Chapter 918: Gaining Freedom

“Ananda!”

Following the roar of the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, numerous voices of resentment rose and fell one after another, making the dark Spirited Mountain even more creepy.

Meng Qi opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Zhiwei and the others. He saw the same doubts in their eyes:

In the past war in the Spirited Mountain, what did Ananda do to cause such a strong resentment and hatred?

Meng Qi had a guess. Except for the Demonic Sage, the rest of the demon army had been wiped out. Could Ananda be responsible for this? This could explain why the Demonic Sage had been going after Ananda to kill him, and leaving behind the mark of Kill all the unfaithful ones. In the end, Ananda had entered the Samsara and ended up being in diabolism.

“The Demonic Sage must have crossed the sea of sufferings and landed on the Nirvana Realm to be confident enough to attack the Spirited Mountain and invade the Buddhist Sect of Amidism. At that time, Ananda hadn’t practiced the Buddha’s Palm reversely and became a devil yet. He was just a Great Arhat of the Legendary Realm. How could he possibly save the Demonic Sage’s life and make her leave the Spirited Mountain on her own?” Jiang Zhiwei raised a question.

Zhao Heng thought for a moment and said, “The Gautama Buddha must have achieved transcendence after reaching the Realm of Dao Fruition. Perhaps he was having an ace up his sleeve that was made use by Ananda to lure the Demonic Sage into a trap. However, the Demonic Sage shouldn’t be so incautious. The possibility of her falling into the trap was very low…”

He then sighed, “Only a few people survived the war. It’s really hard to figure out what had happened exactly and what were the people plotting. It will take time to investigate into these things.”

Just then, a thought came to Meng Qi’s mind. He looked at Jiang Zhiwei and the others as he thought, Did Ananda take advantage of his relationship with the Demonic Sage to make her step into the trap?

This guess could very well explain the things that followed!

Ruan Yushu frowned and said, “Ananda and Maha Kasyapa were the most outstanding two among the ten principal disciples of Gautama Buddha. Both of them were the candidates to become the leader of the Buddhist Sect of Amidism. Therefore, we probably shouldn’t see them as ordinary Great Arhats.”

The power of a Great Arhat was similar to that of a Maha Bodhisattva; and those who were in the Legendary Realm were very close to the level of the Gautama Buddha. Previously, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei had been making a rough guess about the power of Ananda and Maha Kasyapa according to this standard.

However, the most outstanding ones among the Maha Bodhisattvas – such as Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara – were actually capable of entering the Realm of Dao Fruition long ago. They had not taken that step yet because their great vows had not been fulfilled. Nevertheless, they were far stronger than most of the Buddhas since their power was beyond the Legendary Realm.

If Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara were that powerful, why could not Ananda and Maha Kasyapa be at the same level with them?

Although the level of attainment in Buddhism was roughly the same with the realm of martial arts, there were some special cases. For various reasons, some people might have a high realm but a low level of attainment.

“What you said does make sense,” Jiang Zhiwei nodded her head thoughtfully. “Perhaps after the mastery of the nine strikes of the Buddha’s Palm, Ananda had already broken through to the Legendary Realm, stepped into the sea of sufferings, and entered the Zao Hua Realm. Even though he wasn’t at the same level as Zhenwu and the Qing Emperor yet, he was at least in the same realm as Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara. But for some reason, he was unable to achieve transcendence yet. Could it be that his obsession was holding him back?”

“If we think of it this way, the gap between him and the Demonic Sage was much smaller than what we expected.”

After entering the Legendary Realm, one was able to leave a mark in all universes and Universal Fragments. Along with the birth of more universes, a mark would naturally occur in them. At this point, one was already at the peak of the Legendary Realm. Moving a step forward, one would be able to explore the past, peep into the future, and truly feel the existence of the River of Time. By then, one had already stepped into a new realm and reached a higher level called Zao Hua. Before making a breakthrough, the Fire Emperor, the Golden Emperor, the Qing Emperor and the Black Emperor were at the peak of the Zao Hua Realm.

