Having just resolved his teammate’s emotional issues, was he immediately going to provide psychological counseling? Meng Qi wasn’t really reluctant. Since he intended to join Qi Zhengyan, settle down peacefully, consolidate his foundation, enhance his strength, and offer help where necessary, it was only natural. Moreover, strengthening bonds between teammates, enabling them to focus wholeheartedly on improvement before deadly missions and cooperate better during them, would significantly improve his chances of survival. Thus, he merely inwardly teased himself for falling into the rhythm of a community committee auntie.
“Sure,” Meng Qi nodded heavily toward Jiang Zhiwei. After all, he was idle anyway, just a wandering swordsman in the martial arts world.
Stepping into the pillar of light, his vision darkened and his mind swirled. The sounds of evening drums and temple bells echoed in his ears. Before him stood a nunnery, and behind it, a Buddhist temple.
“Everyone gained a lot from this mission. The Master of the Six Samsara was unusually generous this time… The upcoming deadly mission won’t be easy!” Meng Qi recalled the events and sighed inwardly.
Originally, he had come out to escape the melodrama with Qiongyao, and to make progress in the sixth gate of the Golden Bell Shield. Now that Zhang Yuanshan and Fu Zhenzhen’s emotional issues were resolved, his sixth gate was nearly perfected. He rose leisurely, stretching lazily without caring about his image, and strolled toward the nunnery.
As soon as he entered the gate, Meng Qi saw Zhang Yuanshan and Fu Zhenzhen walking out side by side. They kept a certain distance between them, for this place was close to the Zhenwu Sect. If someone happened to see them, it might cause a huge uproar and disrupt future plans.
“Senior Brother Meng, I can’t thank you enough,” Zhang Yuanshan said solemnly, bowing respectfully.
Meng Qi laughed heartily, appearing heroic and carefree, trying to shake off the feeling of being a community committee worker. “I merely accompanied you for drinks. In the end, it was still you, Senior Brother Zhang, who made the decision.”
Zhang Yuanshan glanced around to confirm no eavesdroppers before saying, “I always lack the resolve to make life-and-death decisions. When faced with difficult choices, I always need someone to push me before I can decide. And without Senior Brother Meng watching over us, Zhenzhen might have done something irreversible.”
Thinking back to her moment of cutting her hair and crying, Fu Zhenzhen felt too ashamed to lift her head, feeling she couldn’t face Meng Qi anymore.
Meng Qi smiled and said, “Senior Brother Zhang, if you really want to thank me, treat me to some Xuanwu delicacies.”
“No problem. When in Xuanwu, if you don’t taste the fish turtle and river fish, you might as well not have come at all,” Zhang Yuanshan laughed heartily, glancing at Meng Qi with a chuckle. “Senior Brother Meng, your wig.”
In this world, short hair meant either a recently returned monk or a demon.
Meng Qi’s face stiffened. Right, he had almost forgotten!
Thankfully, the Master of the Six Samsara had provided him with a wig as part of the disguise items. Otherwise, he would have had to risk exposure by covering his head and seeking out old martial artists to find a place to buy one within Xuanwu City.
After a few moments of small talk, Meng Qi reminded them, “Although Young Master Yao himself might not be an issue, his family, the Yao Clan, could be. His suggestions might be influenced by others. Senior Brother Zhang, if you’re going to proceed with your plan, be extremely cautious and don’t let anyone catch you with evidence.”
Zhang Yuanshan nodded solemnly. “I understand. This matter is of utmost importance, and I absolutely cannot afford any negligence. Even though Junior Brother Yao is skilled at planning, the final decisions must be mine. If I fail, it will be due to my own incompetence, and I won’t blame anyone else.”
He paused and continued, “Junior Brother Meng, I feel that the Eight-Nine Profound Art is somewhat strange.”
“How so?” Meng Qi wasn’t sure which version of the Eight-Nine Profound Art Zhang was referring to, so he asked without much confusion. For Zhang Yuanshan, however, there was only one Eight-Nine Profound Art—the fundamental great skill of the Holy Buddha from the Mythical Era.
Zhang Yuanshan pondered deeply. “That Holy Buddha was a mighty figure from the early Mythical Era. After creating his own Pure Land, he vanished from the mortal world, and it is said that he had already attained Nirvana. Due to the passage of time, very few accounts of his deeds remain. Our sect’s records of the Eight-Nine Profound Art mention only its ability to achieve the Bodhi Golden Body.”
