Suddenly, a peaceful voice drifted over followed by a palm brimming with righteous benevolence to slay devils and grant salvation.

“Amitabha. Can we not all have a feast and live in peace?”

****

Boom!

The two palms collided, releasing a shocking explosion that sent Er Jinshu tumbling back!

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Er Jinshu had to take seven steps back to stabilise himself.

His assailant, on the other hand, only took three steps back.

When the other pursuers saw this, their expressions changed. Which existence was there that could force back the number one junior of the Iron Body Forge Sect in a head-on collision?

A grease-faced, bald-headed monk with an oil-stained Kasaya appeared at the opposite end. He was extremely handsome and his bronze skin set him apart from everyone else.

He also wore a warm smile, as if he wished to grant solace to weary souls as he preached the teachings of Buddha.

Unfortunately, the pieces of meat stuck between his teeth destroyed this image as quickly as it came.

As soon as the dust cleared and Er Jinshu saw who it was that stopped him, his expression instantly turned grave!

“Untethered Monk!”

When the crowd heard the name of the new arrival, a bomb went off in their midst.

“That’s Untethered Monk!?”

“He’s the successor to Golden Buddhist Ground, one of the ten great sects!”

“This is my first time seeing him!”

“I heard that Golden Buddhist Ground is the second most powerful of the ten great sects only behind Ice Phoenix Hall!”

“I heard that his strength ranks among the top even among the younger generation of the ten great sects!”

Long Di stared at Untethered Monk not expecting the latter to save him at the last minute.

Though Yaomu Shou was carrying him earlier, it wasn’t like he could summon his cauldrons to absorb spiritual energy. The pressure his cauldrons naturally gave off, especially when in use was not something others could withstand.

He didn’t want it to negatively affect Yaomu Shou’s speed or worse damage Lu Pei, Xiannu Liang and Shen Ling who were still recovering. The three of them were still unconscious and the last thing he wanted to do was to cause them more harm.

Of course, he had the spiritual vein root that he didn’t mind drawing on the energy within his physique, but unfortunately, he couldn’t. Why you ask? Because the darn thing was fine-tuning that star it merged with to its liking.

It was at a critical point in terraforming the thing, which he’s pretty sure is what it was doing, so it couldn’t provide him with its spiritual energy yet.

By fusing with the star, not only would it be able to produce more spiritual energy, but there was even a chance for it to evolve and Long Di didn’t want to destroy its future potential.

Of course, now he was in a position, where his spiritual qi and spiritual force reserves were low. Only his somatic essence levels were decent, but using that against Er Jinshu was suicide especially when you consider the latter’s current state.

Untethered Monk wore the Anjali Mudra gesture as he stood between Long and Er Jinshu.

“Ah, dear benefactor. Do you have any more food for a starving monk?”

Food?

The experts present couldn’t believe their ears. Was Untethered Monk really asking someone else for food?

Was this the unrivalled expert among the younger generation?

The successor, the future sect master of Golden Buddhist Ground?

Where was his air of an expert? In his stomach!?

Long Di, on the other hand, seemed to have expected this.

This monk was truly shameless. The energy from the Monarch Gale Crow he ate should have been able to keep him full for several days.

Not only that, he was shameless enough to assault the overly bombastic brawler rabbit for its share.

For him to ask Long Di for more food because he was starving showcased just how much of a foodie this monk was.

In fact, Long Di was ninety-nine percent sure he wasn’t starving. He just wanted more of his roast leg.

But who was Long Di to refuse a self-proclaimed starving man?

Long Di took out the remainder of the roast leg, of which there was more than half remaining, and threw it to Untethered Monk.

As soon as Untethered Monk saw the roast leg of the Monarch Gale Crow, it was like he saw his lover of a thousand reincarnations.

He caught it in a fanciful princess carry and stared at it with drool leaking from the side of his mouth.

