It had been a while since Lu Yuan had a decent battle. In the interim, he had pushed every aspect of himself to perfection. His stage of evolution had not changed, yet his actual strength had multiplied several times over.

Before, he had just entered the Great Sage Realm. Now, he had reached the stage's apex, and under the mysterious Providence from the Celestial Emperor's Ancient Token, he was transforming in every conceivable way.

Even he did not know what level he would reach when he truly went all out.

Right now, Xuanci from the Sukhāvatī Starfield was the perfect opponent for him to find out the breadth of his true power.

Lu Yuan stepped forward, and his aura erupted without the slightest restraint.

Zhu Qingyu, the beast kings, and the others retreated without hesitation at the sight, putting quite a bit of distance between themselves and the two combatants.

They knew that both King Lu and that monk were far too powerful for them. Unless they wanted to suffer collateral damage, they had to retreat. As for who would emerge victorious, no one present harbored any doubts about it.

Rumble! Boom!

Rumbling noises echoed along with explosions as golden vital qi surged from Lu Yuan. He gave off a boundless aura that shook the firmament itself. He stood at the apex of the Great Sage Realm and was no longer someone who had just embarked on the path of evolution.

In fact, his attacks could alter the land itself, and in fact, it was happening at the moment. As soon as Lu Yuan unleashed his full strength, the heavens themselves trembled. Fortunately, they were in Mount Tai, and Mount Tai was no ordinary place. It could withstand the entirety of Lu Yuan's power.

Monk Xuanci was shaken at the sight, but he did not retreat. He pressed his palms together, uttered a Buddhist chant, and a seven-colored Buddhist light erupted from him.

A lotus throne materialized beneath his feet. Combined with the golden light around him, Xuanci truly looked like a Vajra. His brow and gaze carried mercy as lotus blossoms drifted down from above him.

The sight was intimidating, and it revealed one thing clearly—Xuanci was strong.

He put enormous pressure on the onlookers. Zhu Qingyu, the Peacock King, and the others all felt pressured. In truth, even Lu Yuan could tell that Xuanci was far more powerful than any Great Sages he had ever faced.

If he had to guess, Xuanci ranked at least among the top five Rankers of the younger generation in the Sukhāvatī Starfield. None of that mattered, of course. He couldn't care less about his opponent's identity.

If Xuanci were to attack him, he would make a move in response.

"Amitābha. Benefactor, you still have a choice," Xuanci said, his voice suffused with compassion. In that moment, he looked like an Arhat who was trying to persuade a lost soul to turn back before it was too late.

The peculiar aura radiating from him even made Ice Fairy and the others feel—against all reason—that the monk had a point.

The bizarre feeling came out of nowhere. Lu Yuan sensed it as well, and his eyes narrowed into slits. He took a single step forward, and his aura shook the air once more. "If you want to fight, then fight. If you try anything underhanded again, I won't be polite anymore."

His voice was not loud, but the killing intent threaded through it was enough to make anyone's soul tremble.

Xuanci finally realized that he had been testing the man's patience. He immediately pulled back that peculiar aura and focused entirely on facing Lu Yuan.

He looked at Lu Yuan, sighed, and exclaimed, "This divine ability of mine is called the Great Buddha's Palm!"

The instant the words left his mouth, Xuanci's gaze changed drastically. The gentle and merciful light in his eyes vanished, replaced by a wrathful glare. He faced Lu Yuan and brought his palm crashing down without any hesitation.

Rumble!

At first, nothing was happening except for the loud noises, but before long, everyone saw something inconceivable. In the sky above, a gigantic palm had materialized. It was gold, and it stretched tens of thousands of meters across, and it came pressing down with overwhelming force.

The sight reminded Zhu Qingyu and the others of a scene straight out of myth—a single palm blotting out the sky. Then they remembered that Xuanci was a Buddhist monk, and they realized that Xuanci wanted to imprison King Lu beneath a mountain made of his five fingers[1].

The fingers of that palm seemed to transform into colossal mountains that seemed to press down on every person present with crushing weight.

Those affected weren't just the people here—the Mount Tai Trials Academy, its top echelons, the members of the Celestial Court, and the students all saw that palm. Horror spread across every face at the sight of it. The scene was simply too terrifying.

"Since you're using a Buddhist divine ability," Lu Yuan said, suspended in the skies. His expression was calm as he gazed at the descending palm, adding, "I won't take advantage of you and use a Buddhist divine ability as well."

His expression had not changed in the slightest. If anything, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he slowly extended his own palm. There was no overwhelming aura, and there was no astonishing phenomenon. He simply held out his hand.

Buzz!

Accompanied by the chanting of Buddhist scriptures, ancient temples rose from the ground one after another, and above that colossal golden palm, clouds seemed to layer upon each other, revealing scenes straight from legend in between, featuring Vajras, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas.

All of them unleashed waves of power that cascaded down each layer of clouds. It was like an entire Buddha's domain had directly materialized in the mortal world.

Xuanci was dumbfounded, and his disbelief turned into stupefaction when he realized that the Buddha's domain seemed to be devouring his divine ability at a shocking rate. In almost no time, it disappeared.

Even he was restrained and could not make use of his other Buddhist divine abilities. The Buddha's domain before him reigned supreme over everything. He could not even resist it, much less flee.

"A-A supreme divine art..." Xuanci murmured to himself as he took in the sight.

He had a mission. He knew that the divine ability in question was a Buddhist supreme divine art, but he had not expected that someone who was not even a Buddhist could wield it to such a terrifying degree. They were also in the same realm, yet he was crushed with ease.

Xuanci's ranking among the Sukhāvatī Starfield's younger generation was exceedingly high. His talent, combat strength, and mastery of Buddhist arts and divine abilities were all of the highest caliber.

Despite that, he was easily crushed. Moreover, he could feel it. If the man wished, he could take his life at any moment.

Just then, the boundless and expansive Buddha's domain vanished all at once. The pressure on him lifted instantly, and Xuanci stood there, shaken. After a while, he turned to look at Lu Yuan and murmured, "I lost..."

1. Monkey God Sun Wukong reference. Anyone plays Black Myth: Wukong? ☜