The reason was simple. Everyone in Lanke was a senior monk; an elite or champion-level warrior in the

jianghu

. They claimed to have three thousand Arhats, three hundred Bodhisattvas, and thirty Buddhas.

Obviously, this was probably a boast. Still, the fact that Lanke Temple dared to make such a claim, and no one dared to dispute it more than proved their strength.

When Uncertain Monk was still a member of the Lanke Temple, he wasn’t just one of their best disciples, he was a monk who held the title of Buddha and the Son of Buddha at the time. He was a Sage.

Had everything gone right, Uncertain Monk would have become the next abbot of the Lanke Temple and the Buddha Lord.

Alas, Uncertain Monk’s zen heart was extremely fickle despite being a Sage. He was extremely fond of the red dust and attached to his base desires. As a result, he had repeatedly broken the rules and gone against the teachings of the Lanke Temple. If he wasn’t a powerful Son of Buddha, he would have been kicked out of the temple a long time ago.

Uncertain Monk’s audacity would eventually prove too much for the Lanke Temple to handle, however. One day, Uncertain Monk desired to forge a Buddhist treasure and set his sights on Lanke Temple’s hoard of sarira.

To borrow Uncertain Monk’s words, it was laughable to waste incense and prayer on a pile of long dead bones. Rather than leaving them to decompose on the altar, it made more sense to forge them into a Buddhist treasure and use it to deliver the masses from their suffering. Such was the Way of Compassion, no?

However, the sarira was the remnant of a deceased enlightened monk. To a Buddhist, it was the ultimate treasure and beyond priceless. Worshiped day and night in the pagodas, they were not to be touched or moved barring exceptional circumstances, much less forged into a Strange Artifact.

Besides, Uncertain Monk wasn’t just coveting one sarira. He robbed almost

half

the pagodas of their sarira. To say that his action was disgraceful would be the understatement of the century.

Naturally, Lanke Temple decided that enough was enough. The monks unanimously agreed to remove Uncertain Monk’s cultivation and imprison him beneath the pagodas for a thousand years as atonement.

Uncertain Monk refused to surrender without a fight. Despite facing countless great monks, he would wreak havoc in the Lanke Temple before ultimately escaping to safety.

Of course, Uncertain Monk did not escape unscathed. Not only did he suffer grievous injuries, he was no longer a Sage.

That was why he decided to risk a venture in the Kunlun Ruins. It was to heal himself and restore his power.

The Sarira Cottage was an unbelievably potent Strange Artifact created using the sariras of dozens of enlightened senior monks. Uncertain Monk was planning to refine it into his Dao Artifact and the treasure that would make him a Buddha.

Assuming everything went as Uncertain Monk planned, the Sarira Cottage would transform an eternal, all-powerful Kingdom of Buddha.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Obviously, the Sarira Cottage was very powerful. It was completely thanks to it that Uncertain Monk was able to escape the Lanke Temple in the first place.

When Uncertain Monk realized they could no longer escape from the ghost bride, he immediately used the Sarira Cottage to protect himself and Yi Pin.

Originally, Uncertain Monk was certain that they could hold out until help arrived. However, he soon realized that both him and Yi Pin had underestimated the ghost bride’s power.

At first, they were able to keep the ghost bride at bay. But as time passed, the ghost bride’s power kept growing, while the Sarira Cottage’s kept waning. Р𝐀Ɲ𝐎ΒÊŞ

Now, the Strange Artifact was on its last legs. As Uncertain Monk said earlier, three days was the best outcome they could hope for.

It was very likely that the Sarira Cottage would collapse before that.

What would happen after that? What else?

They would die.

The worn out Uncertain Monk stopped his thoughts here and chanted, “Amitabha…”

“Three days? That’s enough.”

Yi Pin said calmly while looking down on his groom's robe. “That should be enough time for my brother to reach us and save us.”

“Oh right. Monk, just in case my brother wasn’t able to find our location, I want you to cooperate with me and cause a bit of commotion during midday when the Anomaly’s power is at its weakest.”

