Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Meng Qi did not know Longevity Sage’s foundation but he knew the Sage could not be a simple character as he was able to oversee predestined lifespans and leave behind a reputation in a time where immortals were everywhere.
Right at this very moment, the Sage was found with his skull split open, magnifying the distance between his eyes as he “looked” at Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang. The emotion frozen on his expression was neither shock nor astonishment, despair nor fright. Rather, it was a mask of apathy as if not even death could disturb the tranquility of his mind. Perhaps, he merely lacked the time to react.
No matter how experienced and knowledgeable Meng Qi was, the Sage’s stare nevertheless terrified him. However, he could not afford to concern himself with this. The ‘strange shadow’ of the Peach Garden was now almost at his back, breathing sinisterly cold air down his neck.
The proximity of the shadow caused his sense of danger to peak. Not wanting to risk his life, he responded as if this was the final moment. He exerted force in his arms to rapidly and secretly thrust Heaven Inflicted Pain backward. His saber trembled continuously in the void, forming a contrast between Yin and Yang and drawing both energies in. This resulted in unyielding Thunderclaps imbued with Yang energy that gathered at the tip of the blade. Together, they formed thick layers of purple lightning.
The purple lightning moved forward, converging at the tip of the saber.
Kaboom!
Thunderclaps exploded, causing a wave of Yang energy to violently surge backward. The explosions instantly annihilated the nefarious intent with an invincible force.
However, Meng Qi could feel that his saber pierced only the void. With the bloodstains clouding his senses, he could not tell if the Thunderclaps managed to form an ocean and engulf the ‘strange shadow’. He had no idea if he succeeded.
It was at this moment that the place surrounding Longevity Sage split open, sprouting malevolent blood-colored branches and vines. They appeared to be the roots of the peach trees yet also resembling the veins and arteries of a human body. Together, they formed an inescapable net that charged at Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang.
Wearing a pure and holy expression, Gu Xiaosang twisted the palm of her hand and caused the void to cave in. Vortexes of terrifying suction force formed in the air, causing the branches and vines to sway.
Meng Qi wielded his sword calmly. Flowing Fire turned into a red light and flew out. The light then divided into two, then four, and then eight, and met the bloody branches and veins in a precise, ingenious manner. The sounds of collision reverberated continuously.
For a moment, the red sword lights filled the air as if they were petals of gradually blossoming flowers.
Suddenly, the sinisterly cold wind came close to Meng Qi’s neck once again. His hair instantly stood on their ends.
He was trapped between a rock and a hard place!
Forcefully suppressing the urge to turn around or react, Meng Qi relied on his instinct alone and thrust Heaven Inflicted Pain upward. Changes occurred endlessly in his saber, forming all kinds of Thunderclaps.
Out of nowhere, the Thunderclaps became converged and formed a blade. The purple color dimmed and the changes in the saber ceased. It was such a simple yet abstruse movement. The fierce and sharp saber seemed as if it was the only saber that existed in the world. It looked as if it was capable of breaching the void, cleaving the Chaos, inducing Yin and Yang, and rebirthing the Thunderclaps.
Meng Qi used his mind to control the saber, and the saber to subdue the enemy. He imbued all the profound premonition ability of Eight Nine Mysteries into his strike. The saber traveled in an indescribable trajectory as it sensed the change in the illusory Qi activity and ceaselessly inhaled and exhaled Qi, remaining ever ferocious.
Thud!
Meng Qi felt as if he had hit a bizarre and intangible object of a strange and unknown state. The object caused him to feel numb all over, giving him the feeling that he was resisting heaven and earth.
He had no time to ponder over it. Drawing support from this vibrating force, he flew upward. Flowing Fire split into sword lights that were of equal strength and size, suppressing the creeping blood. He tried to fly over Longevity Sage’s head to move behind him, where the peach trees once again became sparse and the dense mist outside the garden could be faintly seen.
Meng Qi faced forward during the entire ordeal. He did not turn around in the slightest.
Suddenly, he noticed from out of the corner of his eyes the faint imprint of five fingers on the Sage’s fractured head. The condition of the wound felt familiar to him.
“It seems that a palm strike came flying and shattered the Sage’s head… Where have I seen or heard of this from?”
