Chapter 919: Liberation

“A-nan!”

Countless resentful voices surged and receded, echoing Ba Zha’s furious roar, rendering the dark and terrifying Ling Mountain even more sinister.

Meng Qi opened his eyes and looked toward Jiang Zhiwei and the others, seeing the same confusion reflected in their eyes:

During the ancient battle at Ling Mountain, what role did Ananda play to leave behind such intense resentment and hatred?

Meng Qi had a suspicion. Could it be that when only the Yao Sage managed to escape from the Yao Clan’s army during the incident, it was A’Nan’s doing? From then on, love and hatred became intertwined—on one side, an unrelenting pursuit across heaven and earth, swearing never to forgive through lifetimes, leaving behind the scar of betrayal; on the other, entering the cycle of reincarnation, unable to let go of his obsession, the mark gradually fading until he ultimately descended into the Martial Dao?

“The Yao Sage dared to attack Ling Mountain and invade the Saha Pure Land, which means he must have already broken through, crossed the Sea of Suffering, and reached the Other Shore, becoming a truly great figure. At that time, A-nan had not yet turned to the Evil by inverting the Rúlái Divine Palm and was merely a legendary Great Arhat. What virtue or ability could he have had that allowed the Yao Sage to leave Ling Mountain only by preserving himself?” Jiang Zhiwei raised her own question.

Zhao Heng pondered for a moment before replying, “When the Buddha entered Nirvana, he must have attained the Dao fruit and transcended. Perhaps he left behind some hidden trump card, which A-nan exploited to betray the Yao Sage. However, it’s unlikely the Yao Sage would have overlooked such a possibility and fallen into a trap…”

He sighed and said, “In that ancient battle at Ling Mountain, very few survived. Exactly what happened, and the strategies each side employed, remain difficult to fully comprehend. We must investigate this step by step.”

Suddenly, a thought struck Meng Qi. He exchanged glances with Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and the others, considering a possibility—that A’nan had exploited his emotional bond with the Yao Sage Feng Xi to lure her into a trap, ultimately leading to their falling out?

This would better explain the subsequent developments!

Although Meng Qi had never explicitly explained the relationship between Ananda and the Demon Sage to Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu, given everything they had been through—especially knowing about the existence of the phrase “Those with righteousness and benevolence, do not enter this gate,” as well as learning from Master Yun He about the Demon Sage’s pursuit and attempted killing of Ananda—it wasn’t difficult for them to deduce the truth.

At this moment, Ruan Yushu frowned slightly, then suddenly relaxed her brows and proposed another perspective: “Ananda and Kasyapa were two of the most outstanding among the Buddha’s ten great disciples, and were the principal inheritors of the Saha Pure Land. Their power perhaps shouldn’t be simply measured by the standards of a Great Arhat.”

A Great Arhat is equivalent to a Great Bodhisattva. Among them, those closest to the Buddha were of the legendary realm. Previously, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei had always treated A-nan and Jia She as such.

However, among the Great Bodhisattvas, the most outstanding ones, such as Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara, had long been capable of attaining the Buddha fruit, but had not taken that final step due to unfinished great vows. Yet their strength and cultivation level were no less than that of a Buddha, even surpassing most Buddhas and transcending the legendary realm.

If Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara were like this, why couldn’t A-nan and Jia She be the same?

—The Buddhist fruits roughly equate to cultivation realms, but are not strictly equivalent. There are always exceptions for various reasons, such as having a higher realm but a lower fruit. It’s similar to how one’s treatment level doesn’t always match their official rank.

“That makes sense,” Jiang Zhiwei nodded gently, deep in thought. “Perhaps after A-nan mastered all nine forms of the Rulai Divine Palm, he had already surpassed the legendary realm, entered the ultimate Sea of Suffering, and achieved transcendent transformation. Even if he couldn’t match Zhenwu or Qingdi, he would be no different from Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara. It’s just that for other reasons, he didn’t attain the Buddha fruit—perhaps due to lingering attachments?”

“If that’s the case, the gap between him and the Yao Sage would be much smaller than we imagined.”