Many cultivators felt that this was the last part of the sea of sufferings. After crossing it, they would be able to land on the other side, which was the Nirvana Realm. Therefore, the Zao Hua Realm was often called as the sea of sufferings.

Nonetheless, this was not an accurate representation of the Zao Hua Realm. In fact, at the moment of being born to the world, one was already in the sea of sufferings.

The green robe of Meng Qi was fluttering in the roaring wind of Spirited Mountain. With a calm expression, he said, “If Ananda was really in the Zao Hua Realm, he didn’t even need to use Karma Transfer to kill the medieval saints. On top of that, he didn’t bring along the Ancient Book.”

Jiang Zhiwei pondered for a while before she said, “After going through the unending cycle of life and death, the mark of Ananda had surely become weaker and weaker. Moreover, he couldn’t let go of his ill obsession. Hence, every time he was reincarnated, he was getting less powerful. Also, at that time, the death of the Tyrant might have something to do with him. He was definitely feeling bad about the self-explosion of the Tyrant before his death. If this was the case, despite being in the Legendary Realm, Ananda might not possess the actual power of a Legendary person. Therefore, he had to use the Karma Transfer to kill the mediaeval saints.”

“When he had come to the point of practicing the Buddha’s Palm reversely, he could finally turn his ill obsession into an Internal Demon. After recovering his power of being at the peak of the Legendary Realm, he had left the Ananda Pure Land in order to make a breakthrough.”

She was making reasonable inferences.

“Perhaps this is the truth…” said Meng Qi with a sigh. He looked around and said in a low voice, “Let’s go. We should go deep into the Spirited Mountain now.”

Meng Qi was holding a long blade in his left hand, and he was no longer trying to be as concise as possible in his speech. Although he still looked rather tired, he did not look as depressed and dispirited as before. It was as though he had come to life again. Noticing this change, Jiang Zhiwei was feeling excited. She immediately sent a secret message to Meng Qi, “Things should be done with strong momentum. Just leave the enemy to us later.”

She heard from Wang Siyuan that Meng Qi had been meditating for ten years just to become proficient in one strike of his blade.

Meng Qi replied her with a secret message, “Don’t worry. Before I attack with my blade, I need to warm up for a while to create the momentum. It’s similar to the eruption of volcanoes and the occurrence of earthquakes – before these disasters happen, some signs will be shown.”

Seeing that Meng Qi did not avoid her question, Jiang Zhiwei smiled delightedly.

Outside the half-collapsed Buddhist temple, many cracks appeared in the dark void like the giant mouths of monsters.

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Numerous paths were leading to the top of the Spirited Mountain. Walking along the path, the wind was blowing on them from time to time – it was so strong that it could tear a mortal’s body apart and destroy the Primordial Spirit. Meng Qi and his teammates would most probably encounter the Samadhi Wind after reaching the place that used to be the war zone.

In the distance, the thunder was clapping, and the Milky Way was shining. From time to time, a streak of lightning would split the sky and illuminate the surrounding. Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and Zhao Heng were moving forward slowly and cautiously.

Roar!

The path was having many turns, and it seemed to be never-ending. Some thrilling sounds could be heard from everywhere. When they let out their spirits to identify the source of the sounds, the spirits were swallowed up by the cracks in the void which gave them a painful sensation. Along the way, they saw several half-destroyed Buddhist temples, some golden corpses of Arhat surrounded by grayish-white light, and a huge corpse of Dharmakaya that looked like a tiger or a leopard.

Meng Qi had even seen a golden Bodhisattva that was hiding in the dark. With a blank expression on her face, grayish-white liquid was flowing out from the cracks all over her body. Fortunately, she was on a different path from Meng Qi and his teammates. Otherwise, they would be getting into a fierce battle with her. The power of a zombified Bodhisattva was almost similar to that of a Dharmakaya!

After walking for a while, a huge shadow suddenly appeared at the intersection ahead of them. After activating the Third Eye, Meng Qi found that the shadow was a person – no, a demon – that they were familiar with.

