Chapter 800: A Surprise Encounter
The night breeze was blowing gently, and the ocean waves were rising and falling rhythmically. A small boat was sailing on the ocean, which looked like a black spot that was moving slowly on a piece of large-sized, dark-blue paper. It was sailing in a direction that went against the wind.
Meng Qi was sitting on the bow of the boat. The cold breeze drifted past and brushed his hair when he was sinking in his thoughts.
After meeting up with Liu Luo, Meng Qi had decided to give up temporarily in learning the Tyrant’s Invincible Blade as he was afraid of being punished by the mighty people and the Master of the Six Dao of Samsara. He would be looking for a chance to do it without being noticed by them. Thus, instead of staying at the Three-Fairies Island for a longer time, he was already making his way back to Jiangdong at a slow and relaxed pace.
“All the while, I’ve been guessing that the so-called Three-Lives Fruits can actually build a special connection between the people who have eaten it. In this way, we can help one another to stay awake when the anglers try to manipulate us. It seems like we are finally capable of competing with the anglers or the possessors. Even though the Siren Gu has been avoiding telling me the truth, Liu Luo’s advice has indirectly revealed the att.i.tude of the mighty people to the fruits. It seemed to have proved my guess right.” The issue of the Three-Lives Fruits was by far the biggest concern of Meng Qi.
It seemed that the fruit was not harmful at all. On the contrary, it could probably help him to cope with the difficult situation at the moment. During emergencies in the future, the fruit might also come in useful to wake him up and break free from the anglers. He would not be falling into a pa.s.sive position anymore.
However, it was impossible for Gu Xiaosang to lend him a hand just because she wanted to be kind. In most of the cases, she had helped him because both of them were facing a similar problem, and feeding the fruit to him would result in a win-win situation.
It might be hard for him to judge other things, but he was absolutely sure for one thing – Gu Xiaosang would never do someone a favor for no reason. She would only do something that would also benefit herself.
Meng Qi knocked on the bow of the boat lightly. Du du… The sound of knocking was like a mysterious melody. It was transmitted across the ocean.
Ever since Gu Xiaosang had told Meng Qi about how he would be down on his luck throughout the year, a few big incidents had happened. Nonetheless, he had learnt and grew a lot from the incidents and had also gained a better understanding of the world situation. As time went by, he had learnt how to clear his mind as he understood that the feelings of distress, sorrow, hesitation, suppression and anger did not help the situation at all. They were all negative feelings that would cloud his judgments. However, he could turn the feelings into a motivation to attain the Spirit of Martial Arts. He would try his best in improving his willpower of martial arts while waiting patiently for the chances to come.
After all, what could be worse than death? Even though he would be unreconciled if he were to die young, he was never afraid of death.
“However, I must do everything secretly to hide it from the mighty people. I can’t get my friends and family into trouble.” Apparently, Meng Qi already had a clear direction to move in. All the while, he had been feeling stressful about the challenges and difficulties; nevertheless, he had managed to overcome the stress after reflecting on his feelings. At the moment, he was feeling relaxed and at ease. He took in a breath of the salty sea breeze that smelled wonderful while looking at the wide ocean and sky that looked stunning. His mind was refreshed.
“The dark-blue sea roars like a sound of laughter. The waves. .h.i.t on the sh.o.r.es from both sides…” Meng Qi was. .h.i.tting on the bow of the boat while singing loudly. Being alone on a wide ocean, he was feeling free and easy – just like how he felt a few years ago when he had just entered Jianghu.
The sky and ocean were so broad that they did not seem to have an end. Within the Sensing Range of Meng Qi, there was n.o.body at all. Compared to the magnificence of nature, he was so tiny and insignificant. However, by using the Interior View and the Interior Tai Chi, he was able to destroy everything within his sight that seemed to be magnificent despite his tiny appearance.
Some time ago, this contradiction had been troubling Meng Qi. People who have an extraordinary power but only an ordinary mindset would always feel confused and lost. Nevertheless, to have an extraordinary mindset did not mean that they had to discard the old personality and the old ways of doing things, as though they had become an emotionless rock. Instead, they should refine their values and views of life based on the past learnings and blend them together to develop an extraordinary mindset. In this way, they would benefit in the long run. A mindset that was compatible with the power would be able to keep one away from the evil thoughts.