“‘Bodhi’ means wisdom, enlightenment, and supreme perfect enlightenment. It is a term in Buddhism used to describe the highest achievement, just like ‘Tathagata,’ which represents the true nature and the Buddha-nature within oneself. Thus, the Tathagata Golden Body and the Bodhi Golden Body are mentioned together.”
Meng Qi nodded, indicating that he understood this point.
After all, he had come from the Chan School of Buddhism, which emphasized enlightenment and the search for one’s own Buddha-nature, believing that the Buddha resides within the mind. He had heard countless explanations of the correct meanings of the Tathagata Golden Body and the Bodhi Golden Body. Although these terms were created by the Buddha and the Holy Buddha respectively, their naming was not like that of the Great Compassion and Great Mercy Avalokiteshvara Dharma Body or the Ksitigarbha Golden Body, which were derived from the first ones to achieve them.
Of course, anyone who attains the Buddha Golden Body inevitably bears the name Tathagata. Yet in the eyes of the common people, Tathagata is equivalent to the Buddha.
“If it’s about wisdom, enlightenment, and supreme perfect enlightenment, then why does it focus so much on the physical body?” Zhang Yuanshan voiced his confusion. “Moreover, the term ‘Eight-Nine’ comes from our Daoist tradition. I had always been puzzled about why the Holy Buddha named his skill this way. It was only after seeing that it could achieve the ‘Indestructible Dao Body’ that I felt slightly relieved. Perhaps there was some unknown story behind it.”
Meng Qi, upon hearing Zhang Yuanshan’s explanation, also felt puzzled. Indeed, what did physical body cultivation have to do with wisdom, enlightenment, and supreme perfect enlightenment? Could there have been some changes later on?
Unfortunately, Meng Qi was still far from being able to exchange for the seven chapters of the Dharma Body, so he couldn’t know the truth.
In the following days, Zhang Yuanshan used the excuse of entertaining his good friend Meng Qi from nearby areas, and together with Meng Qi and Fu Zhenzhen, they toured Xuanwu and tasted its delicacies.
Meng Qi was thoroughly satisfied with the food. Occasionally, he would think of Ruan Yushu, a notorious foodie, wondering what she would feel if she knew he was enjoying himself so much, and whether she would mock him again.
He didn’t stay long and soon said his farewells, boarding a riverboat heading upstream to Huanzhou. First, the Zhang and Song families were about to marry, and Zhang Yuanshan was under close scrutiny. If Meng Qi stayed too long, it would be easy for someone to discover his true identity, which could attract the Shaolin Monastic Enforcers—an undesirable outcome. Second, there were matters waiting for him to investigate with Qi Zhengyan, so he couldn’t delay. As for Zhang Yuanshan and Fu Zhenzhen’s situation, he wasn’t worried. At the very least, within the next year, the two wouldn’t attempt to fake their deaths and escape. They would need to focus on training, wandering, and honing their skills in preparation for the deadly mission.
Putting on his wig and a silk hat, Meng Qi disguised himself this time as a sword-carrying scholar. Once aboard, he went directly to his cabin and stayed inside, diligently “studying.” Meals and other necessities were brought to and taken from him by the ship’s servants.
He chose to travel by boat rather than on foot because he wanted to avoid distractions and focus on stabilizing his current cultivation level. Whether it was opening his nasal passages or nearing the completion of the sixth gate of the Golden Bell Shield, both had been forced open through the use of essence energy and medicinal power, leaving many imperfections that needed careful refinement.
Moreover, he still needed to cultivate the “Undying Seal Art,” including its techniques of illusion to confuse enemies, mental interference, and the methods of redirecting and dispersing force at the peak of true energy. He also needed to focus on researching how to use the Thunder Scar to quickly cultivate the Purple Lightning Skill, striving to maintain normal true energy cultivated through the Eight-Nine Profound Art and the Golden Bell Shield during regular practice, and once the technique was activated, part of it would transform into Purple Lightning Skill, directly attaching to the “Evil Calamity” with the help of the Thunder Scar.
