Xuanci was perfectly clear on what had just happened. Lu Yuan had already dispersed his divine ability and had no intention of killing him. He had stopped the moment his victory was confirmed.

Xuanci was shocked to his core. He had used his strongest divine ability, yet he was crushed with ease. He had never expected it to happen. After all, he was among the most powerful Rankers out there.

Even if he could not match those Holy Sons and Saintesses, the gap between him and Lu Yuan wasn't supposed to be this wide, especially when the two of them were both Great Sages.

Xuanci had been confident that even if he was outmatched, the loss would not come so quickly. He had believed that he could hold his own against even the Holy Sons of the Ji Clan and the Eternals as long as they were in the same stage of evolution. Hence, he had a ton of confidence in himself against Lu Yuan.

Unfortunately, he was proven incorrect. Lu Yuan was simply too powerful. It wasn't like his divine ability was inferior. The gap between them was simply too massive that Lu Yuan could easily crush him in whatever way he wanted.

Xuanci surrendered completely. When he thought back to how he had tried to overpower the man through strength alone, he could not help but feel that he had been a bit delusional.

"You've lost. You can go." Lu Yuan withdrew all of his power. He wasn't planning on killing the monk. From start to finish, the man had shown no killing intent toward him, even during the so-called "debate" itself. He didn't have to die.

"Amitābha," Xuanci chanted once and said nothing more. He turned to leave, but before long, he looked back. "Benefactor, I'm leaving, but that does not mean the Sukhāvatī Starfield will choose to back down. We will meet again. Benefactor, be wary of other monks who may come looking for you."

With that, Xuanci stepped forward and vanished from Mount Tai. As for what those parting words meant, Lu Yuan could not quite piece it together. He could also tell that the monk had no desire to elaborate.

Meanwhile, the flabbers of the onlookers and the beast kings remained gasted.

When Xuanci had made his move, the pressure on them was overwhelming. Everyone present believed that, even if they joined forces, they would not be his match.

After all, there was a full two major subrealm of difference between them, and the man's talent as well as combat strength were both clearly formidable. Without question, he was the most powerful enemy they had ever witnessed.

Yet the moment he made his move, King Lu suppressed him completely. He was crushed with ease; it was over before it truly began. Moreover, the two of them were at the same stage of evolution.

The beast kings and the youngsters, Zhu Qingyu included, had always known that Lu Yuan was strong—absolutely strong. But as for just how strong, they had never been entirely sure.

Having seen his power with their own eyes and with a point of comparison in hand, they were stupefied. To make matters even more shocking, what they had witnessed wasn't actually King Lu's full strength.

No wonder he could protect Earth all by himself; no wonder he could defeat every opponent who dared to stand against him. He was a true prodigy among prodigies—a supreme prodigy!

Lu Yuan could naturally read what they were all thinking. He shook his head, waved them off, saying, "All right, stop lollygagging and do what you're supposed to be doing."

Then he headed toward his quarters. He did not go inside, though. Instead, he went to find Jiang Ningxian. She had been in seclusion over the past few days and had not noticed the commotion outside.

She had just stepped out of her room when Lu Yuan arrived to find her.

"I sensed an extremely powerful aura just now. It had to be from someone outside. Did someone come looking for trouble?" Jiang Ningxian asked. She had already decided that if any trouble arose, she would face it alongside Lu Yuan.

However, she had not expected someone to show up at their doorstep so soon.

"That's exactly what I came to ask about." Lu Yuan nodded and recounted everything that had just happened.

"A monk from the Sukhāvatī Starfield came here?" Jiang Ningxian's eyes widened with surprise. The two of them had just talked about that starfield a few days ago, and she couldn't have imagined someone from there would appear so soon.

When she heard that the monk was defeated and would not be causing any problems for the time being, she relaxed and said, "I've heard the Dharma name Xuanci before. He ranks third among the top ten Rankers of the Sukhāvatī Starfield. He's extremely strong. His divine abilities and talent are both the cream of the crop. He stands just below those two Children of Buddha."

Considering the Sukhāvatī Starfield's reputation, its Rankers were especially well known.

"There are two Children of Buddha?" Lu Yuan frowned when he heard that. A Child of Buddha was equivalent to a Holy Son. Was there not supposed to be only one per starfield?

"That's right." Jiang Ningxian read his thoughts and added, "Buddhists are unlike other people. They center their beliefs around the past, the present, and the future, each governed by a Buddha. The Past Buddha can be understood as the current ruler of the Sukhāvatī Starfield.

"The present and the future represent what is unfolding and has yet to happen, so they each require a Buddha to oversee those things.

"So there are two Children of Buddha, one represents the present, and one represents the future. And those two factions have never gotten along."

The friction between them was more of a doctrinal disagreement than a true enmity. After all, they were all Buddhists at the end of the day. When it truly mattered, they would stand together.

"Monk Xuanci is the Child of the Future Buddha. Whatever the Future Buddha's faction endorses, the Present Buddha's faction will oppose it." Jiang Ningxian shook her head and went on. "In short, the waters between the two factions are very deep and murky.

"I'm not a Buddhist, so I can't really explain it properly. All you need to remember is that the Future Buddha's faction won't come after you, but the Present Buddha's faction certainly will."

"That's what Xuanci meant. And the Present Buddha's faction is extremely powerful. The Eternals once suffered a devastating loss at their hands."

A single faction among the Buddhists could actually go toe-to-toe with an entire clan? Lu Yuan's expression changed. "Doesn't that make the Sukhāvatī Starfield the strongest in the universe?"

Jiang Ningxian replied, "It's complicated. Right now, no starfield dares to claim that title, but in our estimation, there are two or three starfields that could make a case for it."

"The Sukhāvatī Starfield and the Sky Dragon Starfield are great examples. Their foundations and everything else are nothing short of terrifying. Our Desolate Flame Starfield and the Ziwei Starfield can compete with them, but we certainly wouldn't win."