“B-Benefactor is truly magnanimous. May Lord Buddhas enlighten your steps and golden your karmic lines,” he gulped as he eyed the roast leg.

Long Di nodded, “Thanks Shi Jiaohua. I appreciate it,” he then turned around with Zi Yu and the others.

“Don’t worry benefactor. I assure your safety.” His eyes were closed in slits due to his happiness.

“Where do you think you’re going!?”

Er Jinshu wasn’t about to let him get away and was about to continue his pursuit when the monk appeared before him and thrust a palm outwards, creating a giant manifestation of Abhaya Mudra that crashed into Er Jinshu!

Boom!

The Mudra knocked him back several metres before he crashed into a nearby boulder, shattering it to pieces.

Nine orange cauldrons spun peacefully behind him, four cauldrons glistened with their crystal cores on clear display.

“F-Four cores!”

“H-He’s a mid-stage martial adept!”

“Full Metal Er Jinshu is going to have a bit of trouble this time. He’s only a peak early-stage martial adept!”

They weren’t wrong in thinking this. Every cultivation realm had nine levels one had to go through before one could reach the next realm. The increase in strength each level granted was pretty uniform until the stages were encroached upon.

Every three levels comprised the three stages in a given cultivation realm. A two-core martial adept could maybe, just maybe fight a three-core martial adept, but a four-core martial adept could decimate ten three-core martial adepts no problem.

This was because the fourth core was a watershed as it signified one’s entry into the mid-stage of the martial adept realm. This was the same for the seventh core as well.

This was the reason Er Jinshu had been stuck in the peak of the three-core martial adept stage for so long. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to advance, but that the threshold to pass over from three-core to four-core was many times greater than one to two or two to three.

The monk shocked the crowd with his four cores. With that kind of power, he could bulldoze any of the experts here.

Yaomu Shou was pleased with the monk’s performance. She was right to be wary of him in the beginning. It showed that her perception of others' strengths was spot on.

She wasn’t worried for her own safety back then when they first met Untethered Monk, only Long Di’s.

The sound of her and his battle, if they fought, could disturb Long Di, who was in deep meditation back then causing a dangerous backlash.

Boom!

The rubble exploded, exposing Er Jinshu whose body was deformed from the blow he suffered. The number of ripples it generated currently was much less than before. However, it was still slowly returning to normal.

“Amitabha, brother Er Jinshu’s Golden Aegis is truly magical,” Untethered Monk commented.

“Untethered, are you sure you want to go against me!?” Er Jinshu didn’t expect this variable to appear out of nowhere.

No one knew or even guessed that the successor of Golden Buddhist Ground was present. Even more baffling was that he was helping Long Di!

“My apologies brother Er Jinshu. The benefactor had come to me in a time of great need and played the role of a samaritan by soothing the hunger that would take my life,” Untethered Monk advised.

Er Jinshu was about to explode in anger! “I will buy you a meal! Just stand aside!”

Unfortunately, Untethered Monk shook his head. “I am sorry. I must repay the benefactor’s favour first before I take on your offer.”

“Then I offer you death!” Er Jinshu roared.

He executed a set of hand seals, causing the ripples on his body to cease and the golden lines to recede and the silver colour to return once more.

He then looked behind him to Chen Jie. “I only have a limited time in what I am about to do. You understand?”

Chen Jie nodded to indicate he understood.

Er Jinshu truly found a good general in this Chen Jie. He had to make sure the Infernal Myriad Ground Clan was rewarded for their actions this time around.

He then turned around to face Untethered Monk once more and nearly vomited blood from what he saw. This shameless monk was actually chowing down on a massive roast chicken leg!

“My apologies brother Er Jinshu, while waiting here. That evil starvation descended upon me and I had to battle it. I hope that brother Er Jinshu won’t blame me for the evils of the secular world. Truly starvation and poverty afflict the kind-hearted.”

“You’re the evil one here! Platinum Aegis!”