“It’s just a misunderstanding, friend. The monk’s the one behind everything. It has nothing to do with me!”

Yi Pin immediately froze in place and sold out Uncertain Monk without a second thought. “This poor Taoist is a good person. A great person, even.”

“May I have the honor of knowing your name and background, friend? Who knows, maybe I am an acquaintance of one of your elders?”

Hearing no response from Ye Qing, Yi Pin continued, “Oh right, there’s something you need to know about, friend. That monk is extremely tough and resilient, so I am certain that he is still alive. You should give him a couple more punches before he could recover.”

“Haha… you want me to beat him up so you can run away, is that it?”

Ye Qing curled his lips. Same old, same old.

“Of course not! This poor Taoist is not that kind of person!” Yi Pin declared righteously.

“Is that so? What kind of person are you then?” Ye Qing teased.

“This poor Taoist is—” Yi Pin was about to mumble some nonsense when suddenly, a look of realization came over his face, and he fell silent.

“Go on. Why aren’t you talking?” Ye Qing asked with a smile.

“Is that you… brother Joyless?” Yi Pin said tentatively.

“Hahaha… you finally recognized me!” laughed Ye Qing as he removed his Profound Yellow Mother Qi obfuscating his true appearance.

“It really is you, brother!”

Yi Pin looked beyond delighted when he turned around and saw the familiar face and figure standing behind him.

“It’s me, brother. Long time no see,” Ye Qing returned just as happily.

It was at this moment Ye Qing suddenly spun around as if he sensed something. At the same time, he swung his fist like he was swinging a hammer.

The fist flew without a sound, but seemed more powerful than otherwise. The entire pond seemed to vibrate as Ye Qing’s fist made contact with a massive, golden pillar.

The next moment, a golden Buddha appeared inside the water. As it turned out, the golden pillar was really just a finger.

The next moment, the golden Buddha swung the rest of its fingers at Ye Qing. Each finger felt as heavy as a heaven.

Five fingers was equal to five heavens. It was the one of the Lanke Eight Mudras, the Great Sun Five Heavens Mudra.

“Well met!”

Ye Qing sucked in a deep breath and thrust his arm forward like a spear.

If his arm was the spear pole, then his fist was the speartip; the rising dragon.

BOOM!!!

In one punch, Ye Qing pierced the five descending heavens and threw the Buddha’s arm high up into the sky. The Buddha himself was thrown off balance and knocked backward. ṙ𝘈Ｎò𝖇ĚS̈

Of course, Ye Qing wasn’t faring too well himself. He plummeted straight to the mud underneath the pond while feeling like his insides had been thrown all over the place.

The next moment, Ye Qing burst out of the mud, and the staggering Buddha arrested himself.

“Monk, stop! It’s a misunderstanding!”

Finally, Yi Pin realized what was happening and stepped between the duo. “Brother, halt! This monk is an ally, not an enemy!”

The warning was unnecessary for Ye Qing. He knew from the beginning that the monk was his ally practically from the start.

After all, he could tell from their earlier interactions that they didn’t just know each other. They bantered like close acquaintances who had known each other for a long time.

Besides, the monk clearly restrained his strength despite his grand-looking attack. It was because Yi Pin was smack dab at the center of the battlefield, and he was afraid of hurting him.

Therefore, he could only conclude that they were allies.

“Enough, monk. Withdraw your Nanda Golden Body[1] already.”

Yi Pin beckoned the distant Buddha to come closer. “Come. I want to introduce you to my friend.”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The Buddha slowly withdrew his golden light until a handsome monk wearing a moon white monk’s robe appeared. Penta-colored Buddhist light was shining from his head and giving him the appearance of an enlightened senior monk.

“This is the friend and brother I told you about before, monk. His name is Joyless.”

When Uncertain Monk came close, Yi Pin grabbed Ye Qing’s arm and said happily, “And this monk here is my old friend, brother. Just call him Uncertain. If you think it’s too weird, you can also just address him as monk.”

