People stared ahead and saw a monk standing by the entrance to the valley.

His kasaya was stained with oil. His expression wasn’t dignified like a monk’s should be.

“Golden Cicada Buddhist Child!” Everyone knew who this monk was - the genius of Heavenly Dragon Temple and the beloved disciple of Wisdom Sacred Monk.

Unfortunately, his gluttony nature actually overshadowed his cultivation and Buddhist attainment. Everyone in this region knew about this.

“Since when did he get there?” No one saw him a while ago since they were focusing on the conversation between Sir Shang and South Peak Marquis.

“He actually made it through the beasts?” The crowd became surprised.

Tens of thousands of beasts were patrolling right outside of the valley. Not even water could get through.

Numerous cultivators have tried only to fail. Most became food for the beasts. Thus, the monk’s success took everyone by surprise.

“Golden Cicada lives up to his fame, he must have some heaven-defying abilities.” An ancestor couldn’t help but praise.

“This young monk is qualified to fight Student Lan.” One teacher nodded approvingly.

“He’s that strong?” Some students didn’t believe it.

Though people knew that he was a top genius and an enlightened monk, most didn’t have a good grasp of his actual power. They only focused on his gluttonous image.

“How can the disciple of Wisdom Sacred Monk be weak?” Teacher Du said.

This was indeed the case. Wisdom Sacred Monk was on the same level as Five-colored Sacred Sovereign. There was no way that the monk would be weak. It was rather understandable that he would be able to contest against Dugu Lan.

Meanwhile, Golden Cicada had a serious expression while standing at the entrance, with zero sign of complacency.

“Amitabha, merciful Buddha.” He placed his palms together and respectfully said before taking the first step onto the stairs.

“Buzz.” The step beneath lit up upon contact. A Buddhist light emerged and illuminated the rest of the steps along with the dozens of statues.

The spectators could see that the statues weren’t actually moving. However, there were illusions of them opening their eyes and lowering their head to look at the monk.

“It’s happening, let’s see how capable this young monk is.” One teacher said with eagerness in his voice.

“Buzz.” Golden Cicada started glowing as well. His oily kasaya had Buddhist runes on the surface. The movement of the runes opened a scripture; this activation created a barrier.

“Amitabha.” He walked forward with reverence onto the valley.

“Halt!” All the statues roared at the same time, akin to great Buddhas taking down evil. The listeners were scared out of their mind, feeling suppressed from the pressure.

They simply roared and chanted to stop the monk instead of directly attacking him.

“Rumble!” Waves of Buddhist chants smashed him without any mercy.

However, the kasaya’s runes served as an ocean of power. They built a wall around him to stop the sonic attack. Alas, he was still trembling inside. Everyone could tell that he was experiencing painful blows.

As he took more steps, the roars became increasingly stronger. “Boom!” One could see cracks among the thick runic barrier.

“Clank! Clank! Clank!” He took out his Buddhist bowl and started hitting it.

With each hit, the bowl shot out bright lights. Within the lights were sacred Buddhas. They started roaring in the same manner. The various sonic waves started smashing each other.

“Rumble!” The remnant forces caused the entire valley to quake.

Weaker cultivators couldn’t handle the roar and had to run away. Most were pale as a result.

These sonic waves weren’t aimed at them yet were still unbearable. On the other hand, Golden Cicada was facing the full brunt. Most people in his shoes would have been reduced to blood.

“He’s not letting his master down.” An ancestor wasn’t stingy with his praise.

The students of Duality got a new perspective on his power. No wonder why their teacher said that he could fight against their senior sister.

Golden Cicada made it to the half-point mark. His kasaya was visibly drenched with sweat. The two sides didn’t use any technique from start to finish. However, this competition was extremely dangerous. Just one mistake would result in death.

The struggling monk seemed to be faltering by this point.

“It’s over, the young monk still can't do it.” A teacher with eyes as bright as torches concluded.

“Boom!” He didn’t make it to the two-third mark before losing to the statues. In the next second, he used a peerless speed to retreat.

Unfortunately, he was still half a beat too late. A terrible wave struck him and sent him flying backward while vomiting blood.

Nonetheless, he used the momentum to make it back to the entrance. He didn’t bother wiping the blood off his mouth before disappearing from sight. The beasts couldn’t make it to him in time.

“Failure.” Many cultivators shook their head after seeing the wounded monk.

Of course, some heaved a sigh of relief because the monk wasn’t able to get the golden egg.

“Looks like we’ll have to work together. Eliminate the beasts first then think of a way to get in the valley. Otherwise, don’t even think about the golden egg.” Senior Defender Shang reminded everyone.

Though some didn’t want to work together with Vajra, the guy actually made sense. Working alone wasn’t viable.

“I agree. Just the beasts alone are insurmountable when alone.” South Peak Marquis supported.