A New Mission (Seeking Clicks and Recommendations)

"This Lord of Six Paths Samsara has a bit of dark humor..." Meng Qi silently curled his lips.

After discovering that the small jade Buddha he wore had mysteriously snapped in two at the end of the first Reincarnation World, Meng Qi suspected it was the trigger medium. He deliberately buried it in a corner of the Servant Courtyard, hoping to interrupt the "summons" of the Lord of Six Paths Samsara, but from the looks of it, it had almost no effect.

However, Meng Qi found that when facing the "Reincarnation World" again, he actually felt a faint sense of anticipation, wanting to grow stronger through it and break free from his current constraints.

"Forget it, Little Junior Brother, the Bodhi Courtyard will handle this matter. I believe they won't treat us poorly. I'll go back to my room and calm down for a bit." Meng Qi pretended to ponder, speaking to Zhenhui.

Zhenhui, who had been eagerly looking toward the Martial Arts Hall, couldn't help but glance back at Meng Qi: "Senior Brother, this isn't like you!"

You know me pretty well... Meng Qi grumbled inwardly. His usually dimwitted little junior brother had suddenly gotten sharp at this moment. "Little Junior Brother, it's fine. Let's first figure out the cause."

Zhenhui nodded with a half-understanding look, then hurried back to the Zen Room ahead of Meng Qi to sit in meditation and practice. He was at a critical moment for opening his Dantian and was exceptionally focused.

Meng Qi now fully believed in the great power of the "Lord of Six Paths Samsara." Without avoiding Zhenhui, he closed the door, crossed his legs, and regulated his breathing.

His breaths grew longer, calmer, and more peaceful. Meng Qi gradually subdued his inner fear and dread. Suddenly, his vision went black, then bright again, and he found himself on the White Jade Plaza.

Nothing had changed here. The sky was woven with white clouds, mist swirled all around, and statues of Immortal Birds and Divine Beasts loomed faintly in and out of sight.

"Little Monk, catch the blade!" Jiang Zhiwei's crisp voice rang out like an oriole's song as a Buddhist ring blade arced gracefully toward Meng Qi.

Meng Qi waved his right hand and caught the blade with ease. He saw Jiang Zhiwei standing gracefully not far away, her pale yellow dress swaying gently in the breeze. Zhang Yuanshan and Qi Zhengyan also walked over, their robes fluttering.

"Your martial arts have improved quite a bit." Jiang Zhiwei said with a smile, showing no frustration or anger at facing another reincarnation mission.

From the way Meng Qi caught the blade, she could roughly gauge his current level.

Seeing these familiar faces, Meng Qi felt more at ease than he did in Shaolin Temple. He chuckled, "This little monk doesn't want to meet the Buddha in the prime of his youth."

As he spoke, he stroked the fine steel ring blade.

"Heh, it's rare to hear you talk like a real monk." Jiang Zhiwei noticed his gesture and nodded slightly. "I knew it would be hard for you to get a bladed ring blade in Shaolin, so I prepared one for you."

"Then I must thank Miss Jiang." Meng Qi deliberately used that form of address.

Then, before Jiang Zhiwei could retort, his expression turned serious: "Miss Jiang, Senior Brother Zhang, Senior Brother Qi, after we returned from the last mission, did any of you notice anything unusual on yourselves or in your surroundings? I found that my small jade Buddha had cracked."

He decided to be forthright about this matter rather than beating around the bush. Since it was of great importance, being vague might cause Zhang Yuanshan and the others to miss clues. Besides, the small jade Buddha was now broken in two and seemed useless. Losing the trust of Zhang Yuanshan and Jiang Zhiwei over it would be unwise.

Jiang Zhiwei furrowed her delicate brows, thought carefully, and slowly shook her head: "I haven't noticed anything similar."

"Neither have I." Zhang Yuanshan affirmed after some thought. Qi Zhengyan also shook his head in denial.

"It seems my small jade Buddha breaking was just an accident." Meng Qi nodded lightly, but inwardly he felt that things might not be so simple—he just had no leads for now.

"By the way, there's an important point about what happened in the Daxiong Baodian that I haven't told you yet." Zhang Yuanshan, also puzzled by Meng Qi's jade Buddha matter, began to recount the two mysterious organizations, "Immortal Traces" and "Mythology," to Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan, with Jiang Zhiwei occasionally adding details.

Meng Qi sucked in a breath: "Could the root of this Reincarnation World be in our own world?"

