The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

“No need for aggression… My Second Brother, Han Guang…” Although Meng Qi had prepared himself for invoking the persona of Gao Lan that was his sworn brother, little did he expect him to utter such words. Cursing incessantly within himself, Meng Qi could hardly be able to think correctly.

Behind the mask of the “Heaven Sovereign,” Han Guang’s expression could not be seen by Meng Qi, who instinctively looked at him despite being suspended in mid-air in his frozen state. Through the fabric of the sphere suspended in Time, Meng Qi could see the ripples forming by the winds caused by the strokes from the sword that had undone the barriers of the Three-life Temple.

Crack! With a tug of his hand, Gao Lan undid the magic that held Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang in stasis. They both fell to the ground at the lifting of the spell, without being able to reach the cover of the dense mists and flee.

Gao Lan turned to look at Han Guang. From behind his mask, Gao Lan exhaled heavily with melancholy before he spoke merrily with a laugh, “I know we have not properly conducted the rituals of swearing as brothers, my Brother. But as you have said before, we both hold dominion over all three planes of existences with you as the Heaven Sovereign and I as the Human Sovereign, thus our closeness like true brothers. Surely the current Realms of our powers, our standing, and prominence; all of these place more weight on our brotherhood than mere frivolous acts of formality?”

Meng Qi was shocked with disbelief, his gaze frozen with uncertainty. “We were merely at play, Brother… There is no need to officialize it…”

Han Guang remained quiet. He mumbled a few incomprehensible words dismissively without clearly denying or agreeing. He could not explicitly confess now that his brotherhood with Gao Lan was nothing more but a made-believe fraud, nor could he concede outright that they could not be brothers without any dominion over the three planes. The usual and cunning Gao Lan weighted his options most meticulously and looked towards the choice that would profit him most. But anything, even a fight, could unfold with the deranged imbecile before him!

Han Guang knew, by then, not only he would have to face off against Gao Lan who has managed to partially awaken the might of the Sword of the Human Sovereign, but there was also the Dharma King Dushi who could be lurking nearby. In addition to Cui Qinghe, the Noble Purple Spirit who could reach them any minute now! To provoke a feud now would be most unwise, thence he could only endure and be still while he probed for chances to invoke once again the real persona of Gao Lan!

Meng Qi looked at Han Guang and could vaguely imagine his grumbles, “With unparalleled potential, courage, decisiveness, shrewdness, my name, generally uttered with fear and respect! I have found myself such an imbecilic partner! Out of the blue, I suddenly have a schizophrenic and a mere Exterior practitioner as sworn brothers!”

Setting his doubts aside, Meng Qi – in his usually unabashed demeanor – rose to his feet. It was an opportunity for him to greet his two “brothers” and seal the status quo, silencing Han Guang and thus ridding themselves of any immediate dangers, for now.

But he had barely uttered a syllable when Gu Xiaosang curtseyed with all the deference and grace she could muster.

“My respects to my elder Brothers-in-law.”

There was an awkward silence which broke only by the whistling of winds, lapping upon the robes of Meng Qi and Han Guang.

Gao Lan was taken aback by this. But he recovered from his surprise and roared with laughter, “Well, well, well. My third brother is indeed one of a kind. To think that he was depressed and sad from his unrequited feelings, but now he has found himself such a gorgeous wife!”

“When have I been sad and depressed…” Meng Qi felt the edges of his lips twitching uncontrollably with annoyance, feeling suddenly that he and Han Guang could even be sharing the same irritated irk.

Amused, Gu Xiaosang flashed Meng Qi a look before she continued wistfully, “What terrible coincidences! To think that we have almost struck at each other! Our kin! But with all misunderstandings cleared up, we should work together and explore the Celestial Court for treasures. Surely there is no need to allow others instead to reap the fruits of our effort.”

“Well said indeed!” Gao Lan remarked, clapping his hands with approval while being utterly oblivious to Han Guang and Meng Qi who was frozen beside.

Gao Lan removed his mask and revealed his face which was mostly clean-shaven save for a few remaining bristles. But Meng Qi could detect the hint of warmth and kindness in the midst of his cold glare set upon Meng Qi with a smile, “You have been sensible to allow a place for your Second Brother when we swore as brothers, my little brother! Look, even the wife that you have found for yourself is one of such virtuous fortitude and character!”

His head tilted as he spoke, looking to the empty space, with a gentle laugh. “You would have endured a fruitless undertaking today, if not for the sake of my dear Sister-in-law here. Show yourself now. We will all share the bounties that we find.”

