Chapter 1005: Jiangdong Covenant
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
As sunset entered the water, there were millions of golden scales, making the big river look dreamy and illusory.
Meng Qi loosened up and did not mention anything about the Tyrant again. Breaking into a smile, he said, “Is there anything that I can help with regarding the matter of the Taishang Demon?”
“The Heart Saint, the Sage of Benevolence, etc., are all around the area. With so many Dharmakayas gathered here, I’m afraid you wouldn’t be of much help since you have just arrived here and not familiar with the place,” Ren Qiushui tactfully rejected Meng Qi’s suggestion. Afterall, this person’s origin was mysterious and she still didn’t know if he could be trusted or not. Moreover, his realm was at the most similar to hers so he wouldn’t be of much help.
Meng Qi merely held the mentality of witnessing history. Not forcing it, he said with a smile, “Fairy Ren, if I have a friend who has also just arrived at Luocheng but couldn’t be contacted, how should I look for him?”
Ren Qiushui pondered for a while before letting out a faint smile, “You could go listen to the Heart Saint’s lecture tomorrow. Since he is at Luocheng, how would he not know about the Heart Saint and give up the chance to listen to his lecture?”
“Good idea,” Meng Qi clapped and laughed, agreeing inside him. After Senior He Qi returned to the Middle Ages and knew about the Heart Saint giving a lecture nearby, he would definitely pay a visit to listen and even ask questions about swordplay. By then, he only needed to stand up and ask the Heart Saint for advice for He Qi to notice and come forward to meet him. The communication device earlier on had temporarily lost its function after returning to the Middle Ages where the corresponding karma became chaotic. It had to adjust slowly to fit into the local customs.
Meng Qi was about to get up and go for a walk at where the Heart Saint lectured when he saw Ren Qiushui take out a brown puppet that looked like it was made of either wood or gold. The size of a palm, it was carved with the looks of Ren Qiushui that was lifelike but with its own air of mystery. Meng Qi felt a sense of familiarity as it seemed to be somewhat similar to his own communication device.
“How should I address you?” Ren Qiushui asked with a smile.
Miss, don’t you know that it is a taboo to ask for a person’s name? Would you dare to respond if I call out your name? Thoughts ran through Meng Qi’s mind and he thought of the Grand Supreme Lord’s man-containing gourd. Cursing silently, he appeared smiling as he said, “Su Meng — Su as in Su Meng, Meng as in Su Meng.”
As she seldom encountered such reply, Ren Qiushui couldn’t help but smile, “Mister Su, would you like to become a person of orthodoxy?”
“What do you mean?” Meng Qi was a little puzzled.
Don’t tell me you need approval to be a person of orthodoxy?
Ren Qiushui said seriously, “The Sage of Benevolence practices the way of benevolence and expresses humanitarianism, proposing the idea of ‘the stronger the ability, the heavier the responsibility and the greater need for self-discipline.’”
What a familiar way of saying… Meng Qi raised his eyebrow.
Seeing which, Ren Qiushui explained, “After reaching the Exterior realm, one’s inner world becomes explicit and influences the natural force. Every action brings about great power. If one doesn’t constrain himself, cities and rivers would be destroyed, astronomical phenomena would be changed and dead bodies would be all around. After attaining Dharmakaya, one’s power would become even stronger. Even if he wasn’t in the Sea of Stars and the damage caused is weakened, he would still be able to move mountains and seas and destroy a country by himself. A divine immortal is even more terrifying. Even if he couldn’t destroy the real world, he would still be able to destroy most of the living things over time and only places that are protected by corresponding magical powers could survive.”
“With such abilities and destructive energy, there could be times whereby one doesn’t have any bad intentions but the aftermath of a fight could still take away thousands of lives due to lack of self-awareness. The world might even be turned into debris and come to an end. Therefore, the Sage of Benevolence felt that every Dharmakaya should have the idea of ‘the stronger the ability, the heavier the responsibility and the greater need for self-discipline’ so as not to ruin the environment we live in.”