Another example would be the difference of lifespans. The people who were at the Orifices-Point Activation Stage and below would not be able to live longer than one hundred years. In contrast, the people from a higher realm could live much longer than them, so they might find a vast difference in the length of lifespan within people, as if those from different realms were from different species. The feeling of contradiction might not be obvious when they were still in their twenties. However, if they were able to realize Dharmakaya later in life, their friends who were below the Orifices-Point Activation stage would not be able to afford the time to wait for the Dharmakaya to complete an Isolated Practice. By the time the Dharmakaya got out from the Isolated Practice that lasted for decades, their friends would have died already. Not to mention most of the Dharmakaya would prefer to extend their lifespans by the Eastern Longevity Elixir and the Jade-Palace Golden Pill.
When the time came, to ensure a healthy state of mind, one would need to be able to cope with the feeling of contradiction between the people who lived a long life and the others who lived a short life. According to the ancient literature, some Dharmakaya would see themselves as being a superior G.o.d, whereas the ordinary people were just like an ant in their eyes. They were cold-hearted and preferred not to interact with the inferior beings. In their opinions, they were living beings of different levels and therefore they would not share a mutual understanding.
Although there was not a right or wrong way to do that, Meng Qi could not agree with their att.i.tudes. Therefore, he really admired the att.i.tude of an elderly person that he came across, who showed the ability to feel but was not burdened by it. Despite his high realm, the elderly person was always humble, willing to interact with the ordinary people and calm in dealing with separations. He would not be extremely grieved for his friends’ death. On the other hand, he knew how to enjoy his life but not get obsessed with it. He had the same att.i.tude as Zhuang Tzu, who had sung for his wife’s death, as he understood that life and death was just a cycle. Apparently, one would need to understand life thoroughly to be able to do that.
Meng Qi had let his thoughts wander. As the thoughts rose and faded away, he had an amazing feeling of stretching his mind to infinity and beyond. He could see through the ocean water as everything underneath the water surface was crystal clear to him. He had a feeling that he would be able to go wherever he wanted if he were not confined in his body. He also felt like inventing a lot of unique creations just by imagination.
All of a sudden, his heart skipped a beat. When he looked at the east, a small boat that was sailing rapidly toward him had came into his sight. If he were not in the special state of mind moments ago, there would be no way for him to notice the boat before it came nearer!
A young Taoist priest who had his hair hanging down messily was standing on the boat. He was wearing an odd-looking green robe. As his black hair was being blown to the back in the wind, his handsome and elegant-looking face was shown. However, his aura was barely detectable, which made it hard for Meng Qi to estimate his power.
When the boats met with each other, the priest looked at Meng Qi with a polite smile.
Without thinking too much, Meng Qi returned a smile.
After sailing past Meng Qi, the boat was heading toward the direction of the central main and at lightning speed.
Meng Qi was startled for a second as something suddenly crossed his mind. According to the swordsman Ning Tai, he had once met a young man who was wearing an odd-looking green robe at Donghai. The man was constantly murmuring, “Who am I? Who am I?” Could he be the person he had came across a few seconds ago?
On a treasured scroll of calligraphy that was left by the Eastern-Sun Deity, it wrote, “Who am I? Who am I?” On the other hand, the man who had been murmuring the same phrase had been to the Worry-Free Valley and the Netherworld from the Zhenwu Town. His behavior was rather bizarre as he had locked the gatekeeper beside the door of the Netherworld…
However, the priest that he just saw was fresh and energetic, without a single trace of being mad. He did not murmur the phrase at all.
Meng Qi had decided to find it out. In an instant, he soared into the air and chased after the priest using the Void Running. Nevertheless, no trace of the priest could be found on the ocean anymore.
Could he be diving into the ocean? Meng Qi thought. He then sunk himself into the surface of ocean and activated his senses to look for the priest’s traces in the surrounding. Gradually, he dived deeper and deeper.
As the pressure of the water increased, the vigor ocean within the Heaven and the Earth had merged together with the fluid in the ocean. Thus, it was harder for him to breathe. As he dove deeper, the light had slowly faded away and darkness had surrounded him. Meng Qi then transformed into a blue-blooded man which enabled him to breathe just like a fish in the water.
After searching for a long time, some underwater ruins that were badly damaged had came into his sight. Around the ruins, he had found an Ocean’s Eye that looked like a pitch-black whirlpool. The destination behind the Ocean’s Eye was unknown, though. The surrounding got even darker, the ocean current was surging fiercely, and the hydrostatic pressure had been doubled up. The rotation of the Ocean’s Eye seemed to have intensified, as though it was going to destroy everything that was sucked into it.
