The Sage Who Transcended Samsara
chapter-157

Meng Qi took a step forward while pressing on his long sword and he moved like a willow in the wind, stepping off the boat "walking" on the dock.

With a slow pace, he walked towards the man from the Luo Denomination who was wearing black clothing with his face exposed. It was as if he had everything under control.

The man from the Luo Denomination was middle-aged with common features, but his uncommonly thin lips were quite striking. Moreover, the hint of the Holy Spirit Deterrence was distinct as Meng Qi got close, which meant that he did have the Outsky Strange Stone on him.

"It's been too long since I've seen Miss Xiaosang. I believe the last time was at the Devil Tomb. I've missed her more than I care to admit, those eyes, that face, I remember all I knew about her like it were yesterday. I wonder how she is coming along with the cultivation of the Devil Lord's supreme art? It's a pity that she didn't receive direct impartation." Meng Qi said while strolling along casually.

Sowing dissensions was Gu Xiaosang's specialty, but I could do it too!

She probably didn't tell anyone about what happened in Devil Tomb but I had told master. There is no point in keeping it a secret since I'm an unknown loner without much of a reputation, not to mention that there's nothing on me that screamed Devil Lord. Therefore if I killed this man from the Luo Denomination standing before me, Hua Lun would spread this information and in turn, plant a seed of suspicion between the Holy Maid of Luo Denomination, Sanskrit Dharmaraja and the Oracles. Even if the effect was not apparent at first, it would still be a counter-punch aimed at Gu Xiangsang .

Furthermore, if such a big secret were revealed in detail, it would seam more real. Allowing the man before me to subconsciously believe that I did go to the Devil Tomb with Gu Xiangsang and fought for the Devil Lord's impartation. Though I lost, which was understandable considering the gap between strength and realm, I was able to leave unscathed from the fourth ranking "Demoness of Grand Luo" on the List of Young Masters!

The man from the Luo Denomination clenched his fists as he saw the elegant childe in green approach and greeted him in a calm voice. The brightness of the moon and calmness of the water made him feel that the approaching opponent was confident beyond measure and everything was under his control, which was why he didn't rush into attack mode.

He was an old acquaintance with the lady lord, which meant that they were on the same level as it pertained to martial arts. So it was natural that he had such a calm persona.

But knowing the disparity in ability between the lady lord and me, how would I face a swordsman of such realm?

Thump, thump, thump, seeing Meng Qi approach with such casualness, the man from the Luo Denomination again felt like his every step was stomping on his heart. The pressure from Meng Qi was bigger and bigger, making his forehead sweating.

Then he suddenly heard breathing sounds, and saw that there were more enemies on the junk-boat. Finally, he woke up to the fact that he had already fallen into a trap. And that the reason why the others hadn't come to his aid was that the childe standing before me had more than enough confidence and strength to take me!

As per Meng Qi's behest, Hua Lun on the Junk Ship purposely did not use the Breath-holding Mysteries to reveal their positions and added pressure to the man from the Luo Denomination. At this moment, Hua Lun saw Meng Qi walk towards enemy without a care in the world, his face was jade-like and robes fluttering in the wind. In stark contrast was the enemy who looked like he was about to face a powerful adversary, where he was timid to make the first move yet afraid to turn and run. It really seemed that Childe Meng's imposing manner had a stronghold over him.

What an exemplary display of a master's demeanor. Hua Lun praised sincerely, "No wonder he was able to survive the hands of the Demoness of Grand Luo. Childe Meng has already booked a spot on the Ranking List of Young Masters... "

Gu Xiaosang was well known and her battle record spoke for itself, plus she had the Dharmakaya on the level of impartation by the Gist of Trueness. So Hua Lun did not believe that Meng Qi, who was on the level between opening four to six apertures, was her match. But to be able to leave unscathed from her, Meng Qi's strength was already formidable, perhaps already reaching the level where his name could be at the bottom spots of the Ranking List of Young Masters.

However, it was because Gu Xiaosang possessed such powerful strength that Hua Lun did not doubt that Meng Qi had gained a lot from his journey to the Devil Tomb. And the biggest benefit was the fact that Meng Qi had survived!

Moreover, if he really did have a fortuitous adventure in the Devil Tomb, would he spread it to everybody? Who wouldn't keep it to themselves?