“With the proposal by the Sage of Benevolence and other saints, orthodoxy Dharmakayas met at Guangling for a discussion and signed the Jiangdong Covenant, reducing attacks on their own free will. If faced with an enemy, they had to first use weapons and amulets such as the Two-realm Division Amulet and Qiankun Geographical Map or corresponding magical powers to isolate the battlefield from the real world, so as to minimize the damage of the aftermath.
Meng Qi hadn’t reached the stage of disregarding human life and didn’t mind this idea, but found it restrictive. He interrupted with a question, “What if it was an emergency situation and the two realms couldn’t be separated?”
“Prioritize yourself then,” Ren Qiushui’s eyes glittered and her voice unconsciously become low.
The Sage of Benevolence might sacrifice himself, but he couldn’t force other Dharmakayas to abandon their lives for mortals. If that was the case, he wouldn’t have had been able to get them to sign the Jiangdong Covenant unless he could suppress all the Dharmakayas joining hands.
“But this only binds the orthodoxy and the heterodoxy could instead use this to coerce. Like when they are about to get caught, they could threaten to perish with the city,” Meng Qi said while thinking.
Ren Qiushui lightly nodded, “There had indeed been such incidents, but this had made the heterodoxy not so indifferent to human lives and less destructive usually as those would be their bargaining chips. Of course, specific situations have to be handled specifically. If letting a demon go would result in more damage and loss, then the covenant could be broken as needed.”
“The covenant is not bad. The Sage of Benevolence is indeed benevolent,” Meng Qi complimented. There were very few who would still paid attention to mortals at the level of a divine immortal.
Of course, this was also the way of the Sage of Benevolence. Without such adhering to it, the Nine Strokes of the Sage wouldn’t even reach the level of Dharmakaya just by relying on its own. It emphasized not on its exquisiteness but on Dao.
After complimenting, Meng Qi asked with a smile, “I guess the Tyrant didn’t sign the Jiangdong Covenant?”
The matter of the Jiangdong Covenant was annihilated during the Devil Buddha calamity. It was his first time hearing it, perhaps Priest Yunhe knew more about it.
“No,” Ren Qiushui let out a bitter smile.
How could the Tyrant be constrained?
After her reply, Ren Qiushui stopped smiling and asked seriously, “The Sage of Benevolence is just nearby, are you willing to go and sign the Jiangdong Covenant?”
“Sure,” Meng Qi pondered for a while before giving a definite answer.
He was currently still clueless about how to return, so it was a must to be in touch with and understand more experts of the Middle Ages, and there was no way to get around the various saints and the Tyrant.
Ren Qiushui seemed to heave a sigh of relief and showed some prettiness of a lady. The five long fingers on her right hand vibrated as though they were dancing, creating a special stamp which landed on the brown puppet.
The brown puppet suddenly had colorful lights revolving around it, looking like a flas.h.i.+ng neon light, with its breathing pausing when the color was pure white. As it opened its mouth, it produced an old and upright voice which seemed to fill heaven and earth, “Fairy Su, have you encountered the Taishang Demon?”
As Meng Qi witnessed this scene, the corner of his mouth slowly curled up. Is this the telephone of the Middle Ages?
A telephone based on the arts of trap and weapon creation?
Wasn’t this similar to what he wanted? It seemed like he had to find the producer for a talk!
“No,” Ren Qiushui answered directly without saying any greeting. “I’ve met a Dharmakaya who is new to this place. He would like to pay you a visit, Sage of Benevolence, and to sign the Jiangdong Covenant.”
The Middle Ages at this time could still be considered an immortal world in the universe, with Dharmakayas arriving from time to time. Ren Qiushui had previously used this as an excuse for her origins, and now she also helped Meng Qi cover up.
“I’m more than happy that our new friend has such benevolence, please bring him over,” the Sage of Benevolence’s old but immense voice came out from the wooden puppet, reverberating only within a one-foot radius.
“Alright,” Ren Qiushui saw the pure white light covered by the puppet scatter away.
Meng Qi asked with great interest, “This is?”