The air of the empty space shimmered. From thin air, the translucent figure of a person materialized with a defiant snort, “If not for the safety of the Holy Maiden…”

His voice trailed off into silence at the glance of the Sword of the Human Sovereign which continued to sparkle imperiously.

The duo of Gao Lan and Han Guang had initially planned for Gao Lan to hold off the Dharma King Dushi who could be arriving at the same time to the Temple, while Han Guang would deal with the vermins of Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang. The current development was hardly anything they would have imagined.

Born with audacious confidence in himself, the eccentric Gao Lan paid no heed to the mutterings of the Dharma King Dushi. He turned to Han Guang, saying, “Do you have anything more to add, Second Brother? Say something, will you? Honestly, my Brother, if you were to deviate from your actual path of becoming the Heaven Sovereign, I fear you would only be a petty warlord for the demon folk rather than the actual Heaven Sovereign himself. I do not forbid you from mingling with the demon race and fraternizing with the evil folk, but as the Heaven Sovereign, you reign supreme over the three planes. The demons and foul folks are but your subjects. There should be a limit to your association with them.”

Suddenly Han Guang interjected steadily before Gao Lan could continue.

“Understood. So be it then.”

Despite not exhibiting any visible changes in his mood, Meng Qi could almost feel his speechless annoyance at being led like a common mule by a deranged fool!

“With no objections, let us continue the exploration of the domain of the Ninth Heaven together in a search for any impartation of skills and treasures.” Gao Lan announced with delight.

Gu Xiaosang quipped immediately, “For your information, my elder Brothers-in-law, it is one of the original Heaven Sovereign’s mandate to govern the three lifetimes of all life. Thus the Three-life Temple is, in fact, the Heaven Sovereign’s private chamber in this level. This is the key site for any treasures in this level. We should search around here first.”

“Very well.” Han Guang muttered from behind his mask after hesitating for a moment. It was as if only through the remark of Gu Xiaosang, just he knew the significance of the Three-life Temple.

From aside, Meng Qi listened to their debate about the exploration of the Celestial Court. Everything felt like a rollercoaster ride to him. The malice and the cold sweat of fear earlier were remarkably replaced by the amicable and cordial atmosphere of their newly-forged teamwork.

He knew that this would not have been possible if he and Gu Xiaosang had not invoked the eccentric persona of Gao Lan through the use of the Purple Lightning Message technique and the Mirror of Today. Moreover, he knew Han Guang would never sit for this quietly. He would surely be thinking of different ways of restoring Gao Lan to his former personality!

With every moment that passed, the danger for them to linger alongside Han Guang and Gao Lan increased substantially. They have to escape while they could for he knew of no other ways of restoring his sworn brother to his usual and cold self save for the mention of Master Lu’s name. But Han Guang would surely be using telepathy to try to trigger the change as soon as possible!

Despite the favorable status quo, Meng Qi could hardly settle down and be at ease!

He spoke up suddenly to Gao Lan, “Brother, I plan to leave here once our exploration of the Three-life Temple is complete. I shall prepare a banquet outside for your triumphant return.”

“Why?” Gao Lan asked, frowning. “You cannot trust me?”

But Meng Qi had already thought of a reasonable pretense, “Many a great danger abound the treacherous crevices of this domain. Moreover, there could still be pursuers at our heels. My small powers will only drag you on, Brother. I might as well leave as soon as I can and prepare to receive you back. After all, the trip here was only to help her exploration here in the Three-life Temple.”

Gu Xiaosang nodded with a smile, backing up Meng Qi’s charade. Her remarkable wit allowed her to instantly understood Meng Qi’s concerns when she heard his conversation with Gao Lan, fully aware that Han Guang could trigger a shift to Gao Lan’s personality since they have successfully done so!

And if things were to take such a dire turn indeed, there would be no use for quaint tricks like the exciting passages and the mirror anymore!

By then, not even the powers of the Dharma King Dushi would be able to withstand the might of two Dharmakaya-Realmed warriors! There would be no way for them to survive such odds!

As they spoke, Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang detected Han Guang’s wicked smile. They could not help but feel a cold shiver creeping down their spine, for the Evil Master’s murderous intent was apparent!

Gao Lan considered Meng Qi’s request and thought of the dangerous perils that lurked in the domain of the Celestial Court and the pursuers behind which included Cui Qinghe and possibly armed reinforcements of the Jin Empire. Morosely, he conceded, “You may be true. After all, you are no longer an inexperienced fledgling, my Little Brother.”