“Even though I’m protected by the Arts of Eight-Nine and the Kunlun Taoist Robe, I’ll need to become at least a Dharmakaya of Half-Step before I can resist the damage of the Ocean’s Eye. Another alternative is to exchange for a Pearl of Water Resistance that’s graded as a Heavenly Weapon.” Meng Qi squatted near the Ocean’s Eye to estimate its strength using his energy.
His energy was minced into pieces once it got into the Ocean’s Eye. It was indeed painful.
“Did the priest just now sail into the Ocean’s Eye with his boat?” Meng Qi frowned when he thought about that.
The Ocean’s Eye at this place looked really unpredictable and dangerous as Meng Qi had no idea where it would lead him to. He would definitely explore this place again in the future. It would be good to discover a secret path as it might come in useful one day during emergencies.
…
At the entrance of the Snowy Mountain Sect, the Immortal Yun He was about to enter the gate while walking behind a sect’s disciple who was at the Exterior Realm. Mister Luda was standing aside and watching them going in.
As a tomb guard, the Snowy Mountain Sect did not make things difficult for Yun He after getting to know about the background of the Sect of Nature. The sect’s disciple had brought him into one of the nine celestial tombs. However, Mister Luda was not allowed to enter the tomb.
After waiting patiently for an hour, Miss Luda saw the Immortal Yun He walking out with a pale and serious look on his face. Judging from his eyes that were filled with terror, Mister Luda could tell that he must have seen something horrifying that was far beyond his imagination.
Mister Luda did not ask about it as the Immortal Yun He did not seem to be comfortable to talk about what he had seen.
“There are a lot of oases in the western region, but most of them aren’t occupied yet. It will be better to build the entrance of my sect here,” said the Immortal Yun He.
Most importantly, since Meng Nan was already killed by Su Wu Ming, there would be no Dharmakaya in the entire western region anymore.
Mister Luda gave a slight nod, “Go ahead, it’s up to you.”
…
At the Gra.s.sland, the Golden Tents had been in a great mess. With fallen tents everywhere, the tribes that were once strong and prosperous could not be seen anymore.
After the death of Da Man and the disappearance of Gu Erduo, the situation of the Gra.s.sland was exactly the same as the prediction of Ye Yuqi. Plenty of gurus and people at the Exterior Realm coming from the North Zhou Dynasty and the Great Jin Dynasty had invaded the Gra.s.sland. To leave no chance for the Gra.s.sland to revive, they had been hunting down and killing the powerful people and destroying the Ancestral Spirits of their tribes. Furthermore, they had robbed all the treasures and colonized the places that were rich in resources.
In this process, the Gra.s.sland had been disordered. A lot of evil sects had grabbed the opportunity to sneak in and take advantages of the chaotic situation. Many people with wild ambitions had came to meet more people, expand their networks, and seek for adventures.
Inside a broken tent, a horse-faced Taoist priest, who was dressed in a luxurious clothing and a tall hat, was looking at a dead warrior at the Orifices-Point Activation Stage. The warrior had been tortured to death by his dark arts and evil ceremonies. He then said to his disciple proudly, “I pity the mortals… They are so vulnerable. They’re gone just like that in the blink of an eye.”
The disciple was just about to flatter his master about his exquisite dark arts before there was a sudden flash of a blade beam. Shortly after that, the protection layer on his master’s robe was broken into pieces. At the next second, he was found clutching his throat tightly and gasping for air as he made sounds of Huh, huh, huh… His Primordial Spirit was trying hard to escape but it was trapped inside his body.
In a split second, the horse-faced priest had fallen to the ground with his body facing upward. He had lost his life.
My master is just as vulnerable as the mortals… The disciple thought.
Just then, he found a young warrior who was dressed in tight, black clothes standing inside the tent. He had a handsome face, a masculine body and a peculiar-looking long blade, which reminded him of someone.
“The Frenzied Blade, Su Meng!” the disciple blurted out in terror.
Those were also his last words in the world.
Meng Qi walked out of the tent after killing the members of the evil sect. Looking at the fallen golden tents that spread around the Gra.s.sland, he activated his senses to check whether there was anything suspicious.
After he returned to the central mainland, he decided to come to the Gra.s.sland. He wanted to train himself by hunting down and killing Hasula, Jie Sha, and their alliances. However, some time ago, he heard that something strange was happening around the Golden Tents as a few people of the Exterior Realm had gone missing. Therefore, he had decided to drop by to investigate into this issue.