A sudden idea came to him.
“Fan-Tian Seal?”
“Could it be Fan-Tian Seal that killed Longevity Sage?”
“But doesn’t the Fan-Tian Seal mainly target one’s head? Why is the Sage’s head fairly intact while the rest of his body is shattered?”
“Could it be some other skill?”
While he was grappling with shock, doubt, and bafflement, his gaze once again froze.
The insides of the Sage’s fractured head was not his cerebrum or cerebellum but a plump and tender red peach!
“Birthday Peach? Peach of Immortality?”
“What is it doing inside Longevity Sage’s head?”
The peach was glowing with a demonic bloody light. Its fuzzy skin appeared translucent, revealing its flesh that seemed to be hiding veins, arteries, and meridians. Meng Qi felt his mind rocking upon laying his eyes on the peach and the illusions returned to his vision. The peach seemed like an ominous item!
Inside his Space Ring, the Supreme-wisdom Tree seemed to be trembling slightly.
Just then, Meng Qi’s sense of danger shot up once again. Without a second thought, the flesh on his back protruded to form two arms. One of them was holding the Mystic Turtle Epee and the other the Purple Lightning Blade.
He had just unveiled his four arms when he saw Longevity Sage’s head “reviving” and shaking. The shackles of his surroundings turned even more restrictive, causing him to halt in mid-jump and fall to the ground.
Meng Qi wore a mask of calmness. His sword and saber felt heavy in his hands as he struck with both like the suppression of two towering mountains.
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Boom!
The saber and sword collided in midair, sending an immense and boundless force downward. For a brief moment, the force counteracted the shackles. It allowed Meng Qi to throw himself forward and escape the bloody vines narrowly.
The frightening force “waves” surged forth in all directions but caused no more than gentle swaying in the trees of immortality peaches. None of their trunks snapped, making the strength and firmness of the trees apparent.
Just as Meng Qi’s feet landed on the ground, he saw Gu Xiaosang standing by his side. She seemed to be have developed a subtle connection with the void and strands of barely discernable streamers swirled around her.
They neither looked at nor spoke to each other. Nearly at the same time, they took a step forward and dashed out of the Immortality Peach Forest. Whooshing sounds of Space-breaching echoed behind them. A cold wind had risen as well, coupled with ‘shadows’ that had inexplicably entered their minds.
Cold sweat beaded on Meng Qi’s forehead as he took large strides forward. He did not turn around nor stop in his tracks.
Minutes later, the clouds that gathered at the edges of the forest appeared in their vision. It signaled their safety.
Suddenly, tree roots sprouted up from the ground in front of Meng Qi’s feet without warning.
Had his Eight Nine Mysteries been any less effective, he would have tripped on the roots. He quickened his pace to make a leap. The end of his foot was nearly caught on the roots, causing his body to plunge forward.
He tightened the muscles in his abdomen and exhaled a stream of white airflow, aiming it at the ground. He then pierced through the stone!
Borrowing the rebounding force to rise again, he shifted the center of his gravity and made a somersault in midair. He flew like a legendary bird and finally left the boundary of the Immortality Peach Forest. Instantly, he was shrouded in a dense mist as if he had stepped into a fairyland. There was no longer any activity nor danger coming from behind him. What a stark contrast it was from before!
Pop, pop, pop! Sounds of clapping came drifting to his ears. Gu Xiaosang said with a smile, “Great moves, my husband.”
Meng Qi turned to look at her and noticed that her skin had regained its tenderness like congealed fine jade. This time, green hue did not peek through her midbrows. Her entire face was glowing, making her look so lovely that she could draw the ire of fairies. She seemed to have recovered. When he sensed himself, he realized the same could be said for him as well.
He exhaled. “Fortunately, there aren’t any lingering effects!”
“Can I turn around now?” Meng Qi desperately wanted to take another look at Longevity Sage’s corpse to confirm his wound.
Gu Xiaosang chuckled. “Best not to. This place is the manifestation and partially the source of the great lifespan changes in the world. One backward glance will cost at least ten years of your life.”
“Manifestation and partially the source of the great lifespan changes in the world? Haven’t we seen everything when passing through the place earlier?” Meng Qi asked in surprise. He could not quite understand her words.
