The Sage Who Transcended Samsara
chapter-662

The green light and breath blossomed like fireworks. Master Cao who hovered in the air above Peijing, Cao Feiyue, and several other grandmasters came to understand that they had been deceived.

Shocked and infuriated, they tried to dispatch a grandmaster to rush back to the Earth Fairy Lake, control the Eye of Frost, and leave the treasures. But how could Chong He, with his Seven Strokes of Heaven Interception, give them the chance to do so?

It might be impossible to break through the combined forces of formation, divine weapons, Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis, and grandmasters. But it posed little or no problem for a Dharmakaya master like Primogenitor Lingbao to temporarily stop them. Master Cao unleashed his sword art, giving rise to a deadly stillness that pervaded the air. He sealed off the vicinity and bitterly resisted the Primogenitor with the aid of the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis, divine weapon, and formation.

There were many resident Exterior experts witnessing the birth of the treasure within Peijing. Their anxiety was all for naught as they were trapped inside the formation!

Meanwhile, the masters residing in neighboring small towns instantly turned into fleeing lights and ran in the direction of the Earth Fairy Lake.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhiwei put away the map and left the Frost Fire Valley. She flew toward the lake as well to intercept and block them!

Kaboom!

Hundreds of thousands of thunderclaps boomed. The Mystic Turtle rose into the air and morphed into a red mist. However, it rapidly condensed into rain that extinguished the lightning. Entangled, they ferociously tore each other apart and caused a violent aftermath. The fallout swept across the entire hall, giving rise to black water radiance and the manifestation of the Mystic Turtle and Flying Serpent.

Had the protective spell not isolated Zhenwu Great Hall, this collision would have crushed everything within a few hundred miles into powder!

Holding the Devil-rinsing Flag, Meng Qi felt that all the strength in his body was drained. The seismic waves flung him high above, past the small tree that bore the impartation of the Seven Strokes of Heaven Interception. He then fell to the ground behind the tree.

This was all the result of Meng Qi’s conscious efforts. He wanted to temporarily obstruct the seizing even if he had to exhaust the Devil-rinsing Flag. Borrowing the force of the aftershock, he approached the tree.

Seeing how close the green leaves were, Meng Qi took a deep breath and was about to operate the Nature-involving Knack. He wanted to borrow the Will of Heaven to expedite the Dharma Form and the protective spell.

The metamorphosis of the Earth Immortal, whose eyes were absorbing and emitting lightning bolts, wore no expression on his face. He muttered to himself, “The door is open, the door is open…”

Bearing the brunt of the corroding force of the black water and red mist, Meng Qi charged ahead to the small green tree without stopping. Simultaneously, he raised his left hand and wound rope-like bolts of purple lightning around the six treasures.

Meng Qi was expressionless when he saw this scene. He took several steps in retreat and gave up trying to use the Nature-involving Knack. He stared coldly as the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis seized the treasures.

The jade box containing the gleaming Celestial-river Sword was the closest to the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis. In the blink of an eye, it was pulled away by the rope-like purple bolt of lightning.

Everything unfolded so quickly that he could barely catch up. A nearly incorporeal black gas abruptly soared above the jade box, polluting the lightning. It gushed out and charged at the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis.

“Argh!” The Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis emitted an astonishing cry as the black gas smothered him. Purple lightning bolts sprouted from his eyes, ears, and every pore of his body in a brutal, unyielding manner. Together, they broke down the black gas.

Seeing that the two sides were about to balance, fluctuations began emerging from the other five items. They were as dark as the treachery hidden in one’s heart or as incorporeal and invisible as a curse. Following the Thunderbolt Python, they bubbled up and ended up next to the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis.

“Argh!”

The black gas penetrated in and out of the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis as his eyes rapidly dimmed as they absorbed and emitted purple lightning. The screams resounded ceaselessly as if he was in great pain.

Watching this, Meng Qi felt his face twitch slightly as if he could empathize with the metamorphosis’ suffering.

These were treasures that Zhenwu, the Great Emperor, left for Meng Qi. There was no way the Emperor would not stop others from trying to obtain them.