Zhang Yuanshan had grown quite accustomed to the term "world." He said thoughtfully, "Our world has had Daoist Masters and Buddhas, Demon Emperors and Demon Saintesses, a Mythological Era, and countless great figures who once dominated their times. Even now, Dharma Body-level Land Immortals are not far behind the Gods, Buddhas, and Immortal Saints of old—they can move mountains and seas, ascend into the Azure Nether. If the Lord of Six Paths Samsara originated here, it wouldn't be surprising."

"What about those great figures of the past?" Meng Qi had always been curious about this. How could such mighty beings vanish into the River of Time?

Jiang Zhiwei knew Meng Qi was a novice in the martial world. She smiled, showing shallow dimples: "According to rumors, some died at the hands of other great beings, and others perished when their lifespans ran out."

"Lifespan running out?" Meng Qi asked in surprise. In his mind, beings called Gods, Buddhas, and Immortal Saints should surely enjoy Eternal Longevity.

Jiang Zhiwei sighed softly: "It's the fixed law of heaven and earth. Even Gods, Buddhas, and Immortal Saints face the worry of limited lifespans. Though they live for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, or longer, in the end, they cannot escape becoming a handful of dust."

"Throughout history, countless brilliant and extraordinary figures have racked their brains, devising all sorts of clever methods—like extending life, resurrection, possession, the Divine Path, the Ghost Way—but all were only temporary fixes, unable to break free from heaven and earth's fixed law. So, some of these great figures built tombs, seeking a path to eternal existence after death, while others silently vanished into the River of Time. Perhaps only the legendary Daoist Master and Buddha could transcend heaven and earth, imperishable through countless kalpas."

"Legendary?" Meng Qi asked sharply. Weren't they supposed to be imperishable through countless kalpas?

"Before the Mythological Era, the Daoist Master and Buddha were already rarely seen in the world. If not for the Buddha personally suppressing the Demon Buddha when he tried to destroy the Buddhist lineage tens of thousands of years ago, people might have thought they too had passed away. The shattering of that speculation gave hope to all the strong." Zhang Yuanshan said with deep emotion. "Rumor has it that Buddhism has an alternative path of cultivation that coexists with the world, but it's only a rumor."

Meng Qi exhaled softly: "So even Gods, Buddhas, and Immortal Saints can die of old age."

He was still young, so the talk of lifespans ending didn't stir much feeling in him.

"It's not exactly old age. Great beings who attain the Dao Body or Dharma Body only wither right before death." Qi Zhengyan's usually expressionless face showed a faint trace of longing.

"Wither right before death? I wonder what the lifespan of a great being who attains the Arhat Golden Body is?" Meng Qi asked curiously.

Zhang Yuanshan shook his head with a smile: "Junior Brother Zhending, isn't it a bit early for you to be concerned about this? Well, currently, a Dharma Body-level Land Immortal normally lives for two to three hundred years. But rumor has it that in the Mythological Era, similar great beings lived dozens of times longer—perhaps heaven and earth have changed."

Very few texts from the Mythological Era remain, only various unreliable stories passed down, so later generations can only speculate.

"This mission will have newcomers joining." At that moment, the Lord of Six Paths Samsara's voice rang out, majestic and overwhelming.

As the words fell, it was as if a great sun had descended, light blazing brilliantly. Even Zhang Yuanshan and Jiang Zhiwei, experts who had opened their Eye Apertures, were forced to instinctively close their eyes.

When everything returned to normal, Meng Qi saw four people lying on the white jade floor tiles—two men and two women.

"Damn it, you actually dared to come!" The first to wake was a burly man in a brown, oil-stained tight-fitting outfit. Cursing, he jumped up and swung the long blade in his hand straight at the nearest person—Meng Qi.

He seemed to have been waiting for an enemy and, without observing his surroundings, struck directly.

The other two women and one man just woke up at that moment, hearing the shouts and seeing the blade swing.

"Ah!" The delicate young woman in a lotus-colored dress screamed, hugging herself and trembling.

Beside her was a charming young matron who yanked a hairpin from her head, her expression tense, as if afraid the brute would turn on her.

The middle-aged man in loose robes and large sleeves furrowed his brow, glancing around with his peripheral vision, his expression growing more solemn.

Seeing the big man swing his blade, Meng Qi quickly assessed the situation. He slid like a ghost, appearing behind the man, and struck him with the flat of his ring blade, sending him stumbling.

