encounters strong opponents, he may even be able to beat them better than I do!” 

When Meng Qi did not use the Standing Still technique derived from Wuji Seal, his area of focus would be Protection, while Wang Zai’s area of focus was Defense, the difference was that Wang Zai would be able to respond to the attacks while preventing himself from being harmed.

They finished the conversation quickly and moved on to casual chit-chat. After a while, the gatekeeper returned to invite Jiang Zhiwei to meet He Jiu. Meng Qi naturally decided to accompany her.

The wound on He Jiu’s neck had almost fully recovered, and there was no more bandaging around it, nor did it appear to be hideous.

Meng Qi could tell with just one glance that his injury was definitely much worse than what he called a “flesh wound”. Half of his neck could have been broken if the wound was any deeper.

However, he was certain that Wolf King’s injury had to be even more serious, since his injury had affected his movements, forcing him to expose a bit about his whereabouts. On the other hand, He Jiu’s behavior did not seem to be affected by his injury at all. Moreover, Wolf King had to seek help from the Beggar Sect to find the medicine for his wounds, while He Jiu’s wound had healed rather quickly simply by resting.

Meng Qi also guessed that the cure Wolf King brought with him was not very effective in healing, since he was even having difficulty walking…

He Jiu was sitting in an imposing unrestrained manner as he watched Jiang Zhiwei and Meng Qi enter. When he saw Zhiwei, his eyes sparkled with admiration and his eyebrows twitched slightly. He said to her, “Master Jiang, congratulations on enlightening your Nine Apertures.”

Instead of shock or fear, his words were filled with excitement and eagerness in learning more about the progress she had made.

Jiang Zhiwei did not purposely act humble. She said with a smile, “The realm I have reached would still pale beside yours, young heightslord. If we would ever be engaged in a fight, I could only try to seize the tiny hope for victory with my sword.”

“You have enlightened all nine Apertures for Swordplay Sutra of Supremacy and have understood the Anatta Sword technique, hence your Sword Principles should have reached a really high standard. When it comes to pure strength, you would definitely outperform Wolf King.” He Jiu compared her with Wolf King instead of himself, because he apparently believed that Jiang Zhiwei was still not as powerful as him. Although Jiang Zhiwei’s talent and hard work would have made her comparable to Su Wuming, at his best, He Jiu would still be considered on par with her in terms of talent. Both of them were disciples of main stream martial arts sects, hence the level and power of each other’s Divine Skill would not differ by much. Moreover, He Jiu had reached the realm of a higher standard than Zhiwei, and was more experienced than her, that was why He Jiu believed he was still better.

“Since I have yet to fight against Wolf King, I dare not boast my capabilities.” Jiang Zhiwei did not become proud after hearing He Jiu’s words.

He Jiu said with a laugh, “With Master Jiang enlightening all Nine Apertures, there will be greater excitement during the Party of Happycloud this time. I shall not test your strength now, because the most anticipated opponent shall always be the last one to encounter.”

Meng Qi could not help but to be impressed by the strong sense of confidence and bravery He Jiu gave off. Then he realized that He Jiu would be a very strong opponent for him during his journey to become a phenomenal martial artist…

…

Another day had passed. Instead of roaming the streets, Meng Qi quickened his pace practicing Muscle-bone Strengthening Scripture , Eight Nine Mysteries and Golden Bell Shield techniques, in the hopes of enlightening his ninth natural Aperture in the near future.

In the evening, Jiang Zhiwei paid an abrupt visit to him and said with the Secret Voice-sending technique, “I have found out Wolf King’s hideout by tracking down the Moderator of the Beggar Sect.”

“Is that so?” Meng Qi questioned subconsciously since he had been waiting for a chance to have revenge on Wolf King, who planned two sneak-attacks on him for some indescribable reason. He wrapped his fingers around the handle of his saber as his eyes kindled an urge to fight.

The two of them left Happycloud Heights and pretended to be walking side by side. Meng Qi then took the chance to tell her about the time when Gu Xiaosang saved Senior Brother Qi, and naturally omitted the embarrassing moment when a little girl called him dad.

Upon hearing the incident, Jiang Zhiwei immediately turned quite skeptical towards Gu Xiaosang’s intentions, just like Meng Qi.

After a short while, they found Wang Zai at his house.

“Are we going to kill Wolf King together?” Wang Zai looked slightly excited upon hearing their plan, rather different from how poised he usually was.

As a disciple of the Confucius Sect who practiced martial arts for righteous purposes, Wang Zai had always been a man of honor and integrity, so he didn’t have a good impression of Wolf King from the beginning. Although he was calm and steady in nature, he was still a young man in his twenties and it was normal for him to feel high-spirited sometimes. What’s more, the thought of killing the Wolf King, fifth on the Ranking List of Young Masters, would already get anyone’s adrenaline pumping, let alone Wang Zai.