Han Guang had been ceaselessly pestering him via telepathy, incessantly whispering into his ears of their plans of grandeur and ambitions for world domination.

With Gao Lan’s assent, Meng Qi quietly heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, he felt comfortable enough to continue the exploration of the Temple

Through their journey to the Three-life Temple, Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang had been frantically leaving the evocative passages. When they had reached the Temple, they began to devise their plans around using the Mirror of Today. With the arrival of the Dharma King Dushi, they knew that Han Guang and the unknown Dharmakaya practitioner would only be close behind. In the midst of their troubled preparations, they had not been able to observe the inside of the Temple closely.

At proper observations, they found that the wings of the Three-life Temple: the Hall of Yesterday and the Hall of Tomorrow were destroyed, with only a few remnants of their structure held by the still-standing edifice of the Hall of Today which was the central complex. The Temple’s destruction was so great that even the clouds that sustained the foundation of the Temple dispersed; leaving only a bottomless and precipitous crevasse into the dense mists below.

And by Gao Lan’s earlier blow which had destroyed the protective spells of the Temple, had cleaved the entire Hall of Today into half; a terrifying blow which had created a divide which has extended deep into the chambers behind.

Fallen debris, dirt and golden tiles littered on the ground. Despite the wreckages strewn on the ground, there was no infestation of moss or weeds. In the chambers of the Hall of Today, hung the Mirror of Today which showed one’s past experiences in life.

Suddenly, Meng Qi heard the voice of Gao Lan resounding in his mind, “I am slightly worried for you, Little Brother. Your wife is a most cunning woman with an uncanny flair for schemes and designs. She might be beyond you…”

He looked at Meng Qi with a deeply concerned expression.

“Worry not, Brother. I will keep an eye on her…” Meng Qi answered, feeling slightly embarrassed that they were, of all things, discussing this matter.

Gao Lan remarked once more with telepathy, sounding delighted with himself this time, “I am afraid Han Guang will be most displeased.”

“Er…” Meng Qi was left gaping at him with puzzled surprise.

“You were taking me for a dim-witted fool? You think I cannot discern truth from empty flattery? I was only playing insane so that Han Guang could not be forced into aggression. He is after all the leader of the Destruction Sect while your wife serves the Master of the Luo Denomination. Many a time they have been together conspiring plots and schemes. Can we be sure that they will not join up against us if such extents befell upon them forcefully? I may wield the Sword of the Human Sovereign, but I have but merely been able to awaken its full powers partially. There remains a limit to what I can do against them both, especially when they are both from the evil guilds and orders which have many impartations of skills from their elders of old. Surely they will have potent gambits or even trump cards hidden up their sleeves. It is for everyone’s benefit that we can share in our spoils peacefully without any squabbling.” Gao Lan remarked proudly.

He looked tremendously proud of his wits.

“I am beginning to think you are, in fact, truly deranged, Brother…” Meng Qi cursed quietly. But despite his deranged state, Gao Lan had survived the dangerous perils of the Jianghu to this day. He would hardly be a dim-witted fool!

Gao Lan giggled before he continued. “Gao Lan had taught me a few tricks from the Heavenly Emperor’s Scripts that has helped me greatly in awakening the Sword of the Human Sovereign. With remarkable strength, realm, and potential, he qualifies to be my younger sworn brother and your Second Brother!” As he spoke, Meng Qi noticed that his eyes twinkled with contentment as if he was enjoying in genuinely consummating their brotherhood!

Speechless with disbelief, Meng Qi asked Gao Lan for his help in shielding his telepathic conversation from being eavesdropped. He then whispered to Gu Xiaosang, “Do not ever mentioned the name of Master Lu. A-ah, and not the name of Taoist Chonghe too.”

The name of Taoist Chonghe has risen into unprecedented prominence predecessors ever since it his mastery of the skill of the Conjuration of the Taoist Trinity during the battle in the Immensity Sea of Lake Baikal was revealed.

Gu Xiaosang chuckled as she replied, “Understood, Husband. Never have I truly believed the rumors that the Mad Prince was truly deranged, until now.”

“Are you not a schizophrenic yourself? There is still Yu Longzi.” Meng Qi remarked without much thought.

With an amused expression, Gu Xiaosang uttered with her oddly glimmering eyes, “Please kill Yu Longzi if and when you are fortunate enough to encounter her once more, Husband.”

“Huh?” Meng Qi looked at her, perplexed.