"Stop!" Once the big man barely steadied himself, Meng Qi shook his head and shouted. The man's strength was at Minor Qi Accumulation, comparable to Zhen Liang, but with a fiercer, more desperate edge—a decent fighter. A month ago, Meng Qi would have been flustered facing him, but now, after long sparring sessions with Zhen Miao and various bouts in the Martial Arts Hall, dealing with him was a piece of cake.

The big man also noticed the abnormality in his surroundings, startled and suspicious. He held his blade horizontally and looked at Meng Qi: "May I ask, Your Excellency, what is going on here?"

He was intimidated by Meng Qi's strength and the sudden change, so he quickly lowered his stance.

Meng Qi thought that guiding newcomers might earn him Merit Points, so he swept his gaze across the four newcomers' faces one by one: "You should have already noticed that this place is unusual. This humble monk is Zhending, no different from you, except that I arrived in this 'Reincarnation World' a bit earlier."

"Reincarnation World?" The middle-aged man in loose robes and large sleeves repeated softly, slowly rising to his feet.

Meng Qi pointed at the central pillar of light and gave a rough introduction to the matter of the "Lord of Six Paths Samsara": "Thus, here you can exchange Merit Points for peerless martial arts, divine weapons, immortal pills and marvelous medicines, and anything else you can imagine."

"'Buddha's Palm'? 'World-Shocking Book'? 'Heavenly Emperor Jade Book'?" The burly man asked, breathing rapidly.

Meng Qi pointed at the pillar of light with little interest: "You can look for yourselves."

Having finished the introduction, he received no Merit Points reward—he would never do this again!

"Master, Divine Monk, this young woman, this young woman has no strength to truss a chicken. Could you please speak with that 'Lord of Six Paths Samsara' and let me go back? I will surely keep my mouth shut." The young woman in lotus-colored dress stood up flusteredly, looking at Meng Qi with a plea.

Meng Qi sighed, pressed his palms together: "Amitabha Buddha, Benefactor, do you think that's possible?"

The young woman's eyes were already brimming with tears, and now they slid down her cheeks as she sobbed softly: "Mother, Mother, save Xiao Zi..."

Meng Qi was quite familiar with such situations. He turned his head to look at Jiang Zhiwei, signaling for her, as a woman, to comfort her. As for whether she could survive the upcoming reincarnation mission, that would depend on the circumstances. If they had no spare strength, he and Jiang Zhiwei likely wouldn't sacrifice themselves for a stranger.

Jiang Zhiwei's lips moved slightly as she transmitted her voice: "Little Monk, what does 'Lord of Six Paths Samsara' really mean? Why did he drag in an ordinary girl? By the way, that uncle seems to have strength at the Orifice Opening stage."

She had always thought the Reincarnation World was like a selection of champions, targeting young martial artists of the jianghu.

Meng Qi shook his head, indicating he couldn't guess. Suddenly, he remembered something and said to Jiang Zhiwei, who had walked over to the crying girl: "Miss Jiang, did you break through?"

With strangers present, he phrased it vaguely.

"I broke through." Jiang Zhiwei patted the young woman Xiao Zi on the shoulder, comforting her in a low voice.

"Divine Monk, this humble one is called Xiang Hui. Please, out of compassion, take good care of me." The burly man, after reading the exchange list from the central pillar of light, quietly sidled up to Meng Qi, bowing and scraping, fawning excessively.

Meng Qi's earlier display of skill made him feel that this little monk was profoundly unfathomable and likely stronger than the other three.

Meng Qi looked at Xiang Hui, whose judgment was off, with a half-smile. Just as he was about to speak, the surrounding scene suddenly shifted—mountains and rivers overlapped, light and darkness alternated.

"The Northern Barbarians have invaded the Central Plains, acting tyrannically and slaughtering the people. The monks of Shaolin have joined various rebel armies to resist."

"The Northern Barbarian Great General Du'er Cha, to completely eliminate this threat, prepares to lead numerous experts and troops to Shaohua Mountain to destroy Shaolin."

"Du'er Cha has already bribed many monks within Shaolin in advance. This operation is nearly certain to succeed, but fortunately, a righteous person sacrificed their life to send out this news."

"Main Mission One: Split into two groups, break through the interception by experts sent by Du'er Cha, and deliver the list of traitors to Shaolin. Time limit: three days. Those who fail to arrive within the time limit will have fifty Merit Points deducted. If Merit Points are insufficient by the end of the reincarnation mission, elimination! If successfully arriving, each person who enters the temple will be rewarded with fifty Merit Points."

"Main Mission Two: Released after Main Mission One is completed."