“Kill me?” Saint Suhavis didn’t know if he should laugh or cry at the Primordial Beast’s ludicrous claim. How many years, no… How many decades has it been since someone had claimed to be capable of killing him? Ever since the Buddhist Saint earned his white and gold garb, the number of opponents that he had greatly diminished and not a single soul dared to offend him. And now… this random Primordial Beast thought that he could take him on?

“Amitabha, you are far too conceited my friend.”

“Friend? I want to kill you, and you call me your friend?” Kuro sneered at the monk’s foolish choice of words.

“Everyone is equal under the eyes of Buddha. Everyone is bound by karma and will spin the wheel of Samsara once they’ve passed. Naturally, to me, you’re a brother that just lost his path.” The Holy Abbot put both his hands together and gave a simple prayer. “Oh, Primordial Beast. Recognise your folly and change your ways. It’s never too late to repent.”

“Now who’s the conceited one?” The black-haired man snorted while he raised the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt. Dark mist burst forth from the blade, creating six similar phantoms, each one bearing Kuro’s face. At the same time, thousands of Umbras took the stage, creeping out from the Primordial Beast’s immense shadow. The Holy Abbot was somewhat taken aback by that sight. Evidently, the Black Masks had planned this out well in advance.

“There’s only one God that I believe in, and that’s the Allfather!!!”

“Amitabha...”

There was no more need for words. From here on out, everything would be settled the old-fashioned way. With pure might alone.

Kuro knew that he couldn’t hold back even a sliver of his strength. In all his years on the planet, Saint Suhavis might be the greatest foe that he’d ever faced. He had climbed the ranks of the Shaolin Temple, mastering all of the martial arts that defined the school. Bellow of the Laughing Buddha, Arhat’s Eighteen Hands, Golden Finger, Varja Body… Even the legendary Shaolin Art, Yijingjing… Saint Suhavis was proficient in them all.

It was no stretch to call the Holy Abbot the most versatile of all the Spirit Saints alive today. Furthermore, Kuro wasn’t just fighting against the Golden Spirit Saint, but he was fighting against time itself. It wouldn’t be long until the Shaolin Temple raised the siren to call for reinforcements. Taking on one Spirit Saint was hard enough, now imagine if the Saints from the Dalgeom Sect, Emei Church and Khan Tribe all rushed over to protect the Shaolin…

Just thinking about it made Kuro shudder. Hence, the Primordial Beast needed to complete his goal before the apocalypse arrived.

“Annihilate...” Kuro muttered out as the phantoms rushed right at the Spirit Saint. A cold mist tickled the wrinkled skin of the Holy Abbot. Darkness, despair, fear… All of the emotions of dread seemed to have originated from the ethereal mist. Any regular joe would have surrendered to the beating in their chest and allowed their world to come crumbling down. However, Saint Suhavis wasn’t just some run-off-the-mill cultivator.

A golden light burst forth from the depths of the Spirit Saint’s soul, illuminating the darkness that dared to surround him.

“Om ga te ga te sa ma ga te bod hi sam om...” Saint Suhavis chanted out in solemn, creating illusions of runes sprouting out from his mouth. The phantoms attempted to stop the Holy Abbot from preparing his next move, but it was far too late. How many times has the Spirit Saint chanted in his entire life? If it weren’t in the millions, it was at least at nine hundred thousand. Preparing his attack? The Spirit Saint could do so in less than half a second.

Saint Suhavis threw his left palm down, and at that very moment, it felt as if the entire earth was on his side. His palm turned illusory, and the phantoms that flew right towards him felt like the weight of the world was mounting on their shoulders. And just as their blades were about to reach Saint Suhavis’ neck...

“Rulai Palm; Earth!”

The Holy Abbot unleashed his furious strike. A spectral golden palm surged from the ground and rushed right at the phantoms. Not knowing what to do, Kuro’s Saint-levelled puppets braced themselves for impact, only to be sent flying way up into the stratosphere. However, that wasn’t the end of the Spirit Saint’s attacks.

Almost like magic, the elderly man’s body disappeared and reappeared high above in the firmament. This time, he raised his right hand up, covering the entire sky in his grasp. Divine light beamed down from the clouds, and as if Heaven’s Gate was opened up, illusory feathers of weeping angels trickled down like rain. The phantoms, however, weren’t able to enjoy that holy view. Watching the palm, they felt like the entire sky was fighting against them. It was boundless and somewhat enigmatic, that palm. The phantoms felt like that could see where the strike was coming from, and yet, at the same time, they were powerless to stop it.

“Rulai Palm; Heaven!”

Saint Suhavis wasted no time in finishing his combination. First came the earth, then the heavens. The Holy Abbot didn’t just want to defeat the Primordial Beast that dared to step on his land, he wanted to completely crush him. Like its earth variation, the Rulai Palm; Heaven summoned out a giant palm that seemed to cover the entire sky. Even if the phantoms wanted to run, they had nowhere to escape to. The sky was falling down on them, and they could only accept their fate.

BAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!

The Rulai Palm connected cleanly, and all of the phantoms flew straight to the ground like broken comets. Saint Suhavis was careful not to let the beings harm the Sacred Peak of Buddha and had forced them to fly all throughout the forest surrounding the holy mountain. However, that wasn’t the Spirit Saint’s real intention in the beginning.

‘Mnnn? They’re actually able to resist my Heaven Rulai Palm? Now, that’s a shocker...’

Saint Suhavis wanted to dissipate the phantoms with his strongest palm strike. Yet, the Saint-levelled summons were far tougher than he’d imagined. They could still stand even after receiving two of the Holy Abbots signature Rulai Palms.

