The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

Guang Ling was first built in ancient times. The wall bricks, the roof tiles, and the rotten beams of the buildings were like an aging elderly person, portraying the astounding history of this city. A common saying among the famous Confucian scholars was that Guang Ling was a striking resemblance of the people’s culture and scenery of Jiang Dong.

Numerous tributaries cut through the City of Guang Ling. In the city, the horizontal pathways were the streets, whereas the vertical pathways were the roads. An indescribable majesty and charm was hidden within the small bridges and streams; the weeping willows and the white walls; and the copper, ring-shaped door handle and the wooden doors. It seemed as though time had been frozen here.

Jia Shui was a river that flowed slowly across Guang Ling and connected Da Jiang and Lake Xiaonan. It flowed past the Taiping Tower. Some ships and beautifully-decorated boats were cruising along the Jia Shui. The spring breeze was blowing gently across the river banks and the green willows.

In the Taiping Tower, while enjoying delicious meals, a lot of people from Jianghu were discussing about the trending news around the world. They also chattered about the recent changes in the Heavenly List, the Ground List, and the Man List.

The people had a good time talking to each other. As they looked out from the window occasionally to admire the refreshing and soothing view, they saw a group of little kids under a willow tree. The kids were holding wooden blades and swords and having fun dividing themselves into gangs.

The little leader of the group who had a braid on top of his head was carrying a wooden blade on his waist. With a serious look on his face, the kid looked at a peer across from him who was wearing a piece of brocade clothing and a jade pendant. “You’re neither fighting nor retreating. Why is that so?”

“I – Su Wu Ming – have no patience with too much talking,” the kid who wore a jade pendant said arrogantly.

The kid with a braid immediately pointed at his peer and said, “You cheated! You lost last time, so you should be the villain this round.”

The kid who wore a jade pendant was almost crying but he tried his best to hold back the tears. He pouted and said, “Alright, alright. Which villain should I be acting then?”

“Haha. Elderly Ku, even though your death is at hand now, you’re still so haughty!” All the kids laughed loudly while putting their hands on their waists at the same time – this was their way of portraying arrogance.

The kid who wore a jade pendant made his hands into a claw shape and put on a gloomy facial expression. “Watch this, the Eighteen Strikes of Vengeance!”

The kid with a braid lifted the blade in front of his chest and said coldly,

“You’re already dead.”

He continued, “I – Su Meng – have said before, it only takes one strike to kill you.”

The people from Jianghu broke into laughter after observing the kids at play. As they noticed that the weather had turned cloudy and the rain was almost falling, they shouted at the kids, “If you’re still not going home before it rains, watch out for Mister Luda, he might spank your buttocks.”

The kid with a braid pressed on his dimple with a thumb, stuck his tongue out and made a silly face. He replied in a sharp voice, “Silence. My Karma Transfer is eager to find out who in this world can possibly take one strike of it.”

“Haha. These kids are too obsessed with the Jianghu stories told by the Master Storyteller,” a man shook his head and said with a smile.

Just then, a tiny droplet of rain fell from the sky. It seemed to be a sign of an impending rainfall. The sky had been heavily clouded and turned gloomy shortly after that.

The kids were just about to go home with their wooden blades and swords before they suddenly sensed something. As if being guided by something, they turned their heads toward the direction where the Jia Shui River entered the city. Similarly, being attracted by this mysterious sense of Qi Ji, the people from Jianghu were also looking at the same direction.

A ship was slowly sailing into the city. The dark clouds disappeared bit by bit as the boat got closer. A man who wore a tight, black clothes with a Heroic Scarf was standing at the ship’s bow. On the right hand, he was holding a peculiar-looking long blade that looked like a scar. He was handsome, masculine and looked rather relaxed. Upon his arrival, it was as though he had brought over another place of the world to this city. The dark clouds had vanished and the sunlight had been taken away.

Some people from Jianghu blurted out, “The Frenzied Blade, Su Meng!” They had heard of Meng Qi’s storytelling before at the Taiping Tower.

Su Meng – the one who had just killed Elderly Ku with one slash and captured the Golden Tent Warriors from the powerful opponents – had just arrived Guang Ling!