“This junior is Joyless Ye. A pleasure to meet you, Zen Master Uncertain.” Ye Qing saluted Uncertain Monk.

“Amitabha. This poor monk is Uncertain. A pleasure to meet you as well, benefactor Ye.”

Uncertain Monk returned the salute with a Buddhist chant before saying humbly, “Please don’t call me Zen Master. I am not worthy of the title. If you don’t mind, just address me as Uncertain.”

“You’re too humble, Zen Master,” replied Ye Qing with a smile. He did not take Uncertain Monk’s words seriously. At first glance, Uncertain Monk seemed to be a body-tempering warrior and a Great Grandmaster just like him. However, the moves he executed earlier while in his Nandar Golden Body form all contained the power of a Sage.

If Uncertain Monk’s energies were less solid than they appeared to be, if he wasn’t in a fatigued, almost exhausted state, and if it wasn’t for the fact that his insides were missing as if he suffered grievous injuries before, then there was no chance he could have gotten the upper hand earlier.

While Ye Qing was observing Uncertain Monk, Uncertain Monk was also observing him. Yi Pin had never stopped lavishing praises about Ye Qing from the start until the end, but it wasn’t until he met him in person that he realized that Yi Pin hadn’t exaggerated the young man’s strength. In fact, he seemed to be understating it.

The young man looked to be in his early twenties, and yet he was already a Great Grandmaster. Not only that, he was no ordinary Great Grandmaster. He could tell that the young man’s physical strength and toughness exceeded the current him a little.

He was a former Sage who had created his Buddha Golden Body. Although he had fallen from grace and become a Half Sage, a dead camel was still bigger than a horse. His physical body and golden body were still greater than some Half Sages.

However, he was the one who lost in the head-on clash earlier. The young man’s physical body was just that powerful.

In fact, Uncertain Monk was a once-in-a-century genius in the Lanke Temple. He was especially adept in the way of body-tempering and was praised as the Venerable One Reborn or the second return of Siddhartha Gautama himself. It was how he ascended to the rank of Buddha at a young age.

Uncertain Monk’s talent was considered to be unparalleled and unmatched, but he could tell that he was inferior to Ye Qing at his age. Assuming no unfortunate accidents happened to the young man, Uncertain Monk was certain Ye Qing would become a Sage in a few years at most.

“Everyone’s a friend here, so let’s skip the pleasantries, yeah?”

Yi Pin waved them off before shooting Ye Qing with a look of shock. “Say, brother, it hasn’t been

that

long since we last parted ways. How on earth did you become so powerful?”

“You know, an opportunity here, a fortune there. It’s not worth talking about.”

Ye Qing smirked as he changed the subject. “I’m more interested in what happened to

you

. Who on earth was that ghost bride, and how did you offend her?”

“Like I know,?” Yi Pin mumbled in annoyance before giving Ye Qing a brief summary of their story.

“Tell me, this woman is a total ingrate, isn’t she? I built her a grave out of kindness, and she tried to kill me! Truly, kindness begets nothing but misery these days.”

“Hah… you say that, but none of these would have happened if you hadn’t coveted her bridal dress in the first place.”

Ye Qing shook his head. “Besides, you are completely wrong. It is said that there are few ways to return a favor that are greater than pay back with one’s own body, and that is exactly what the ghost bride is doing. If that isn’t gratefulness, then what is?”

“Bullshit! You know I am a Taoist who has sworn off the secular world. How can I marry anyone, much less an evil creature?”

Yi Pin scoffed. “Besides, I’ve seen her real face under the veil, and the nicest way I can put it is that she has an unbelievable face. One thing for certain, her ‘repayment’ is nothing more than biting the hand that feeds.”

1. Prince Nanda Shakya, also known as Sundarananda Shakya, was the younger half-brother of Gautama Buddha. ☜