The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Inside a gorgeous tent in the imperial court.

Crown Prince Shen Yunqing sat on the main seat with the Saber of the Emperor resting on his knees. His eyes were partially closed as he entered Dhyana to restore his energy.

Suddenly, he felt bright light glowing in front of him and his eyes flew open reflexively. He saw a golden man standing in front of him.

Although the man did not say his name, Shen Yunqing could tell that he was a god at first glance.

The man was at least ten feet tall and fully covered in golden armor. He had a Vertical Eye in his mid-brows, giving off majestic and sacred breaths that seemed as vast as the sea. He made people subconsciously want to worship him.

“I am your ancestor, the Saint Emperor of Benevolence.” The voice of the golden man was deafening like thunder.

It was this God that had left his impartation to the Shen family. Sensing his blood lineage, Shen Yunqing no longer suspected the man’s identity. He rose to pay respect to his ancestor.

The face of Saint Emperor of Benevolence was blurred as his majesty made it difficult to decipher his appearance. “The movement of Heaven Dao does not exist or cease to exist because of you. The imperial court had originally exhausted its vitality, and I was unable to interfere with Heaven’s work. However, there is a chance for survival now. I will collaborate with the Gods of the Ninth Heaven to help the court exist for another thousand years.”

Shen Yunqing was overwhelmed with joy. He bowed hurriedly and then asked what he should do to welcome the Gods of the Ninth Heaven.

“The passage between heaven and earth was cut off by our predecessors, making it difficult for me to enter the world. However, the Nu River is special and can act as the Heavenly Passage. With my power, I will only need a few minutes to destroy the Rebel Army,” Saint Emperor of Benevolence said slowly with great confidence.

Shen Yunqing hurriedly asked, “How can we build the Heavenly Passage? The Gods are helping Du Huaishang too. Will they stop you from coming?”

“It’s fine. This is a secret. By the time they realize, we would have already completed our task,” Saint Emperor of Benevolence said firmly. “As for the Heavenly Passage, write down the following…”

After telling Shen Yunqing the details for setting up the special altar, he continued:

“You can ask the priests of the Cult of the Gory Seas for help.”

Shen Yunqing was startled. “Could the ancestor of Cult of the Gory Seas be a real god? Even my own ancestor needs to ask it for help!”

As he was thinking, a light began to glow around the Saint Emperor of Benevolence while light spots flew around him toward the sky, giving him a godly appearance.

Shen Yunqing’s head shook as his senses blurred. Everything in front of him shattered as if it was just a dream.

When he opened his eyes again, he discovered that the luxuriously decorated tent was empty, without a single trace of the arrival of god. “Was it all just a dream?”

He looked down at the Saber of the Emperor and realized that it was tumbling and glowing slightly. It was no longer calm—as if it was greeting its former master.

“It isn’t a dream?” Shen Yunqing was still skeptical. He ordered his eunuchs to invite “Martial Monarch” Du Gushi and “Dissimilated Man” Wen Jing to discuss the matter.

Du Gushi sat calmly, his huge body seemed to fill up the entire tent. Meanwhile, Wen Jing stared ahead lazily as he listened to Shen Yunqing’s story.

After listening to the instructions for the construction of the Heavenly Passage, Wen Jing stood up and clasped his hands over each other. “Congratulations, Your Highness! The arrival of Gods of the Ninth Heaven will destroy the rebels in seconds!”

“Really?” Shen Yunqing was still unsure.

Wen Jing laughed out loud. “With the Saber of the Emperor next to you, External Evil will be unable to come near you. If not for the Saint Emperor of Benevolence, who can even come close to you, Your Highness? With the Saint Emperor, we need not fear that the Gods from the Heavenly Passage will support Du Huaishang!

“As for the Heavenly Passage, based on my limited knowledge, I do think that it can connect to the Nine Heavens as it is extremely magical.”

At this point, Du Gushi slowly spoke. “Since you saw the Saint Emperor of Benevolence, we can try this method.”

He could not be sure if there was any problem with the Heavenly Passage but he chose to trust the Saint Emperor of Benevolence.

Knowing that his ancestor would not harm him, Shen Yunqing became filled with lofty sentiments. He rose, held his Saber of the Emperor tightly with one hand and waved the other fiercely. “Gather the priests from the Cult of the Gory Seas to build the path to heaven!”

The dynasty can continue for another thousand years!

Inside the main battalion camp of the Revolutionary Army.

“Du Gushi is stubborn and holds dear to his principles. One may say he is determined or obstinate depending on their perspective. He is of a lower blood lineage and could only achieve his achievements today due to the help of an aristocrat who loved Kung Fu. Thus, even if he is dissatisfied with the royal family today, he will still remain loyal, making it impossible for us to persuade him.” Du Huaishang was introducing the top masters of the imperial court to Meng Qi and his friends.

Meng Qi mused. “Those who become martial artists all have their own principles. What about the rest?”

Immortal Wanshi, who was next to Du Huaishang, continued speaking. “‘Marquis of Wutong’ Wu Che and General Kou Jin come from aristocratic families and always protect their families’ interests before royal interests. If we can let them understand the current situation and persuade them to save their families, even if they don’t join the rebellion, they will not fight us wholeheartedly.”

“‘General of the Southern Theatre’ Dou Qing and ‘Minister of Defence’ Liu Tuizhi are both peasants. The former was a soldier from the rebel army who was persuaded by Du Gushi while the latter is a government official. The former has changing temperaments while the latter is old and blunt. We can persuade both of them as they both detest Wu Che and Kuo Jin.”