Feeling excited, the kids’ faces turned red. They crowded up at the river bank and looked at Su Meng admiringly while thinking of all his heroic stories.

At their elder brother’s age, Su Meng had already become a guru who was ranked as one of the top thirty on the Ground List. It seemed to be undeniable that heroes would always come from the younger generation.

As the ship sailed slowly on the river, Meng Qi had been standing at the ship’s bow for a long time. He wanted to announce his arrival to everyone in Guang Ling so that someone would pass the message to Duan Rui.

Duan Rui was certainly not satisfied by the fact that nothing happened after he stabbed Wang Siyuan in the back. While the Righteous were troubled by the intrusion of the Devil Master into the Ananda Pure Soil, it was possible that Duan Rui might come to Meng Qi.

The wide Jia Shui River was flowing into Da Jiang. Meng Qi disembarked from the ship at the busiest street in Guang Ling and walked toward the Taiping Tower.

At that moment, Meng Qi heard some sounds of zither. They sounded like flowing streams from afar.

From Meng Qi’s senses, Wang Siyuan, who was dressed in white, was sitting at the river bank under a willow tree. With incense burning in the censer, Wang Siyuan was playing the zither. The maidservant behind him was carrying the San Si Sword with both hands.

Meng Qi smiled. He walked toward Wang Siyuan and sat across from him in a relaxed manner. Then, he hit on the tree trunk on his left and sang aloud, “The big river is flowing to the east…”

Immediately, the graceful feeling of playing a zither and the elegant atmosphere were ruined. Wang Siyuan stopped playing while waiting for Meng Qi to stop singing with his raspy voice.

The maidservant, who had been well-acquainted with Meng Qi, curled her lips. She thought that Su Meng had been getting more inelegant.

“You wouldn’t come to me without a reason. Just say it.” Wang Siyuan had an indifferent facial expression, but his gaze toward Meng Qi showed that he was somewhat interested.

Meng Qi showed a cheeky grin, “I came here for the welfare of the Wulin and the human race…”

Wang Siyuan listened without a change of countenance. Coughing occasionally, he did not interrupt Meng Qi.

Without others knowing, Meng Qi was disappointed. If Brother Qi were here, he would certainly tell him to go straight to the point. Hence, Meng Qi had lost interest in playing around. He said with a serious look, “The demon race had lurked into Shaolin and disguised themselves as the Deacon Monk at the Chores Yard. When the residual of the Devil Master was eliminated, the disguised demon still couldn’t be found. When I was in Jiangdong, I saw demons who disguised themselves as humans. It really was undetectable. Therefore, Mister Luda and the monk superiors of Shaolin were suspecting that they possessed a Disguising Spell that even a Dharmakaya needs to make extreme effort to notice its presence.”

“Since your family has a long history and extensive inherited knowledge, do you have any idea about the spell?”

To inquire about the Disguising Spell was one of the reasons Meng Qi came to Guang Ling. It also acted as a concealment for another purpose.

“There’s a saying that the Ancient Demon King had attempted to eliminate the differences between the human race and the demon race,” Wang Siyuan touched on the topic briefly and left it there.

“I see,” Meng Qi nodded slightly. “Some eminent people of Jianghu are planning to spread the news around the families and sects for thorough investigation and more communication on this issue. We would like to find a way to restrain the Disguising Spell as soon as possible. Will the Wang Family lend a hand?”

“I believe we’re obliged to do so.” Wang Siyuan still looked pale. He covered his mouth while coughing. “Well, it’s time to tell me the real purpose of your coming here.”

“Tsk,” Meng Qi said. “Since I’m already a guru, am I entitled to negotiate with the Plain Girl Sect?”

这也是目的之一.

The answer to this question was also one of Meng Qi’s purposes of coming to this city.

Wang Siyuan glanced at Meng Qi and said with a smile, “Of course you are. In most cases, you’ll be asked to engage in Twin Practice with a disciple from the Plain Girl Sect, who is most probably one of the Nirmanakaya of Miss Mystery. It’s easier to work together in the future after both of you got entangled with each other.”

Meng Qi’s face felt stiff. To get entangled with the Plain Girl Sect was the last thing he wanted to do because he would never know what would happen after that. Not to mention that if he was going to have Twin Practice with the Nirmanakaya of Miss Mystery, his silly big brother would be cuckolded that even his Heavenly crown would turn greenish. He was never going to do that!