“It’s a communication puppet, a toy created jointly by the Sage of Devices and the Sage of Arithmetic. As long as the characteristics of each individual are set in advance, they would be able to communicate remotely, which is very convenient,” Ren Qiushui introduced with slight pride.
The Sage of Devices and the Sage of Arithmetic? The w.a.n.g Family has kept many treasures, huh… Meng Qi mumbled, but it seemed not too popular.
Ren Qiushui kept the puppet and brought Meng Qi out of Luocheng to an inst.i.tute in a nearby mountain. The Sage of Benevolence was hiding here and taking charge in the matter of finding Taishang Demon Wu Daoming.
Two conveyance lights landed in front of a thatched cottage. Meng Qi suddenly knit his brows while Ren Qiushui let out an exclamation, because the Sage of Benevolence wasn’t inside!
The Sage of Benevolence whom she just had a conversation and made an appointment with wasn’t inside!
The Sage of Benevolence had always kept his promise, how would he go back on his words? Ren Qiushui’s expression became solemn as the sword in her hand turned into light.
The wooden door become illusory and the scene inside reflected clearly under the sword beam’s illumination. The table, books, and incense burner were quietly placed, the remaining was empty and the Sage of Benevolence was nowhere to be seen.
Ren Qiushui took a step forward and appeared inside the thatched cottage in a flash, carefully searching for clues with her consciousness.
“There is no sign of fighting,” Meng Qi suddenly appeared beside her.
Ren Qiushui nodded slightly and said, “The Sage of Benevolence outs.h.i.+nes the other sages and is currently the most powerful Dharmakaya. He’s only one step away from breaking through the limits of the world and attaining Legendary realm. No one can make him disappear mysteriously, unless, unless…”
At this moment, something struck her and her eyes lit up, “Unless the fighting ground was isolated from the real world!”
There had been many similar incidents after the signing of the Jiangdong Covenant — the room looked peaceful but was actually having a battle of life and death.
“The Sage of Benevolence didn’t leave behind any notes, seems like he was being pulled in by force. I’m afraid there currently isn’t anyone who is able to pull him in by force?” Meng Qi now had the Celestial Parting Sword in his hand, showing no signs of slowing down.
Ren Qiushui shook her head and said seriously, “There is — the Demonic Sect’s Geomancy Map of the Nine Nether! If the two heavenly kings joined forces, they might be able to pull the Sage of Benevolence in, and the Sage of Benevolence definitely wouldn’t want to involve the outside world.”
In today’s world, after tens of thousands of years of great compet.i.tion, many sages had already pa.s.sed on and the nine remaining ones were all supreme and could attain Legendary realm. Therefore, this era was known as the Era of the Sages. Nonetheless, other than the nine sages, there were other divine immortals and experts, such as the Four Saintly Monks, the Qiankun Double Swords, the Double Walls of Sun and Moon, the Six Heavenly Kings of the Demonic Sect, and the peerless Tyrant.
Although the qualifications and realms of the Six Heavenly Kings of the Demonic Sect were all higher than that of the Taishang Demon, they succ.u.mbed to the Devil’s Claws and let him integrate the Demonic Sect. Some of them were relatively independent and not happy with Wu Daoming while some wanted to the Demonic Sect to prosper and chose to submit to him. Two of the four Heavenly Demons under Wu Daoming were Heavenly Kings in the past, and one of them had pa.s.sed on.
So, has the Demonic Sect come to an internal agreement and come to save the Taishang Demon? Meng Qi had just thought of this when he suddenly heard a bang. The wooden door was blown by a hurricane and a blizzard covered the thatched cottage, making this place look as though it had derived into a world of its own and isolated from the outside.
Within the sounds of the hurricane, a human silhouette barged in. He was wearing a black robe and his skin was as white as snow. Holding a meandering snake-like black sword, he looked at Meng Qi and Ren Qiushui before sneering, “Only two n.o.bodies?”
“Alright, they could be offered as a sacrifice to the sword.”
Ren Qiushui’s expression suddenly became unusually solemn. She sent Meng Qi a message, “The Demonic Sect’s Heavenly King of the Demonic Sword!”