‘That must be the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt that Geom mentioned then...’ Narrowing his eyes, Saint Suhavis glared at the odd-looking blade in Kuro’s hand. Ten years ago, he’d heard from his good friend and fellow Spirit Saint that a lost Immortal-Grade Spirit Armament had reappeared under the Black Masks’ control. Never would he have guessed that one day, he would face it directly in battle.

‘Phantoms that can’t be destroyed by my Rulai Palms… I have to go on the defensive until Geom, Lyndis or Temujin comes...’

Being a jack of all trades meant that the Holy Abbot was a master at none. His offensive ability was far inferior to that of Saint Geom, and his defensive skill pales in comparison to Saint Heigui back in the Lantis Republic. Against a foe such as Kuro that had the assistance of an Immortal-Grade Spirit Armament, the best that Saint Suhavis could do was turtle up and delay the Primordial Beast’s assault.

“Om ki jea ji mo kon ho gi te ga ja mon bod hi om ga te mi om e ja te mo hi ho ha po...” Saint Suhavis started to chant furiously, moving his fingers into erratic gestures that weren’t understood by any one of the Black Masks spectating him. However, the amount of mana that he was producing was colossal! Just by seeing him chant, Kuro felt his chest tighten up, and his nerves were going haywire. Even the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt was crying out. Whether it was with fear or anticipation… perhaps only it would know.

Realising that a window of opportunity had opened up, Kuro looked to the foot of the mountain and bellowed out: “NOW!!!”

At his command, two shadows shot up from the base. One flew heavenward while the other rushed up the mountain from the ground. The one in the sky quickly grew out its serpentine body to over a kilometre in length, becoming big enough to coil around the holy mountain multiple times. The one that came from the ground was accompanied by a plethora of webs and arachnid creatures.

However, the true menace wasn’t from the two suffocating figures… But the heart-shaking red light that was pulsating from a distance. Even while in the midst of chanting, Saint Suhavis could feel the dreadful power encroaching upon his territory. His heart tightened and hair all throughout his body stood erect. If that red light were to be unleashed upon the mountain…

Saint Suhavis instantly changed his focus. Bells on the Buddhist Mountain all rang without anyone hitting them, and numerous statues came to life. Glorious rays of light burst forth from the bottom of the mountain, creating an elaborate birdcage. With Saint Suhavis finishing his chants, the Holy Abbot had become the focal point of the formation. A white-golden lotus appeared underneath the old monk, and Saint Suhavis casually laid his bum down.

However, his face was anything but casual. The red light was only getting stronger by the second and the Spirit Saint didn’t want to waste even a second more. Resting both his arms on his lap, the Holy Abbot entered into his meditative state and mana overflowed from his pores. The aura he produced was breathtakingly beautiful as a golden pagoda embraced the Sacred Peak of Buddha.

“The Great Arhat Formation...” Kuro spat in disgust. This legendary formation had been protecting the Holy Site of Buddhism for hundreds of thousands of years now. It was renowned as one of the world’s premier formations, one capable of defending against the full might of a Spirit Saint. Heck, with Saint Suhavis manipulating the formation, it could even take on two or three Spirit Saints without facing a single crack.

Alas, the Great Arhat Formation had never faced the Black Masks’ most powerful weapon…

“Today, we shall witness the fall of a legend...” Kuro bared his fangs as he smiled. With one final breath, the Primordial Beast hollered: “DO IT!!!”

With that command, the red light was finally fired.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!!!

Like a tidal wave that didn’t know when to stop, the fiery ray crashed onto the golden pavilion, completely decimating its exterior within seconds. Saint Suhavis tried his hardest to resupply the barrier with even more mana, but it was to no avail. The Great Arhat Formation was no match for the Allfather’s new technology and just like the Guardian Rock of Aldrich’s Keep…

It crumbled…

“NO!!!” The Holy Abbot lost his nerve for the first time in the battle. However, being the seasoned veteran that he was, Saint Suhavis changed his tactics on the spot. Instead of aiming to completely block the death ray, he now chose to deflect it. Moving all of the formation’s resources into one spot, Saint Suhavis created a dense shield that had concentrated all of his mana. Then, when he felt that the time was right, the Holy Abbot slightly gave the shield a tilt, entirely deflecting the beam into the sky.

“Hah… hah...” Sweat trickled down the Spirit Saint’s forehead as if he had just ran a hundred kilometres. Strength left his body, and he felt as if his innards were fried by the overuse of mana. And that wasn’t an understatement. To manipulate the Great Arhat Formation, Saint Suhavis had expended over half of his mana reserves. That was how powerful the red laser was.

“Hoho, you actually managed to stop it?” Kuro gave his praise. “The Shaolin really lives up to their name as one of mankind’s oldest organisations!”

“Y-You...” Still breathless, the Holy Abbot couldn’t even bring himself to curse Kuro. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t give the Primordial Beast the death stare.

“However, are you sure that you should be resting now?” The black-haired man smiled.

“H-huh?”

Now that the Great Arhat Formation had been broken, the Noble Beasts could finally begin their mission. In the skies, Ao and his Primordial might was summoning a heap of thunderclouds and spiralling whirlwinds. From the ground, Murasaki was spreading webs all around, condemning all the monks and pilgrims in the temple to die a poisonous death.

And more frighteningly… A red light had begun to charge up once more from the same place it was once fired.

“T-that light! You can fire more of it?!”

“I told you, you were the conceited one...” Kuro sent out his most disgusted laugh to date. “So… I wonder how you would die? Will it be by my blade? Or by Murasaki’s poison? Or will it be by Ao’s dominion? Or perhaps… Dying to protect your holy mountain from the Death Ray? I wonder which would it be?”