554 Karma Frui (1/2)
The string of twinkling stars gleamed in the darkness, its air of immense and abstruse mysteries making it so that no one dared to approach or enter it.
Since he had already come this far, it would be unthinkable for him to return empty-handed. Besides, there was also a good chance that the elegant yet devilish middle-aged man had destroyed the Karma Fruit Formation.
Furthermore, he had mastered the incomplete version of Fruits of Karma and a karma secret technique. He had also pondered over related details of the Seed of All Karma of the Heavenly Golden Scripture. The expertise of his main practice, Eight Nine Mysteries, lied in avoiding disasters. When it came to Way of Karma within the boundaries of the Exterior realm, he would definitely consider himself an expert. Therefore, even if the Karma Fruit Formation was in good order, he was fairly confident in passing through it. More importantly, he had the greatest trump card in being able to end this at any time and return!
If he did not directly engage in a battle, Six Samsara could still summon him even if he was trapped in the formation!
Like usual, Meng Qi had his sword in his left hand and saber in his right. His pace was neither quick nor slow as he traveled along the mountain path to the fifth floor.
Everything turned abruptly dim around him, the darkness stretching as far as his eyes could see. Meng Qi felt as if he had fallen into the center of a vast, boundless universe.
He initiated the heart sutras of Fruits of Karma, secretly using Sikong Tu's karma secret technique. His vision suddenly turned blank, where he failed to find the bottom at just a glance, and the fascinating darkness interweaved with bright lights as the nearby scenery reflected each other.
Each of the strands of karma floating in the scope of his awareness surfaced on his mind, carrying with them an indescribable sense of danger. It seemed that there would be unimaginably devastating consequences if he allowed them to come near or attach themselves to him.
Suddenly, he suddenly felt an inexplicable breath soaring from the depths of the formation. It fell into resonance with his heart sutras of Fruits of Karma. The wonderful premonition that had emerged mysteriously and inexorably once again came to him.
This was the chance that he had been looking for!
Meng Qi knew without a shadow of a doubt that the item to suppress the eye of the formation was his chance at completing his cultivation of Fruits of Karma!
He exhaled, expelling his happiness, apprehension, and shock along with the breath that left him. His expression adopted a mask of icy calmness.
”The treasure of the eye of the formation still exists. Looks like the middle-aged man from earlier didn't go through this formation. Or if he did, the formation is beyond his capability to destroy...” Meng Qi secretly speculated. Using his heart sutras, he observed the floating strands of karma in his surroundings and tried to plan his way forward.
He suddenly moved but instead of flying high, he traveled like there was a dragon under his feet. The force carried him as he weaved through the strands of karma, as if he knew this place like the back of his hand.
In the beginning, the strands of karma were scarce and there was a great distance between each of them. The speed at which they fluttered was also slow. Meng Qi felt relaxed all over, the feeling triumphing even what he would feel if he were to be sauntering. The more packed the strands of karma were, the faster they moved and eventually, they resembled a gleaming rain formed out of meteors shooting across empty skies.
Meng Qi's heart sutras of Fruits of Karma were in full operation. He dared not to restrain his secret technique even by a little and continually moved forward or transformed into a creature like a mouse in advance. He would move through the gaps of the strands of karma carefully. If there were bystanders who saw him right now, he might be mistaken as a ghost!
When he was near the eye of the formation, the strands of karma transformed into a genuine drizzle that gleamed and shimmered, looking dreamy and enthralling. If he was not careful, then a 'drop of the rain' might accidentally fall on him!
Meng Qi became increasingly cautious as he moved up and down, desperately showcasing his ability to nimbly dodge and weave. Simultaneously, he used all his strength to sense every strand of karma, determining their level of danger. He tried his best to pick the spot that was least terrifying so that in the end, even if he could not dodge the strands, he could try contending with them.
The thought had just come to him when he suddenly felt a piercing sense of danger!
He saw a group of strands of karma that, for some inexplicable reason, defied the 'regular pattern of motion' and deviated from the orbit. They stopped in front of him, blocking his path.
The strands cornered him in all directions, front and back, up and down. They floated toward him, giving him no space to dodge any of them.
Even if he morphed into a mouse, it would be near impossible to travel through the narrow gaps.
In that brief moment that balanced the fine line between life and death, Meng Qi resisted the idea to abandon this. Relying purely on heart sutras and his secret technique, he managed to identify the different danger levels of every strand of karma flying in his face.
”That strand poses the least danger!” Without any time to ponder his decision, he instantly morphed into a mouse and took the initiative to turn toward the strand on his left.
When the strand came into contact with his skin, his head instantly spun. The scene before his eyes changed as the darkness faded away to reveal a great mountain that extended into the distance.
Meng Qi found himself in the body of that elegant middle-aged man with a devilish charm. As he stood leisurely on the peak of the mountain, he was dressed in a green robe with his hands behind his back
Just as he was about to leave, an old monk dressed in a yellow frock with a red cassock draped over his shoulders appeared out of thin air. His eyebrows drooped so low that they fell against his cheek. In his left hand was a cane with nine tin rings and in his left, he was dragging a Buddha's relic that radiated a dark golden glaze.
”Abbot Kong Wen?”
The appearance of the old man was etched deeply into Meng Qi's mind. He was the first Dharmakaya master that Meng Qi had ever met: Kong Wen, Dragon-subduing Arhat of Shaolin Temple!
Kong Wen's face was solemn and dignified. He clenched his grasp on the Buddha's relic into a fist and punched straight at Meng Qi!
The punch was brimming with Zen Philosophies, giving people a feeling of self-sufficiency. It was unpredictable yet also deliberate.
Dragon-subduing Divine Fist was the result of combining the True Dragon of the Exterior as well as own's own 'dragon' to develop one of the 18 internal techniques of Flower-pinching Finger. It could demonstrate the Golden Body of the Dragon-subduing Arhat and help one become the Kassapa Dharmakaya.
The ancestral teacher of the sixth generation of Shaolin, Yuan Kong, had created the skill after cultivating the Flower-pinching Finger as a shortcut for future generations. Even though it was difficult to learn, it was still much better than trying to directly master Flower-pinching Finger.
The Buddha Aura gleamed with a golden glow, untouched by the wind. Kong Wen seemed to have thrown the punch from the bottom of his heart, leaving Meng Qi with no way to dodge it. He could only watch the punch strike him on the forehead.
The sky spun, the earth went round, and the sounds of meditation suddenly appeared everywhere. Meng Qi's Vital Spirit was close to dissipating and his awareness turned vague and murky.
However, at the most crucial and dangerous time, the subsequent force of the punch disappeared.
It had bizarrely disappeared!
Meng Qi's vision recovered and he realized the strand of karma had dissipated on its own. On his left was an empty path for him to continue moving forward.
He grabbed hold of this golden opportunity and weaved out of the 'siege' of the strands of karma, his mind occupied with countless thoughts.