The rebel army was powerful because the cruel acts of the emperor had infuriated many aristocratic families. Many rebel armies had such families backing them up. Feng Jingtang, who was once a court official, was an example. Without their help, Du Huaishang and the others would require a hundred times more effort and ten more years to achieve what they had today as all resources, power and cultivation methods were concentrated in the hands of the imperial court and the aristocratic families.

Meng Qi and his friends listened attentively and asked questions from time to time, pointing out specific character traits of these four masters in order to find a way to win them over. Even if they were to fail, the knowledge of their characters could be useful in future battles. For example, knowing that Liu Tuizhi was conservative, if one were to face him in battle, one could be more aggressive and ignore small mistakes as Liu Tuizhi would not have the determination and fighting spirit.

After introducing the top masters, Du Huaishang touched the hilt of his sword gently with his right hand and asked curiously, “I have already been recovering for two days. I had anticipated another attack from the imperial court, but they did nothing. Could it be that their mysterious ancestor has already appeared and is secretly planning something with them?”

He invited Meng Qi over to discuss this unusual matter.

Meng Qi had his doubts too. He rose immediately when he heard Du Huaishang’s misgivings. “May I borrow a wisp of breath from Heavenly King Du’s divine weapon?”

The godly and demonic aura of the Nu River divided the nation into north and south. Without venturing close to the other side, one could only see mists using the Penetrating Stare technique. After the assassination of the Lord of Shadows, the opponent had been on guard against the ability to transform, making Meng Qi wary about crossing the river. Thus, he had been discussing a suitable plan with Qi Zhengyan until Jiang Zhiwei made a suggestion.

Du Huaishang had always been generous, so he did not hesitate. After communicating with the Sword of Divine Mandate, sword light flashed and a majestic Sword Qi flew out.

Jiang Zhiwei clapped her hand as her Sword of the Sun-Penetrating Rainbow flew out and wrapped itself on the Sword Qi. They both fell on the image of Tai Shang Sword Lord behind her, reflecting the images to her heart regardless of distance or power.

The sword transferred all that she wanted to see from Tai Shang Sword Lord to her heart!

Numerous Sword Qi swirled in her eyes as the scene across the river slowly materialized. She saw that the camp of the imperial court had been moved forward toward the river—an act that seemed to go against common sense.

In front of the camp, where the river surged, security was tight. The ships protected the exterior of the camp while masters protect the interior of the camp.

The scene became clearer and an altar came into view. Its base was sunk into the river, and many weird patterns were carved into the altar—some were human-shaped flames while others were like water waves. The center of the altar was bustling with activity.

Qi Zhengyan suddenly said, “They are connecting the nine heavens and the nine earths to build a pathway for gods and demons to enter temporarily.”

At a glance, he recognized the role of the “Heavenly Passage” altar with more details than Shen Yunqing.

“Gods and demons?” Du Huaishang stood up, and Immortal Wanshi’s right hand shook, almost spilling his tea in front.

Meng Qi’s mind buzzed and terrible ideas came subconsciously. “Could it be karma brought about by ‘Demonic Fire’? Or is it Blood Sea Rakshasa?”

Fruits of Karma was like buying on credit—it turned any difficulty into ease, killing others of a higher level as if they were nothing. However, there would be a time for Meng Qi to repay his debt. Meng Qi’s concern was that the demonic fire karma had materialized in this Death Task!

Qi Zhengyan nodded solemnly. “The origin of the imperial court can be traced to the gods. With the altar and live sacrifices, demons and gods will descend from heaven for a short while. Then—”

Before he got to finish his sentence, Du Huaishang reached a decision.

“Call in all rebel forces to attack the other side of the bank and remove the altar!”

He believed the masters in front of him completely!

“Lord of the Naval Conquests” Zhu Shou and “Marquis of Nine Mountains” Miao Hu arrived. Du Huaishang condensed the information into a few sentences, saying:

“The imperial court is building an altar for demons and gods to enter the war. If they succeed, we will not be able to resist their power. The imperial court will have the upper hand. Demons and gods are terrifying and will not even allow you to surrender. We won’t even be able to escape!”

The speech made the members of the Revolutionary Army stare at each other in disbelief. If not for the fact that Du Huaishang was just and never lied, they would have dismissed such a command. Actually, Du Huaishang had hidden the word “temporary” in his speech.

“You will know the truth when we cross the river. If I did lie to you, you can leave. However, our lives are at stake today. I request everyone’s help in destroying the altar.”

As leaders of the Rebel Army, Zhu Shou, Miao Hu and the others all had fierce and defiant spirits. Seeing that they have no other choice in the matter, they ground their teeth and replied.

“Screw it! We shall fight!”

“At Heavenly King Du’s command!”

Du Huaishang turned solemn and said, “Wu Che and Kuo Jin are guarding the left end of the altar, Lord of the Naval Conquests and Marquis of Nine Mountains are in charge of attacking them. Dou Qing and Liu Tuizhi are at the flanks and I need Great King Wang and Duke Fu to take care of them. At the front, Martial Monarch, Crown Prince, and Dissimilated Man will be handled by Immortal Wanshi, the few masters here and I. Please destroy the altar!”

“Yes, sir!” The leaders of the Revolutionary Army bowed.

Meng Qi and his friends stood solemnly, brewing momentum for the imminent attack.

The ships sailed out in vast numbers toward the other side!

War was coming in the surging waters!