Even without Zhenwu’s spirit informing him, Meng Qi would still stop in his tracks to probe these treasures and carefully distinguish them. He would rather spend a long minute than making haste through a second.

There was no other reason than the fact that there were too many people who paid for their greed with death. Whatever traps, falsity to cover up the truth, curses on the treasures, an esteemed master’s spirit lurking inside – these were all ruses to seize the treasures!

This was not a game where one could get a fresh beginning after death. Facing the relic of a great power and an ancient treasure, how could one try and directly seize it? Was that not digging a grave for oneself?

Meng Qi would not let down his guard even if nothing went wrong in several attempts out of ten. If the item did not directly affect his life or death, he would rather give it up than act recklessly.

In similar circumstances, any martial arts master with even the slightest bit of experience would understand the need to follow a mandatory procedure.

The first step was to determine the items and verify their authenticity. This was to prevent one from ignoring the authentic one for a fake.

The second step was to probe for traps. Having none would be the best case scenario but if there was any; one must deal with it accordingly or trigger it from a safe distance.

The third step was to use a secret technique to sense the treasure or its box to determine if there was any hidden curse or countercharge.

The final step was to examine if there was any trap or spirit left on the treasure. However, the concealed danger in this step was often very well hidden. There was also a chance that it would not flare up immediately. Therefore, one could carefully take the item after an initial inspection and verification. Other worries could be handled in the future.

Meng Qi believed this was what the forefathers of the Sword Washing Pavilion and Zhenwu Sect did.

The capture of the Buddha’s Palm taught Meng Qi a lesson, warning him against being careless, carrying the intention of getting lucky, and hesitating. Once he obtained the treasure, he must unleash all his tricks to escape.

However, the premise to all this was either having the treasure snatched by someone else or he had carefully verified the treasure to be authentic!

When Meng Qi suddenly saw the treasures while standing in the hidden corner, he did not allow greed to blind him and render his accumulated experience useless. He was exceptionally careful, knowing that recklessness would cost him those treasures.

“I am someone who has read novels after all. At the end of ‘A Deadly Secret’, the treasure was found to be laced with poison and the greedy plunderers died tragically after going mad. Why would it be otherwise in a world filled with ancient great powers, Gods and Buddhas, Immortals and Saints, all sorts of curses?” Meng Qi was a little smug as he stared at the devastating condition of the Immortal’s metamorphosis.

In the span of time it took to take a breath, the black gas had subsided. With the dispersal of the curse, the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis fell on his face. The strand of obsession vanished, leaving a certain degree of damage on his physical body.

“Fortunately, this thing’s brute force is for naught! It’s brain-dead and operates solely based on its obsession!” Meng Qi quietly sighed. He summoned what little strength he had left and took large steps forward to firmly grab the small green tree.

If there was any intelligence left in the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis, how could he directly obtain the treasure? The countercharge would have killed him. His best course of action would be to eliminate competitors and buy himself plenty of time to verify the treasure.

After unceremoniously stuffing the small green tree into his Space Ring, Meng Qi instantly pinched the print. He then tried to lift the curse based on the hint given by Zhenwu, the Great Emperor.

Back then, Zhenwu’s spirit taught him how to find the location of the treasures, the handseal to open them, the method to lift the curse, as well as the art of sealing to activate the protective spell. However, the spirit did not specify which or how many of the treasures would harbor the curse nor describe the detailed layout of the hall.

Thus, when he stepped into the hall, the first thing he did was to verify the authenticity of the treasures and discern if they were cursed. Just as he determined that the other treasures except the small green tree that contained an impartation all carried concealed dangers, he found Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis chasing after him.

This was the reason why Meng Qi used the Devil-rinsing Flag and deliberately sent tremors down the small green tree in retaliation. He had planned on using the Heaven-involving Knack should something go wrong. That way, he would be able to activate the protective spell and run off with the most valuable treasure.

Then he saw the obsession-plagued Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis trying to directly obtain the treasure without utilizing reason. Thus, he stopped moving and watched on the sidelines.

With the art of seals fully unleashed, black gas no longer sprouted from the six treasures. They were all taken over by the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis.

