“That was Jiang He?”

After three lifetimes of reincarnation and centuries of monkhood, the white-clothed guru who got off the mountain after much difficulty to search his soul was feeling utterly indignant right then. He merely laughed coolly at the other monk's words and did not answer.

In fact, he was already sweating all over.

Screw me!

Brother Jiang He is still that fearsome!

You don't know what tier the one before me is, and you're already scolding him?

However, the guru did not actually answer because he wanted some degree of protection. What if he revealed details about Jiang He to that monk, and the monk went off for revenge?

Meanwhile, the monk with Buddha's glow frowned before asking again, “His last name is Jiang. Is he Jiang He?”

The white-clothed guru did a double take for a moment, but managed to quickly say, “No, he's not Jiang He.”

Though he could refuse as much as he could, that blank look just now had betrayed him. Still, the guru could not be blamed here—he had only been a high monk though he had lived for three reincarnations, so had he even lied before?

Most importantly, he had been startled.

After noting the white-clothed guru's expression, the monk's whole body shuddered as he exclaimed in panic, “Is he really Jiang He? The one who flattened the Penglai Sect alone, forced the Foxes of Mount Changbai to seal their mountain, and wiped out the Green Hill Foxes?

His Buddha glow and iridescent clouds promptly faded.

Perhaps because he had been frightened, the monk forgot to maintain his otherworldly image, exposing his true form: a stout but strong monk.

On the other hand, the white-clothed guru who was still caught in the Realm of Buddha's Palm appeared taken aback and asked in shocked, “What are you talking about?”

At Jiang He's house in Jinyintan Village, near Lingzhou City—mouthing a tirade of curses, Jiang He stepped out of his mansion with the Mosquito Cutter in hand. He whipped out his communications jade charm and contacted Jin Sidao to ask about the Buddha Sect.

“Buddha Sect?”

“They have been residing in the west for a long time and rarely come out. However, they had sealed Mount Ling even before the Hundred Races invaded… have they revealed themselves too?”

Fine!

I'd asked for nothing!

Jiang He complained a little and hung up.

Even so, annoyance and slight anger filled his chest.

A monk from that Buddha Sect captured the white-clothed guru?

Did he intend to force the white-clothed guru into his sect? That said, the guru was quite the unlucky one… it was not easy for him to leave the Tantra Sect, but if he was captured by that Buddha Sect, won't he have to continue his monkhood again?

“It's like he was born fated to be a monk!”

Jiang He muttered, and he felt a little less irritated at that. In fact, he found it rather funny, and wondered what the look on the white-clothed guru's face would be like.

He then asked the Taixu Sect about it, who could only offer an identical answer as Jin Sidao's, and so Jiang He had to put away the Mosquito Cutter and give up… If he had no idea where the Buddha Sect was, how was he supposed to rescue the white-clothed guru?

“Whatever.”

“Let him get caught or whatnot… he has already been a monk for three lifetimes, so being one for a few days more would not matter. Moreover, since that Buddha Sect have revealed themselves, there would traces that lead me to them eventually… Also, the Shaolin temple is historically a Buddha Sect as well, and I could ask them about it.”

As for the Tantra Sect, however…

Jiang He had no intention to visit them.

He was aware of the Tantra Sect's history—despite their thousand over years worth of history, they merely spread martial arts and some Buddhist teachings, but did not actually have much to do with Buddha Sect histories.

Putting away his sword, Jiang He was ready to do a little bit of farming before sleeping when his eyes narrowed and he turned towards the distant horizon. A Buddha's light was rapidly flying toward his direction in the night, inside of which was a dwarfish monk.

Beside the monk was the youthful guru, dressed entirely in white.

Taken aback, Jiang He promptly went out to meet them.

The Buddha's glow paused in the night sky then and the white-clothed guru promptly flew to Jiang He's side. Looking upon him in astonishment, he asked, “Brother Jiang He, what happened in the twenty days when I cultivated behind closed doors?”

The white-clothed guru was beside himself in shock.

That Buddha Sect's elite who had cultivated a 'golden body with a ceramic glaze' was actually scared half to death after hearing Jiang He's name and had personally come knocking on his door to apologize.

On the way, he had even stuffed a ring filled with hundreds of spirit stones and two mystic treasures to put a good word in after meeting Jiang He…

'Did I confine myself for twenty years instead of twenty days?' the white-clothed guru thought then.

Meanwhile, Jiang He gave him a glance before exclaiming in surprise, “Zero Void in martial arts?”

Then, he added, “No rush, brother. Let's have a pillow talk after I shoo that monk away.”

Opposite them, the monk was already sweating visibility on the forehead. Putting his palms together, he said, “Amitabha. Mister Jiang, this poor monk had been blind and unaware that this man is your friend. Please be understanding for this mistake.”

Studying the monk, Jiang He laughed coolly, “A mere seven retribution Sufferance trying to walk all over me? Who gave you the guts?

The monk promptly lost all bravado right then.

He had left the mountains under orders from his master to seek those with karmic connection.

After all, the Buddha Sect had confined themselves in their mountains for a long time. Though it was now time for them to step out into the world and recruit some disciples, the monk ended up learning that Jiang He had trampled all over the Penglai Sect single-handedly. But even before he could relay the information he had gathered to his sect after asking around, he personally witnessed Jiang He beating up the Foxes of Mount Changbai.

On that day, the monk himself had seen with his own eyes how the battle unfolded and was truly stunned by the fight Jiang He had put up.