Gu Xiaosang smiled, revealing the dimples on her cheeks. “Let’s talk as we walk, my husband. Even though we have fooled Han Guang earlier, he is a person worthy of his reputation. He may have more tricks up his sleeve and catch up to us. It is best if we reach our destination as soon as possible.”
Regardless of Gu Xiaosang’s character, her proposal was one that Meng Qi agreed with. Thus he took a step forward, speeding along the path carved out of the gaps in the mist.
Gu Xiaosang followed his pace and ran alongside Meng Qi. She said telepathically, “It is not an exaggeration that the Ninth Heaven is described as the Immortal Realm. It was born to carry on the Great Enlightenment and the source of most Dharma and Logos in the world. This is especially true for the three topmost layers.”
“Outside of the Ninth Heaven, the Heaven-man Connection births the Dharma and Logos and subsequently gives rise to all kinds of rules of the world. Those rules cannot be directly grasped and could only be observed through certain phenomena.”
“Ah? These words sound so familiar!” Meng Qi was reminded of the weirdo at the mountaintop, Huang Liang. This resembled his way of seeing and understanding the world and universe!
“There is a realm full of change and flux outside its core, where different laws combine with theories. This realm is unaltered by external influences. In Taoism, it is called the Big Luo; in Buddhism, it is called the pure land; while in Brahmanism, it is called the ‘Realm of Aparam Brahman’. In my sect, this realm and core together are called the Realm of Reality. It contains the truth that will remain forever unchanged…”
“Outside the Realm of Reality, different types of breaths derive different Dharma and Logos. They combine with natural elements to create different worlds…”
Huang Liang’s words reverberated beside his ears. Meng Qi looked left and right as he secretly pondered the meaning of these words. “Is the Ninth Heaven the Big Luo itself? The Immortal Realm itself?”
“Yet the true and unchanging Immortal Realm shattered as well?”
Gu Xiaosang continued, “The so-called Peach Garden is nothing more than the condensation and manifestation of the Dharma and Logos related to the lifespan of heaven and earth. It reveals itself to humans as Immortality Medicine. One who consumes a peach of immortality will have a lifespan that lasts for an entire era!”
“With such great changes occurring in heaven and earth, Dharmakaya masters have no choice but to find hundreds of ways to extend their lifespan. The current condition of the Peach Garden, as the ‘manifestation of lifespan’ that is deducing in reverse, is within reason. However, it is born to carry on the Great Enlightenment and thus it can only be described as a nominal part of the source of the massive diminishment of lifespan.”
Looking pensive, Meng Qi said, “That means if we are careless while being inside the garden, our lifespan will be exhausted and we will meet our deaths?”
Gu Xiaosang gave him a faint smile. “One has three lamps in life: one on the top of the head and one each at both shoulders. If you turn around, you can easily disturb their fires. Considering our strengths, it wouldn’t be a problem in ordinary circumstances. However, in a place that is the condensation and manifestation of Dharma and Logos, in a place that has shown strange changes, a simple turn of your head may extinguish your ‘lamps.’”
“So they are mostly the manifestation of Dharma and Logos that are born out of the rules of the world? It will be difficult for them to directly influence us as long as we act accordingly?” Meng Qi asked, realization suddenly dawning on him.
Gu Xiaosang nodded, lowering her delicate chin, and chuckled. “There are many places like this in the three topmost layers of the Ninth Heaven. One example is the manifestation of the might of metal elements, the Nacre Lake. My husband, you must always remember what you have said yourself.”
Meng Qi muttered to himself irresolutely before solemnly saying, “Miss Xiaosang, since we are working together, shouldn’t you let me in on your objective?”
She smiled sweetly at him. “I wish to visit the Three-life Temple so that I can always be with you for all our lives and reincarnations.”
Meng Qi narrowed his eyes. Gu Xiaosang had a penchant for hiding the truth within dishonest words. Perhaps the Three-life Temple was truly her objective.
Suddenly, a subtle feeling struck him and he subconsciously turned to look next to him. He saw half a peach emerging of the dense mist.
“Half a peach?”
“An Animated Peach with a bloody glow!”
“It is actually chasing me?”