A desolate mountain and a lonely ridge; a ruined temple stood tall, its gate collapsed and the Ancient Buddha mottled and weatherworn. The coldness was threaded with desolation.
Meng Qi, dressed in blue robes, appeared abruptly inside the temple. His expression was calm, his emotions buried deep. He slowly walked toward the hole in the wall beside him, toward the pool of lotus flowers.
With a sudden flare, the Green Lamp on the incense table before the Buddha statue burst into flame, casting the room in a dim yellow glow and filling it with bleakness—warm, yet steeped in endless solitude.
The bright moon hung high overhead, sprinkling down its clear radiance. It covered each lotus in the pool with a layer of pure white, making them seem even more untouched by dust, beautiful beyond compare.
With his back to the Green Lamp, Meng Qi stood beside the pool and quietly watched the lotuses. His expression was gentle, his gaze intent, carrying a measure of calm and a trace of loneliness.
"I have finally severed all the entanglements of the past and dispelled layer upon layer of shackles and karma. I have cut off every afterlife and won freedom for this body. I no longer need to fear losing myself. Even if I encounter matters beyond my control again, I can still make decisions true to my nature without having to consider anything else..." Half his face was bathed in moonlight and half lay in shadow. His hair was black, but the graying at his temples revealed the traces left by a life weathered by the world. He silently spoke within his heart, speaking to the lotuses.
"Ten years of waiting, ten years of tempering. I combined 'All of the Past, Gone Like Smoke,' 'Entangle Karma,' and the 'Dao One Seal'