Of course, he was merely stunned inwardly.

The Buddha Sect possessed unfathomable strength and they would be fearless even against the Green Hill Foxes.

But how could he have imagined that in less than three days, Jiang He would have destroyed Green Hill as well? The monk himself had also rushed to the scene to watch the fight and cold sweat flowed out of his body at once when he personally saw it happening!

That fellow had such an easy time wiping out Green Hill!

The nine Mahayana Foxes of Green Hill had jointly invoked their immortal items and an immortal fox's corpse only to end up being crushed by Jiang He's heavenly thunderbolts, killing every last one of them.

Rumors hence blazed among the cultivators.

Word now was that Jiang He was a demon lord who would wipe out a sect at the slightest provocation. Even the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, whose casualties included one dead Elder, one dead vice-chieftain, as well as one dead six-retribution elite, still had to make amends and apologize by paying a huge sum of spirit stones and mystic treasures.

And right now, knowing that he had provoked Jiang He, how could the monk keep calm?

Sweating visibly above his brow as his pious heart was left uncertain, he quickly said, “Mister Jiang, this monk has offered some compensation. We could only hope that you could stay your hand.”

Jiang He turned towards the white-clothed guru who nodded, saying, “He gave me a few hundred spirit stones and two mystic treasures…”

But even before he could finish, Jiang He was laughing coldly and saying, “A few hundred spirit stones and two mystic treasures?”

“Are you trying to chase off a beggar here, sir?”

All the monk could do then was wipe the sweat off his brow.

Jiang He then added, “Bring five thousand mediocre-grade spirit stones and five hundred superior-grade spirit stones, along with three premium-grade sage items and one demi-immortal item. Do that and I won't pursue this matter any further, or I shall make the trip to Mount Ling!”

Gritting his teeth, the monk acknowledged his condition before excusing himself and leaving.

His spirit seemed to have left his body as he flew west and certainly did not fill the skies with Buddha glow or iridescent clouds like he did when he first appeared…

Meanwhile, Jiang He brought the white-clothed guru into his mansion. After having Sora brew some Big Red Robe tea, he told the white-clothed guru about what happened recently over tea…

Of course, he did not mention the process of his own cultivation.

Still, the white-clothed guru did not press Jiang He on the matter and certainly did not dare to ask since Jiang He would not say a word. It was after half a minute of silence and a sip of tea that he said, “I had thought that I could help you watch over the Stargate after ascending to Zero Void, but that seems unnecessary now.”

“You're too kind, Brother.”

Jiang He's gaze s.h.i.+fted as his divine mind studied the white-clothed guru then and his eyes twitched a little after feeling out the former monk's Zero Void cultivation. “Brother,” he asked, “could you show me what makes Zero Void unique?”

“It's a little stronger than I've imagined.”

At those words, the white-clothed guru stepped out into Jiang He's yard. His aura stirred as his strength began to circulate and he said, “Martial artists would experience three changes when they reach divine-tier. As they ascend to the second level of divine-tier, divine tempest, True Qi is converted to Nature Qi. Likewise, once a martial artist reaches Zero Void, that Nature Qi would change once more into Yuan Qi.”

As the white-clothed guru's Yuan Qi circulated, a nebula formed behind him.

After feeling it out, Jiang He found that the nebula was identical to a black hole that swirled endlessly, absorbing everything around it.

Then, the white-clothed guru added, “The most important part of Zero Void is to convert one's own cinnabar field and ocean of qi into a boundary of emptiness. The power from it strengthens oneself, greatly improving one's personal ability.”

Ooom!

A unique power extended out of the white-clothed guru's right then.

Having felt it out carefully, “Opening a boundary of emptiness inside one's own cinnabar field and ocean of qi? Are you trying to create a little universe inside yourself? Would that boundary keep changing, and turn into a galaxy, star system or whatnot if your martial cultivation continues to improve?”

The white-clothed guru was dumbstruck.

He clearly had no idea what Jiang he was talking about and continued, “However, what lies beyond Zero Void exists only in legends. I have no idea how to cultivate to that level either, but I have a feeling that the Zero Void of the martial path is rather special.”

Jiang He nodded and answered, “Yes, that's what I feel too. If categorized according to tiers, Zero Void should be an equivalent, but I sense that you could prove to be a match for a full-fledged Yuan Spirit despite being a Zero Void novice. If you could master it, you would give a full-fledged Convergence cultivator a run for their money, and any levels above Zero Void would probably correspond to Sufferance.”

Be that as it may, that did not actually mean that martial arts were superior to immortal arts…

Instead, it made it clear that martial cultivation was more difficult than immortal cultivation.

Since a single martial arts tier was equivalent to two tiers in immortal arts, the difficulty in cultivating it would definitely be harder than both tiers added together. Moreover, the most important thing here was that there was yet to be a clear path on how to cultivate to the following level.

A question occurred to Jiang He then.

The martial arts were founded after the Era of Qi Refinists. The reason for it was because the immortals had embarked on a voyage across the stars and left Earth after Earth's Dragon Vein had been suppressed. As Spirit Qi began to dry up, the immortal sects, demonic sects, and daemon cultivators all sealed their mountains and stopped teaching immortal arts, leading to the gradual rise of the martial path.

However, who was the one who founded the martial path?

The founding master of Mount Wudang was the last elite on Earth to become an immortal.

But did he cultivate martial arts or the immortal arts?

Perhaps Jiang He should create a martial technique that was even more awesome?