“Seriously? The Sarira Cottage would lose even more power if we do that. We won’t even be able to last three days,” Uncertain Monk said worriedly.

“It’s fine. So long as my brother can find us, we will be saved,” Yi Pin replied.

“How are you so sure that your young friend has entered the Kunlun Ruins?” Uncertain Monk asked.

“I am certain,” Yi Pin insisted.

“Fine. Let’s assume that he has entered the Kunlun Ruins. How do you know that he will make it to us in time and save us?” Uncertain Monk asked another question, though his real question was: why did Yi Pin trust his so-called “brother” so much?

“He will!” Yi Pin declared confidently.

“And if he doesn’t make it in time?” Uncertain Monk couldn’t quite share Yi Pin’s confidence.

“Then the female ghost will dismantle you limb by limb, duh!” Yi Pin rolled his eyes at Uncertain Monk.

“And you?” Uncertain Monk asked.

“I’ll become a ghost and live happily ever after with the female ghost.”

Yi Pin shrugged. “All things considered, it’s not the worst ending for sure!”

Uncertain Monk fell silent for a moment before asking, “Say old Taoist, do you think that the female benefactor mind having a second husband or not? This poor monk doesn’t mind.”

“Hah… you truly are the most shameless bastard in this world!” Yi Pin insulted him.

“Amitabha! If I don’t go to hell, who will?” Uncertain Monk said with a straight face, “Worst case scenario, you’ll be the groom, and I the concubinator!”

“Amitabha your fucking…”

……

Jiang Yunlai, Silver Moon Sacred Lord, Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial and Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign were feeling very annoyed right now. So very annoyed.

They could say nothing against the Radiant Tree or the Crimson Luans. It was normal for a descendant to pay for the sins of their forefathers. But they had just set foot inside the Kunlun Ruins, and before they could so much as take a deep breath, a few giant tentacles suddenly descended from the sky and smacked them left and right. Just how was this fair?

The worst part was that this tentacle monster was unkillable. It could theoretically fight them until the end of time itself.

“The Cloud Mother of Nothingness is unkillable, and a battle of attrition is not in our favor. We need to end this now.”

Jiang Yunlai had turned into a sun that burned any tentacle that attempted to attack him into nothing. However, more were coming, and their numbers were endless.

“The best way to deal with an unkillable entity… is to seal it away.”

Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial declared while unleashing infinite rays of cyan light, “Why don’t we work together and the Cloud Mother of Nothingness away with the Four Directions Four Controls God Sealing Array?”

“I guess it’s our only option,” Jiang Yunlai responded affirmatively.

“Very good.”

Smiling, Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial nodded and appeared in the east.

Jiang Yunlai stepped forward and appeared in the south.

Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign swung his sword and appeared in the west.

Silver Moon Sacred Lord flickered and reappeared in the north.

“From Four Directions…”

The next moment, cyan light shone infinitely behind Cyan Radiance Superior Celestial and transformed into countless living beings. It was the Eastmost Cyan Radiance Heaven that commanded all living beings.

Silver light shone fiercely behind Jiang Yunlai and transformed into a sea of thunder. It was the Southmost Longevity Heaven that commanded all thunder.

Thick, dark yellow light shone behind Supreme Origin Profound Sovereign and transformed into thick, vast earth. It was the Westmost Houtu Heaven that governed the earth.

Purple qi flooded from the east behind Silver Moon Sacred Lord, and stars covered the sky. It transformed into the Northmost Ziwei Heaven that governed the stars.

Four Sages occupied four cardinal directions, four controls governed four heavens, and four heavens suppressed all evils, gods and demons. Hence, it was named the Four Directions Four Controls God Sealing Array.

This array was something their ancestors had brought out of the Kunlun Ruins. Legend had it that it was created by the celestials, and only Sages were powerful enough to use it. It could suppress the heavens and imprison gods and devils. It was incredibly powerful.

“Comes Four Controls…”

When the array had taken shape, all four Sages took a step forward in unison.