“Grand Sun’s Heart, Frost-eye Crystal, Celestial-river Sword, Mystic Turtle Sword, Ancient Space-breaching Talisman, a possible pellet of Dark Fortune Elixir…” Meng Qi quickly put away the treasures. His eyes turned so bright that he bore a slight resemblance to Qu Jiuniang.

“This is such a bountiful harvest!”

Everything would have been perfect if not for the sudden emergence of the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis causing him to exhaust and subsequently destroy the Devil-rinsing Flag.

Even so, he could not bring himself to feel dejected after thinking about the impartation-bearing small green tree that he suspected to be a divine weapon. No pain, no gain!

Having learned his lesson from the Buddha’s Palm episode, he dared not make any delay. He spared only a glance at the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis before making up his mind to dash toward the location of the small tree.

Though the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis was tempting, Cao Xianzhi was a fellow member of the Immortals. They were bound to meet. Since Meng Qi would be taking all of the treasures here, it would be too much to take even the metamorphosis.

Justice should be upheld even while plundering!

“Huh?” Meng Qi was taken aback after noticing the back of the metamorphosis’ hands facing upward. Near his wrist was a faint purple thunderbolt mark.

“Was Earth Immortal once the successor to Thunder God?”

“Did his time come before or after the Overlord?”

Meng Qi knew it was pointless for him to examine the body of Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis as the Cao family would have taken away all his things. Taking in a breath, he triggered his residual shadow and found himself in front of the table on which the small tree was placed.

He summoned the energy he had accumulated over the span of several breaths and activated the protective spell.

The black Zhenwu Great Hall lit up with water radiance. The Mystic Turtle once again made an appearance. Force began to gather, converging in the direction of Meng Qi.

His grasp of the protective spell of the hall was the reason behind his confidence in escaping with the most valuable treasure, the small tree, before the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis could grab it!

This place was his home ground!

After opening the door to the hall, he could only fully activate the protective spell once. The case was the same for the Devil-rinsing Flag. However, the spell could help him in breaking the grand formation waiting outside. The black water posed little effect on the flag. It was obvious which one would be more appropriate to be used to stop the Earth Immortal’s metamorphosis.

The water radiance soared. The black-and-white of the Mystic Turtle and Flying Serpent moved in a manner that resembled the Supreme Ultimate or Black Tortoise, swirling around Meng Qi.

“Kaboom!”

The black-and-white light beamed into the sky as the hall collapsed. The cold moon shattered as if it was no more than an illusion. This world was beginning to implode!

“Kaboom!”

The black-and-white light enveloped Meng Qi, bringing him out of the nest of ice and flying to the thousand-year Frigid Crystal outside. The light crashed straight into the grand formation.

“Kaboom!”

Great waves surged on the surface of the Earth Fairy Lake, scattering floe all over the sky and dispersing the snow that shrouded the isle. A crack appeared on the thousand-year Frigid Crystal, from which the black-and-white light peeked out with great difficulty.

The commotion was so huge that even those in Peijing became aware of it. Primogenitor Lingbao used a little trick to bypass the grandmasters and make a sudden escape. Reappearing above the isle, his sword’s light cut downward in a harmonious coordination with the black-and-white force.

“Kaboom!”

A chink appeared on the formation. With a change of his appearance, Meng Qi pulled away from it and charged out of the formation.

Just as he felt his strength leaving him, Jiang Zhiwei’s sword light enveloped him. Primogenitor Lingbao flew downward and the three of them vanished at the same time!

Everything happened so rapidly and abruptly that by the time the other Exterior experts rushed to the scene, nothing was left.

Master Cao nearly flew into a rage. He barely managed to suppress his emotions.

Inside the Cao family manor, the confident Han Guang and apathetic Gao Lan seemed wholly unconcerned about what was happening outside.

Above the East Sea, the young Taoist with disheveled hair turned to look behind him. He stared at the bluish-green waves before him in a daze. A long time passed before he finally muttered,

“It is that thing…”

He frowned slightly, looking conflicted between feelings of joy and worry.

“It seems like I could finally remember a little of whom I am…”