After the legendary realm, one could leave imprints across all universes and cosmic fragments. As more universes came into existence, these imprints would naturally form—this stage was known as the Perfect legendary realm. Advancing further, one would begin to explore the past, glimpse the future, and truly perceive the existence of the River of Time along with its erosion upon oneself. This marked entry into an entirely new realm, essentially reaching a higher level referred to as Transcendent Transformation. Before their breakthroughs, the Fire Emperor, the Golden Emperor, the Green Emperor, and the Black Emperor had all attained the Perfect Transcendent Transformation level.

Of course, many cultivators regarded this as the final stage of the Sea of Bitterness. Once traversed, one could reach the Other Shore, which is why the term “Sea of Bitterness” is commonly used to denote the Transcendent Transformation realm.

The following text is translated into English:

This is an imprecise colloquial term because once a person is born, they are already within the “Sea of Suffering.”

Meng Qi’s green robe fluttered in the fierce wind of Ling Mountain, his expression calm, his temples lightly swaying with streaks of white: “If A-nan had reached the Transcendent Transformation realm, he shouldn’t have needed to use the Karmic Entanglement technique to kill several Sages, especially since he didn’t bring the Luoshu.”

He had privately told this to Jiang Zhiwei before, and now he didn’t hide it from Ruan Yushu and Zhao Heng either.

Jiang Zhiwei pondered for a moment and said, “With each reincarnation, the imprints inevitably weaken. A-nan had lingering attachments and couldn’t let go, so his power in each life probably declined. Moreover, the Hegemon’s death might have been somewhat related to him. The Hegemon’s final self-destruction wouldn’t have left him unscathed. Considering all this, A-nan’s realm at that time might still have been legendary, but his actual strength might not have matched. Hence, he had to use Karmic Entanglement to kill several Sages.”

“And when he inverted the Rulai Divine Palm, transforming his lingering attachments into demonic intent, his path became smooth again, allowing him to quickly regain his peak strength. Then he left the A-nan Pure Land and made another breakthrough.”

She made a reasonable deduction.

“Perhaps that is the truth…” Meng Qi’s voice carried a strange sense of emotion. He looked around and said in a low voice, “Let’s go. We must delve deeper into Ling Mountain.”

Seeing him holding a long saber in his left hand, his green robe fluttering in the wind, and speaking without trying to be concise, though still carrying a sense of age and depth, Jiang Zhiwei felt a stirring in her heart. She quickly transmitted her thoughts to him telepathically: “Strike while the iron is hot, for the second strike weakens and the third exhausts. Leave the enemies ahead to us.”

She had heard from Wang Siyuan about Meng Qi’s ten years of hardship and ten years of meditative stillness to refine a single saber strike.

Meng Qi transmitted back: “It’s fine. Before I strike, I must warm up, slowly building my momentum, just like before a volcanic eruption or an earthquake—there are always signs. Only then can the eruption be mighty and overwhelming.”

Seeing Meng Qi confronting his issue directly, Jiang Zhiwei’s lips curled into a smile, feeling a deep sense of joy.

Outside this half-collapsed Buddhist temple, countless dark cracks appeared in the dark void, like the gaping mouths of monsters, ready to devour anything that approached.

Yet they also formed narrow paths leading to the summit of Ling Mountain. Occasionally, the wind howled through, tearing at flesh. A normal person here would already have their body ripped apart and their soul dissolved. Reaching the site of the ancient battle, they might even encounter the Samadhi Divine Wind.

In the distance, thunder flickered and stars shimmered, occasionally pierced by lightning, illuminating their vision. Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and Zhao Heng advanced cautiously, step by step.

Roar!

The path twisted and turned, seemingly endless. Countless hair-raising sounds came from near and far, continuously. Sensing them would likely result in one’s spirit being swallowed by the void cracks, an excruciating experience. Yet occasionally, they glimpsed half-destroyed Buddhist temples, Arhats cloaked in gray and gold, and Tiger and Leopard Dharmakayas as large as hills.

