Chapter 797: The Mad Scholar and the Insane Blade

The bright moon hung high, the night deep and heavy, the boundless sea rolling with waves of dark blue.

A multi-storied ship drifted upon it, lanterns hanging all around, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day. On the bow sat a middle-aged man cross-legged, holding a fishing rod, his expression calm, appearing to be engaged in angling.

His eyebrows were thick, giving him a somewhat stern look, while the two strands of mustache above his lips grew outward strangely. He wore a green robe that seemed simultaneously like the attire of a Confucian scholar, a monk, and a Taoist priest, making him quite unconventional. His aura was restrained, with not a trace of true energy attached to the fishing rod, as if he were genuinely enjoying the pleasure of fishing and the tranquility it brought. However, if one followed the fishing line downward, one would discover that there was no bait at all on the hook. Seemingly relying entirely on luck to catch fish, he was imitating the ancient tale of waiting by a tree for a rabbit, hoping for a foolish fish to bite.

Beside him stood an elderly servant with white hair, glancing at the middle-aged man with visible concern.

“There’s no need to worry. I won’t go mad. I’m merely using fishing to calm my mind and refine my heart,” the middle-aged man said softly.

The old servant sighed: “Master, your wife has passed away; your destiny together has ended. There’s no need to cling to it. Treat it as a relationship from past and present lives, or even from this life to the next.”

The middle-aged man was none other than Wu Jizhen, the Master of the Three Immortals Island. His grip on the fishing rod did not waver in the slightest as he spoke in a calm tone: “Once Xuan Nu forms her Dharma body, there will be no need for her manifestation anymore. At that time, whichever set of memories dominates and merges into Xuan Nu’s true self will determine which memories become ‘past-life recollections.’ It still depends on her state of mind and can still be contended for.”

“If the Hegemon could marry her, why not me?”

His arrogance overflowed from his words.

The old servant’s expression changed, and he suddenly sighed: “Truly a karmic bond.”

“The manifestation of Xuan Nu has caused countless calamities, breaking the hearts of so many fine young men. Her karmic entanglements are akin to those of a demon.”

He had raised the young master since childhood, harboring a father-son bond, and couldn’t help but criticize Xuan Nu a bit in a moment of emotion.

“Wu Jizhen, the ‘Six-Ocean Madman,’ continued fishing, unmoved: ‘The word ‘love’—throughout history, how many who fall deep into its grasp have truly seen through it? Whether one is emotional or emotionless, it is always difficult to judge. She was lively, cheerful, and playful, her innocence striking directly at my heart. I was the one who pursued her relentlessly; I can’t blame her.”

“These decades of marital love, deep and sincere, were no pretense, and nothing else can replace it. I do not regret.”

The old servant was momentarily speechless; every time, the answer was the same.

At that moment, a small boat rode the waves toward them. On its bow sat a young man in a green robe, around twenty years old, handsome and elegant, also fishing leisurely on the sea.

Wu Jizhen did not care about outsiders, continuing to fish calmly. Suddenly, he uttered a surprised “Hm?” and asked aloud: “Are you fishing with a straight hook?”

He himself fished without bait, merely refining his heart through angling—a quirk of the Eastern Sea. Yet this man before him was even stranger, bending his hook straight, without using true energy or invoking the power of heaven and earth. What fish could he possibly catch?

Though the distance between the two boats was great, Wu Jizhen’s voice traveled clearly through the howling sea wind.

The man with the straight hook was none other than Meng Qi, who did not lift his eyes but smiled slightly:

“Those who are willing will be caught.”

“Those who are willing will be caught…” Wu Jizhen first felt the profound meaning, then froze, repeating it again, “Those who are willing will be caught… Haha! Truly, those who are willing will be caught!”

He laughed wildly, realizing that his own marriage to Xuan Nu’s manifestation was indeed like “those who are willing will be caught!”

Hearing these words today, it felt like a sudden, sharp awakening.

Wu Jizhen’s laughter frightened the old servant a little, who repeatedly called out “Master” anxiously. After a long while, Wu Jizhen stopped laughing, threw down his fishing rod, and gazed deeply at Meng Qi. The bright moon above seemed momentarily dimmed, as if clouds had covered it, casting Wu Jizhen’s face into shadow.

“What a pity… what a pity… I didn’t receive such an awakening earlier. Now I am deeply entangled, unable to extricate myself,” Wu Jizhen said, his tone a mixture of sighing, pride, and a touch of confusion and sorrow.

With such a mindset, entangled in such a karmic bond, how could one possibly attain the Dharma body?

Meng Qi continued fishing with the straight hook, his left hand lightly tapping the bow of the boat, leisurely reciting:

“For thirty years I sought the sword master,

Many times the leaves fell and new branches grew.

Since that day I saw the peach blossom,

From then until now, I’ve had no doubts.”

“Since that day I saw the peach blossom, from then until now, I’ve had no doubts…” Wu Jizhen repeated dazedly, feeling his emotions surge, memories of the past flooding back—love and hate entwined. Yet suddenly, everything purified, leaving only deep affection. His previously restless heart calmed instantly, as if realizing: “It’s within me, the feeling is mine, unrelated to Xuan Nu. ‘Since that day I saw the peach blossom, from then until now, I’ve had no doubts.’ Good! Good! Good!”