At the same time, he couldn’t avoid studying the fifth strike of the Purple Lightning Skill, “Thunder Shocking the Nine Heavens,” continuing to grasp the “Heavenly Saber’s Quintessence” and the Solitary Sword Techniques of the Lone Sword, and practicing the “Illusory Demon Body Technique” within the confines of his cabin.
With so much to do, Meng Qi naturally chose to travel by boat, fully dedicating himself to his cultivation.
Sailing upstream, the boat moved slowly. Huanzhou and its surrounding areas were filled with treacherous mountains and turbulent waters. Many rapids could only be crossed during specific times each day, often requiring the assistance of boatmen pulling the ropes. Thus, more than half a month passed before the large boat gradually entered the territory of Huanzhou.
Inside his cabin, Meng Qi wielded sword and saber simultaneously. There was no wind, no sound, and the moves seemed ordinary at first glance but kept changing unpredictably. Each movement created a phantom image, making it hard to distinguish reality from illusion.
Suddenly, the sword and saber vanished, having somehow returned to their sheaths without notice. Meng Qi nodded in satisfaction. He had finally grasped the two techniques of the “Undying Seal Art” at a basic level.
The true “Undying Seal Art” involved forming internal seals within the body and external seals through hand gestures. Through these, it connected the internal organs’ energies with the external universe and nature, making it a unique cultivation method that bridged the internal and external. Thus, once one reached a basic level, one could blend spirit and true energy to create illusions and interfere with an opponent’s senses.
Because Meng Qi had to use sword and saber, he could only circulate true energy internally to form body seals, while replacing hand seals with the projection and application of spiritual power from his third eye. Nevertheless, he had managed to reach a basic level.
The method of maintaining true energy at its peak wasn’t difficult. Meng Qi was already familiar with its core concept: life at its extreme turns into death, and death at its extreme transforms back into life. The true energy cultivated through the Eight-Nine Profound Art and the Golden Bell Shield was naturally quick to recover. After bold experimentation, he quickly gained entry into this technique.
Once he had mastered this, redirecting and dispersing force became manageable. Although not as powerful as those who specialized in the “Undying Seal Art,” combined with his Golden Bell Shield, it was sufficient for Meng Qi to handle most situations.
A gust of cold wind blew past, making the physically strong Meng Qi shiver in surprise.
“This is early summer! How can it be so cold?” He suppressed his thoughts on cultivating the Purple Lightning Skill and sword techniques, pushed open his cabin door, and stepped outside.
Before him was a white expanse. Floating ice drifted on the river, and snow covered both banks, making it seem like winter had returned.
Meng Qi placed the Evil Calamity into his satchel, slung it over his back, grabbed Bingque, closed his cabin door, and headed toward the front of the ship, intending to ask the sailors what was going on.
As he approached the dining hall on the upper deck, Meng Qi noticed a group of sailors gathered around a section of the deck, cooking over an iron pot filled with various ingredients. The rich aroma of meat wafted directly into Meng Qi’s nose.
Not even worried about starting a fire… Meng Qi thought to himself as he approached politely. “Good fellows, may I ask why it’s snowing in June?”
The sailors were sitting around a pot, warming themselves and watching the food simmer. Upon hearing Meng Qi’s question, the leader quickly replied, “Half a month ago, Master Cui Qingyu of the Pingjin Cui Clan, acting as the clan head, engaged in a fierce battle nearby with a mysterious expert. The weather has been like this since then. It might take a year or more to return to normal.”
“I see. Truly a natural disaster…” Meng Qi sighed, watching them eat with such enjoyment. His appetite stirred, he asked, “Good fellows, what are you eating? May I join you? I’ll pay.”
“Just some pork and beef offal,” the leading sailor waved off, worried about being scolded by the ship owner for treating a guest poorly.
Exactly my favorite! Without hesitation, Meng Qi sat down, handed over some silver coins, took a bowl and chopsticks, and prepared a spicy and fragrant dipping sauce with dogwood juice and other ingredients. He picked up slices of beef liver and pork tripe, eating heartily.
Seeing that the guest didn’t mind, the sailors also relaxed, grabbing and competing for food, sweating profusely, driving away the cold.
“Chief, something seems off inside,” one sailor whispered, glancing toward the ship’s dining hall.
Hearing this, Meng Qi turned his gaze toward the hall.
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