Meng Qi even caught sight of a Bodhisattva Golden Body concealed in the darkness. Its entire form was covered in fissures, seeping a grayish-white fluid, its face hollow and horrifying. Had they not been on divergent paths, requiring detours around numerous void rifts, they might have already clashed. A deceased, zombie-like Bodhisattva could still approach the power of a Dharmakaya infinitely.

After walking for a while, a massive black shadow suddenly appeared ahead at a mountain pass. Meng Qi activated his Wisdom Eye and recognized someone familiar—or rather, a familiar Yao.

“Dangshan Jun!” Jiang Zhiwei also sensed him through her Heaven-Piercing Sword Heart.

It was a colossal serpent, coiled like a small mountain, its body shrouded in grayish-white feathers, with festering wounds oozing foul yellow pus. The miasma of death and demonic energy (Yao Qi) was so dense it coalesced into a swirling gray-black haze.

When they first entered Ling Mountain, Meng Qi and the others had encountered it, barely escaping thanks to Luo Shengyi’s sacrifice. Later, when they re-entered the Journey to the West, they met it again in the fragments of the Heavenly Court. At that time, it had regained its intelligence through Luo Shengyi’s residual soul and lingering attachments, nearly becoming a Zombie King.

Hiss!

Dangshan Jun sensed someone approaching, raised his long neck, and stared coldly at Meng Qi and the others with crimson eyes. One eye contained the phantom of a white-furred monster, while the other bore the face of Luo Shengyi, just as before.

Back then, Meng Qi and the others had barely escaped from him. Today, the gap between them had reversed, even widened.

Meng Qi sighed, gazing at Dangshan Jun’s eyes with pity and emotion. Within his already-healed wounds, his heartbeat suddenly became clear.

Thud, thud, thud. Dangshan Jun’s long-dead heart began to beat again, his Yuan Shen’s lingering attachments pulsing with each beat, three separate threads vibrating.

For a moment, it stood still, struggling intensely.

Jiang Zhiwei also sighed, drew her long sword, and slashed from afar. The sword light became a rainbow, carrying a breathtaking brilliance.

Under the gleam of the sword, Dangshan Jun’s corpse suddenly turned illusory, its aura of death and demonic energy becoming transparent, revealing three lingering obsessions of the Yuan Shen.

“Sever the Dao and see the self!”

As the sword light descended, the three lingering obsessions of the Yuan Shen dissipated. Luo Shengyi’s attachment persisted the longest, naturally emerging first from the serpent’s body.

He floated in midair, his residual soul gradually dissipating, gazing at the familiar yet strange Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and Ruan Yushu, and sighed deeply: “Truly, fate plays tricks on people.”

Ding ding dang, Ruan Yushu plucked a melodious tune on her qin, brimming with vibrant vitality. Luo Shengyi’s residual soul ceased dissipating, gradually condensing instead.

The “Longevity Tune of the Dragon Turtle”!

Meng Qi gazed at Luo Shengyi and declared, “With the Cycle Seal, there exists limited reincarnation between heaven and earth. If I survive this ordeal, I will undoubtedly awaken your next life, granting you the opportunity for vengeance and justice.”

After learning from Qi Zhengyan that the Six Paths might possess the Cycle Seal, Meng Qi deliberately gathered related information. He discovered that the Cycle Seal was extremely mysterious, but one thing was certain: with it, at least the first two reincarnations would retain the same three souls, ensuring one remained oneself.

Luo Shengyi laughed heartily: “Good! I’ll be waiting for you!”

As the melody of the qin played, his body transformed into a streak of light, vanishing into the void with no trace of where it went, leaving behind only these words:

“It was the one deep within Ling Mountain who drove us to steal the Jianmu Flower in the fragments of Heaven!”

The voice lingered, and Luo Shengyi vanished into the mysterious depths of the void, not even asking how Meng Qi would find his reincarnated self.

—”The one deep within Ling Mountain…”

Meng Qi murmured softly to himself.

After Luo Shengyi disappeared, Dangshan Jun and the white-furred monster were simultaneously freed. They flew into the sky, murmuring in confusion and fear:

“They’re all dead… they’re all dead…”

It was as if they had seen something unbearable from the past.