“Yes, Brother Wang, would you like to join us?” Meng Qi smirked as he asked, like a man about to kidnap a child.

Wang Zai took a deep breath, and then said solemnly, “Sure.”

Following Jiang Zhiwei’s lead, the three of them crossed the Hui River over a bridge, passed through many streets and alleys, and eventually arrived at the upstream of Tianxiu River, a location close to Misty Rain Mountain.

For a place near Tianxiu River yet far away from the center of the city, this place was both peaceful and bustling with activities, which was perfect for a hideout. Neither would one have difficulties in keeping secrets due to the overwhelming activities, nor would one be exposed so easily due to an extremely small population.

All three of them hid behind a tree. Jiang Zhiwei then pointed towards the yard facing the river and said, “There he is.”

It was getting late and the yard was almost as dark as its surroundings. Meng Qi nodded and said, “That yard is inconspicuous yet accessible from all directions, which makes it convenient for him to escape. We shall take the bridge to reach its location first, and then approach with great caution and a slow pace.”

Attacking from inconspicuous corners and moving in the dark were Wolf King’s forte, and he could sense any incoming threats accurately. Therefore, they had to be extremely meticulous while executing their plan. If any part of their plan went wrong and made him realize the dangerous situation he was in, he would escape far away immediately, making their efforts futile.

In order to hide his movements effectively, Meng Qi used Hallucination Body Movement technique to enable his spiritual energy to cover his entire body and snuck towards the yard without making a sound. Since Jiang Zhiwei and Wang Zai were not as good in moving stealthily like Meng Qi, they were some distance behind him to prevent themselves from being noticed. Even so, having enlightened all Nine Apertures and gaining the primary understanding of the mystery of Primal Aperture at Midbrow gave them much help in hiding their breaths adequately. Jiang Zhiwei was especially good at this after practicing Transformation Strategy. Her figure was like a fairy who could move swiftly without being perceived of her position in the darkness.

The yard seemed rather desolate in the freezing winter. There was not even a chirping of insects, only the cry of the wind, which would make anyone doubt there were people living here.

Meng Qi maneuvered his body to the side wall of the yard. He bounced up silently like a soft cloud as he pressed the wall gently with his right palm, then fell silently into the shadow like falling leaves.

He moved to a position close to the room where he knew it would be almost impossible to conceal his movements from Wolf King. Knowing that he must take down his opponent as soon as possible, Meng Qi sped up his movements all of a sudden like an arrow leaving the bow. His figure was too fast to be seen clearly, so much so that one could still see the residual shadow left behind him a moment ago. With the energy generated from such a high speed, he knocked the door open without much effort. At the same time, he pulled out his saber with a swoosh to be prepared for any potential sneak-attack from the shadows.

Jiang Zhiwei and Wang Zai also quickened their pace slightly later than Meng Qi and pounced towards the wing room from two different angles, in order to prepare for any attacks Wolf King may initiate from places like the kitchen.

With the saber in his hand, Meng Qi’s expression turned serious and a little bewildered as he discovered that there was no one in the room!

All he could find was a piece of cloth stained with pus and blood. Meanwhile, he could still sense the remaining traces of breath that belonged to Wolf King.

Wang Zai touched the quilt and said, “The quilt is still warm, which means he should have just escaped about 30 minutes ago.”

The trio then split into different directions to search for any trace that Wolf King may have left behind, yet to no avail. As they met up again, Jiang Zhiwei murmured to herself, “It seems like our plan to attack was already known by Wolf King…”

“But we are the only three people who know about it…” Meng Qi was not suspicious that one of them had possibly leaked their plan to Wolf King, he was simply baffled by the situation they were in, “Maybe it’s just his habit to change his hideout in order not to reveal his whereabouts by accident…”

…

Inside a wing room where the lights were dim, Wolf King was sitting upright in a chair, looking lanky and indifferent as usual, and holding an elixir that was so crimson it seemed to be made of blood. He asked in a deep and hoarse voice, “Why did you save me, and even give me an elixir that could heal my wound by the Sword Qi of Shapeless Sword?”

Across from him stood a lady who was elegant, beautiful, and seemingly someone from a well-known aristocratic family. She was wearing a black Taoist garb decorated with flowery patterns made of golden strings, and a mask of Matriarch of the West which was common in the traditional Chinese drama.

“I need you to help me deal with one person.” The lady wearing the mask of Matriarch of the West said in a flat tone.