Meng Qi unsheathed his long sword and gave it a flick, the sound of which emanated was like a dragon's roar. Then he added with a smile. "Miss Xiaosang had left a deep impression on me with her skills, Ajati Finger and Myriad Threads and Webs. I'd like to see if she had passed these special skills onto you."

The pupils of the man from the Luo Denomination contracted slightly, unconsciously got into defensive stance. He did battle with the lady lord!

Everyone knew about the lady lord's "Ajati Finger" because it had been listed on the Six Fan School's Ranking List of Young Masters. But only the inner circle knew about her "Myriad Threads and Webs", and only people who were above the Emissary Vacation level of the inner circle at that.

He actually survived after battling the lady lord!

"Thump, thump, thump!" Seeing Meng Qi approach in such a casual manner, the man from the Luo Denomination again felt like Meng Qi's every step was like stomping on his heart.

"Thump, thump, thump!" The childe before him had on very thin blue robes, but his grace was striking, like that of an immortal. He took a deep breath suppressing the fear within, and decided to attack first to gain an advantage!

He yelled, thrusting his body forward with very weird footwork and attacked with a seemingly powerless punch.

The apparently powerless punch had given Meng Qi the feeling of defending against water, totally shapeless!

The course of the punch had already gone through two different changes, "streams flowing into a river" and "rivers flowing into the ocean". By the end, the strength of the punch was almost unstoppable like the surging waves of the Yangzi River!

Looking at his punch from afar, Hua Lun suddenly frowned with fright. Even he, who was well beyond the attacking range of the punch, could sense the effect of streams flowing into a river and rivers rushing into the ocean. This meant that the surreptitious fist-form belonged to the Exterior, and he had accomplished the primary level, with just one more step, he could bring about the intent of fist!

Even in the punch's current state, its power was not to be underestimated.

The Luo Denomination had indeed earned a spot on the list of the Nine Evil Paths, even an average disciple possessed such strength! Judging from his moves, not only had he opened Seven Apertures, but also achieved the primary level of a fist form from the Exterior level!

Could childe Meng withstand such an attack?

Faced with such an attack, Meng Qi remained calm. Under normal circumstances, he would've drawn his Red Sun Evil Blade and exerted the Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmanship to block the attack, and in turn, use the Yama's Invitation to kill the opponent.

But now, since Meng Qi gained the upper-hand in their battle of "wills", and the opponent had exposed his soul's weakness, the attack-first sense had actually conflicted with his "unambitiousness", therefore, revealing a weakness that was not supposed to exist!

Instead of backing off, Meng Qi actually stepped forward to face the punch with his long sword at the ready.

Hua Lun was a little taken aback by Meng Qi's reaction. "Why he would choose to attack when faced with such frightening fist form which is beyond me?"

A flash of clear and pure sword-light erupted from the Nine Serenities and instantly dissipated!

Hua Lun's eyes lit up and he abruptly stood up, feeling both shocked and excited. Is this taking the sword art of the Enlightenment period to the extreme?

As the sword light disappeared, Meng Qi landed next to the man from the Luo Denomination, sheathed his sword and stood there with his hands at the back.

The man from the Luo Denomination went past Meng Qi as if he were not there, then fell hard on the ground a few steps later. Blood flowed from his head, staining the dirt red.

"The advantage I gained in our battle of will and mind was indeed effective... " Meng Qi stood there watching the sky like a "lonely master" that could not find a worthy rival. He sighed with emotion and thought, "I've made my entrance."

Hua Lun too remained silent, blankly standing on the deck. Never had he expected that the opponent that possessed such lethal fist form could not even survive one attack from Meng Qi's sword. He was now sure that Huang Yun would not stand a chance against Meng Qi either. Perhaps the "Burning Sun Super Palm", Zhang Zhifan could fare better.

A little while later, Meng Qi was tired from planting his "lonely master" pose and turned to Hua Lun with a smile. "Childe Hua, could you check whether he has the stone on him?"

Hua Lun nodded blankly, jumped off the Junk Ship and walked to the body of the man from the Luo Denomination. He searched the body and eventually found the Outsky Strange Stone.

"It's the stone." Hua Lun took a step back, indicating that all other things that he found would belong to Childe Meng.

"Aren't you supposed to present them to me? Touching a corpse would be very degrading to a master's stature!" Meng Qi thought to himself. But he bent down to search for spoils anyway.