He said “good” three times before asking, “How could someone so young possess such a heart tempered by worldly trials?”

“This is a verse by a great monk of the Chan sect upon his enlightenment. I’m merely borrowing flowers to offer to the Buddha. Originally, it had nothing to do with love or emotion, but what one realizes depends entirely on one’s personal karmic affinity.” Meng Qi wore the expression of one who said, “I am but a traveler in the mundane world, laughing at the Buddha with a cup of wine.”

Wu Jizhen, known for his “madness” and “eccentricity,” upon hearing this, found Meng Qi’s temperament quite to his liking. He laughed heartily: “Everyone has their own ‘peach blossom.’ How could it only represent Buddhist meaning? When the Buddha held up the flower, Mahakasyapa smiled—that was always about pointing directly to one’s own heart. Correct! Correct! Having seen so many pedantic and narrow-minded people, it’s rare to meet a young man like you who brightens my eyes. In the martial world, you will surely gain a reputation!”

“The junior is Su Meng.” Meng Qi replied calmly.

“Su Meng? ‘The Mad Saber’ Su Meng? The one expelled from Shaolin for learning the A-nan Breaking-the-Vows Saber?” Wu Jizhen paused, then suddenly laughed: “Good expulsion! Good expulsion! If not expelled, you’d just be another pedantic monk!”

Though mad, Wu Jizhen was not foolish: “What business do you have with me?”

“The junior has something to ask of the Xuan Nu lineage and wishes to inquire a bit of information from the senior.” After their conversation, Meng Qi, with a deeper grasp of the ‘Yuanxin Seal,’ understood Wu Jizhen’s nature and answered directly.

Wu Jizhen immediately frowned, his gaze shifting between clarity and obscurity: “You, too, have a karmic bond with her, requiring her manifestation?”

Seeing him in the posture of a jealous rival, Meng Qi couldn’t help but smile bitterly. The treasure you cherish so dearly, in my eyes, is nothing but filth I’d rather avoid stepping in. Indeed, the same object appears differently to different people, shaped entirely by their own nature.

“The junior merely has a matter to request,” Meng Qi replied with utmost sincerity.

Wu Jizhen nodded slightly: “Your heart is sincere, without romantic entanglement. I believe you.”

Suddenly, he smiled: “It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Central Plains. To have such a promising young talent emerge—how much better than those rotten, stagnant lumps of earth!”

Looking straight at Meng Qi, he continued: “I went to great lengths to find her trail. How could I easily tell you?”

“Ten moves. If you can withstand ten moves from me without defeat, you’ll earn the right to hear!”

He slowly stood up, arrogance in his voice: “Among the Earth List, those ranked above me—except for Su Wuming, whose skill leaves me with no choice but to say ‘respect’—none else impress me.”

“Shou Jing is aging, relying solely on the Knife of Time; Xiahou Yan possesses extraordinary talent, but talent alone; when my mind was whole, the Wheel-Turning Living Buddha was merely on par with a peak-level Exteriors master; the King of Netherworld behaves like a ghost, timid and underhanded—who should I fear? Qiu Wansheng’s temper is too fiery, prone to ambushes, with a glaring weakness.”

“Xuanjizi is distracted by too many sect affairs, his martial cultivation heart not pure; Ming Tong of Shuiyue Nunnery lives in the shadow of the previous abbess, lacking confidence; Gao Teng of the Gao family is but a brat—if not for fortunate timing, he could never have stepped onto the third level of the heavenly ladder; the head of the Benevolent Sage Sect hides his head and shows his tail—merely a rat!”

Listening to his comments, Meng Qi couldn’t help but smirk, thinking the nickname “Madman” was indeed well-deserved.

Wu Jizhen took a step forward, a hint of smile and fighting spirit in his eyes: “Those ranked below me in the past never stirred my desire to fight. Today, there’s you, the ‘Mad Saber.'”

“I am the Madman, you the Mad Saber. Let’s see who is more ‘mad.'”

“Ten moves. You’ve just become a Grandmaster. If you can withstand ten moves from me, you win!”

As his words fell, the full moon above brightened, casting silver light across the ocean within sight, making Wu Jizhen, bathed in moonlight, seem like a god.

In that moment, Meng Qi suddenly felt as though his inner and outer self were completely exposed, every movement devoid of secrecy.

When one reaches unity with heaven and earth, one can harness the connection with the cosmos to fully perceive the bloodline, flow of true energy, and muscle and meridian reactions of an opponent below the Exteriors level, even sensing the slightest movement of a single hair. However, after the merging of inner and outer, with the Inner Realm formed and a world of its own, mere unity with heaven and earth is no longer enough to sense the insides of an opponent at the Exteriors level. One must rely on changes in energy, divine calculations, and accumulated experience, unless one’s power overwhelms the opponent or the opponent’s mind has vulnerabilities, to see through them completely.

Yet at this moment, Meng Qi felt, as he had during his awakening, completely transparent before Wu Jizhen, with no secrets left.

This was the “Six-Ocean Madman,” ranked ninth on the Earth List?

This was a Grandmaster?

Wu Jizhen did not wield a weapon. His eyes deep and unfathomable, he stepped forward calmly under the moonlight, raising his right hand into a fist and striking out from afar.

The surroundings turned icy cold. Frost began to form on Meng Qi’s body. He felt his movements and thoughts slowing, making that punch seem lightning-fast!