“I would like to discuss about some alternatives other than having Twin Practice,” Meng Qi said seriously. “Since the Wang Family has been a long-standing family, your family must have interacted with the Plain Girl Sect for many times. Brother Siyuan, please help me to pass the message to them.”

Meng Qi believed that the stronghold at Li Hua Island would be given up after the incident last time.

“Since when did you start calling me Brother Siyuan?” Wang Siyuan lifted his eyebrow while covering his mouth with his right fist.

Meng Qi pretended to be humble. “Since my realm is already higher than yours, there’s no need for us to confront each other with our truculent attitude anymore.”

Since Wang Siyuan did not purposely hide his realm from Meng Qi, Meng Qi could tell that he had just entered the level six of Heaven.

Despite the fact that Meng Qi was being so lazy and barefaced, Wang Siyuan was not irritated at all. Instead, he smiled calmly. “It’s too bad that we can’t find Duan Rui.”

Meng Qi’s heart skipped a beat, but he said without a change of countenance, “Duan Rui? He has become an Evil Demon since he learned the Sinew-Changing Scripture inversely. I’ve always wanted to kill him.”

“Ananda Pure Soil,” said Wang Siyuan with a calm voice.

Meng Qi had thoughts running quickly through his mind. Shortly after that, he said with a thick-skin, “Brother Siyuan, could you tell me more about that?”

“On the note that Duan Rui gave you last time, it wrote that I have been into the Door of Stone. Cough, cough. According to the Heavenly List recently, the Devil Master has lurked into Ananda Pure Soil. How could I not know that you would come here for Duan Rui?” As usual, Wang Siyuan looked like a psychotic person who was covering his insanity. “However, someone has captured Duan Rui recently. It’s very likely that the person was the Devil Master.”

“What do you actually want to find at the Ananda Pure Soil?” Meng Qi was feeling a little disappointed, hence he decided to ask the person involved directly.

Wang Siyuan plucked the zither string once. “I want to find out the cause of death of my ancestor. He was one of the mediaeval saints. His last words were that he was going to find the Ananda Pure Soil, but he never returned ever since then. I’ve been here waiting for you because I realized that you know something.”

“I know something?” Meng Qi was startled as he asked.

Almost nobody knew this!

There was a smile on Wang Siyuan’s pale face. “Initially I didn’t know who it was. However, after you killed Elderly Ku with the Karma Transfer, I knew that the one who destroyed the Ananda wood sculpture on that day could be nobody else but you. It must be until then that you completed the learning of the real Karma Transfer.”

It was as though Wang Siyuan was there to see it with his own eyes… Meng Qi pondered and said, “The ancestor of your family was killed by Ananda’s Karma Transfer.”

“That makes sense now, that makes sense now…” Suddenly, Wang Siyuan had a manic look on his face. He seemed to have understood a lot of things.

“What makes sense now?” Meng Qi could not help feeling curious as he had always been keeping up with the matters related to Ananda.

Just like any other awful trickster, Wang Siyuan left it hanging there. He stopped smiling and stood up slowly. “You’ll know in the future.”

“As for the sealing of the Door of Stone, don’t worry about it. Although Duan Rui is captured, I’ve secretly found some prisoners on death row to learn the Sinew-Changing Scripture that he mentioned. They will come in useful after one or two years.”

“I’ll help you to pass the message to the Plain Girl Sect, too.”

After saying that, Wang Siyuan turned around and left.

Meng Qi clenched his fist as he really felt like giving Wang Siyuan a punch. Nevertheless, since Wang Siyuan had already inherited the position of the Head of the family after his father’s death, he was taking control of the Peerless Ancient Book of the Heavenly Weapon.

…

A ray of sunlight flashed into the dark room. The cloying smell of a woman, together with the strong scent of male sweat, had mixed up and turned into an indescribable odor.

A person was lying calmly under the window while watching the rise of morning sun. Just then, he heard a familiar voice.

“Emergency mission: to stop Su Meng from learning the Tyrant’s Invincible Blade. If you succeed, you will be rewarded one Talisman of the Samsara. If you fail, three objects on you will be taken away.”