“Mister Dang Shan!” Jiang Zhiwei had also discovered the identity of the shadow using the Heavenly Heart of Sword.

It was a long snake that was as huge as a hill. Its body was covered with grayish-white feathers, and there was yellow pus flowing out from its rotten wounds. Both the death aura and demonic aura around it were so strong that they turned into a grayish-black haze.

When Meng Qi and others first entered the Spirited Mountain, they had already encountered Mister Dang Shan. After Luo Shengyi sacrificed his life, they had made an escape from it. Later on, when they entered the world of the Pilgrimage to the West, they met it again in the Fragment of Heavenly Court. At that time, relying on the lingering willpower of Luo Shengyi, it almost became the King of Corpse as its gnosis was rejuvenated.

Hiss!

Feeling someone was approaching, Mister Dang Shan raised its neck and looked at Meng Qi and his teammates coldly with its scarlet eyes. Aside from the lingering willpower of Luo Shengyi, an illusory shadow of a white-furred monster was hidden inside its body.

Last time, when Meng Qi and his teammates were being less powerful than Mister Dang Shan, they could already make an escape from it. At present, they could undoubtedly defeat it as they had actually become far stronger than it.

Meng Qi sighed and looked at Mister Dang Shan with pity. Then, he sped up his heartbeat and made it beat strongly.

Thump, thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump. The rotten heart of Mister Dang Shan, together with the three lingering willpowers in his Primordial Spirit, were beating along with the heartbeat of Meng Qi.

For a moment, Mister Dang Shan was stunned and at a loss for what to do.

With a sigh, Jiang Zhiwei pulled out her sword. The sword beam turned into a glittering rainbow that slashed toward Mister Dang Shan from afar.

As the sword beam shone on Mister Dang Shan, its body turned illusory, and its death aura and demonic aura became transparent. The three lingering willpowers in his Primordial Spirit were revealed.

Seeing the True Self through the Dao!

When the sword beam finally fell on Mister Dang Shan, the three lingering willpowers in his Primordial Spirit collapsed at once. Since Luo Shengyi was the last person who was killed by it, his lingering willpower was the strongest among all. Therefore, he was the first one who rushed out of the snake’s body.

Luo Shengyi was floating in the air while his broken soul gradually disappeared. Looking at Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and Ruan Yushu that seemed to be familiar and strange at the same time, he heaved a deep sigh, “Fate is really making a fool out of me.”

Ding dong, ding dong. Ruan Yushu was playing a melodious song with her zither that contained a strong sense of vitality. At once, the broken soul of Luo Shengyi was no longer dissipating. Instead, it became more solid.

The Music Score of Dragon-Tortoise Longevity!

Meng Qi looked at Luo Shengyi and said, “I’ll be able to have a little control over Samsara if I’m able to obtain the Seal of Samsara. Provided that I’m still alive after going deep into the Spirited Mountain, I’ll surely look for your reincarnation in your afterlife and help you in taking revenge on your enemy.”

After being told by Qi Zhengyan that the Master of Six Dao of Samsara might possess the Seal of Samsara, Meng Qi had been searching for information about that seal. Currently, he could only confirm one thing – after obtaining the Seal of Samsara, the first two reincarnations would not be replaced by the three souls. Instead, the reincarnated soul would still be himself!

Luo Shengyi laughed aloud, “Great! I’ll be waiting for you!”

In the sound of the zither, his body turned into a beam of light and went into the void. Before he disappeared, he had left some words behind.

“In the past, a person deep inside the Spirited Mountain had urged me to fight for the Essence of Wood of Creation in the Fragment of Heavenly Court!”

As the voice slowly faded away, Luo Shengyi had disappeared into the mysterious void – he did not even ask Meng Qi about how he was going to find his reincarnation.

“A person deep inside the Spirited Mountain…” Meng Qi repeated it to himself.

After Luo Shengyi disappeared, Mister Dang Shan and the white-furred monster were freed at the same time. Flying into the air, they mumbled in panic,

“They’re all dead, they’re all dead…”

They seemed to have thought of a dreadful past.