"Not what I would call a lucky day... " Meng Qi complained silently. This fool came to snatch the stone, so naturally he wouldn't have brought any scripts with him. Not to mention that his forte was fist forms, which meant he wouldn't have any Refined Weapons. So apart from some silver and not-so-refined dart weapons, there was just a vile of sleeping potion of some sort.

Meng Qi placed the sleeping potion, common darts in his pockets and heaved a sigh, "Better than nothing I suppose."

Hua Lun handed the Outsky Strange Stone to Meng Qi and said, "I'm extremely thankful of your help this time, Childe. Please take this stone as a token of my appreciation and keep it for three days to gain something magical."

He did not think that it was necessary to get authorization from father under these circumstances.

Meng Qi was not about to refuse it considering it was his "labor-reward", so he accepted the stone with his right hand and subconsciously projected his will to check the stone.

As his will connected with the stone, Meng Qi felt a strong suction and the stone took hold on the back of his left hand, where the violet thunderbolt mark had also become more prominent. The suction had become so strong that it sucked up Meng Qi's will in whole!

Shocked beyond belief, Meng Qi wondered. "What is happening?" A world in which thunderbolts erupting like dancing pythons had appeared before his eyes. The thunderbolts were of different colors, blue, purple and some indescribable ones too, making people's hearts churn just from looking at them.

A giant man with messy hair had walked out from bolts of thunder. Though you couldn't make-out his features, it was clear that his body was muscular and full of marks left by the striking thunder. It was as if his whole body had been transformed by thunder.

He wielded a lance that was wrapped by a bolt of purple thunder, as he waved it diagonally, streams of energy-light appeared and cut through the chaos.

Then one obscure realm appeared after another, but disappearing again after being cut by the energy-light of the lance. Doomsday atmosphere had permeated the air, shattering Meng Qi will, which had been sucked in earlier.

As everything in front of them restored to normal, Hua Lun surveyed the surroundings in case there were more enemies. Meng Qi felt a sharp pain in his head, and the fragmented moves he had gained earlier kept flipping in his head.

Due to the fact the moves were too fragmented, Meng Qi only managed to remember some changes and some thunder-like roaring sounds,

"'Nine Annihilation at Heavenly Nights', 'Five Thunder Bombardment of Sky'!"

Deep within the mountain covered by a layer of mist was where an area which didn't seem to belong in this realm could be found. There also positioned an enshrinement hall that consecrated a long dark blade.

The long blade suddenly glistened and thunder and lightning erupted. The body of the thunder seemed as if it were cast by purple thunder. In the midst of the thunderbolts, different realms could be seen.

In the middle of the hall sat a girl in white, she personified elegance and grace. However, the long blade had startled her somewhat. She was speechless for a while after witnessing what had just happened with the blade. It was not until the blade had become still that she finally gathered herself and thought,

"Could it the that the Thunder God has been born?"

"Ah, this is the blood of the Thunder God in the These Mythical Times... " Meng Qi was suddenly enlightened.

There wasn't anything unusual or changes with the Outsky Strange Stone, but Meng Qi knew that only a few marks still remained. The real core, the Fragmented Gist of Trueness, had already been gained by the person marked by the imprint of the Thunder God, me. Hua Lun and others, though desired the Fragmented Gist of Trueness, had no possible way of procuring it.

"The blood of the Thunder God... The Luo Denomination wanted to steal it... He was probably sent by Demoness Gu... " Meng Qi had deducted after thinking about the Devil Tomb and Celestial Court incidents.

Though the Luo Denomination had an abundance of men, so normally Gu Xiaosang would not personally get involved, however she could change her mind now that the news is out. And based on the fact that Jiang Ziwei had witnessed me with only six apertures opened to kill masters with nine apertures opened, Gu Xiaosang, who had opened eight or nine apertures herself, would not have trouble killing Hua Tiange, Ning Jidao and others. Unless the Zhen Yi School was notified and brought help from the masters of the Exterior level and set traps; But based on my current status, the fact that I've obtained some impartation from the Thunder God, and that the Zhen Wu Sect was very close to Shaolin, I'm not in the position to do such a thing, therefore...

Meng Qi gathered himself, cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said to Hua Lun, "I have some urgent matters to attend to, so I'll look at the stone next time, for now, I must say farewell."