As Wuhua roared, a colossal golden ring of light appeared behind his head.
This golden ring blazed like a fierce sun, radiating dazzling brilliance that made Wuhua appear even more extraordinary.
Then, within the golden ring, the seated image of Tathāgata Buddha slowly emerged.
Tathāgata sat upon a lotus throne, surrounded by swirling Buddhist radiance, exuding boundless sacred majesty.
“Ye Changsheng, with Buddha present, why do you not kneel?”
Wuhua thundered.
His voice carried overwhelming pressure, attempting to shatter Ye Qiu’s Dao heart.
Yet Ye Qiu merely snorted. “I don’t believe in Buddha. Besides, it’s only an image, not the real Tathāgata.”
Wuhua bellowed furiously, “A mere mortal dares show disrespect to Buddha? Do you wish to fall into the eighteen layers of hell?”
Ye Qiu could not be bothered with words. He lashed the God-Beating Whip straight at the seated Buddha image.
Clang!
A tremendous explosion rang out. The golden ring remained completely unscathed, and the seated Buddha within did not even tremble. It stood as though it were the true Buddha, impervious to all dharmas.
“Insolence!” Wuhua roared in rage. “You dare strike at Buddha? Even if Buddha forgives you, I shall not.”
Wuhua began chanting Buddhist scriptures. The golden ring behind his head shuddered violently, sending out ripples of golden light, like circles formed when a pebble is dropped into a lake, spreading inexorably towards Ye Qiu.
In an instant, Ye Qiu sensed intense danger. Though the golden ripples carried no killing intent, they conveyed an aura of absolute invincibility.
Crack!
Ye Qiu swiftly whipped out, striking the golden ripples. The immense force vanished like mud sinking into the sea.
“What?”
Startled, Ye Qiu instantly withdrew the God-Beating Whip and threw a punch.
His fist gleamed like molten gold, bursting with blinding light.
“Dragon-Slaying Fist!”
Ye Qiu roared. Terrifying power erupted from his fist, surging like the Milky Way breaching its banks, crashing towards the golden ripples.
This punch carried ninety percent of his strength, thunderous and utterly horrifying.
To put it plainly, had An Ruoxi or Tuoba Xiong still been alive, this single blow would have obliterated them instantly.
Ye Qiu’s fist carried tyrannical momentum, as though it could shatter heaven and earth.
Boom!
At last, the punch collided with the golden ripples.
They held for only a second before the ripples pierced straight through the fist’s momentum and continued rolling towards Ye Qiu.
“How is this possible?”
Shock flooded Ye Qiu’s heart.
He had never imagined Wuhua’s Buddhist divine ability would be this powerful.
Without hesitation, Ye Qiu retreated a hundred metres.
The corner of Wuhua’s mouth curled into a cold smirk. The golden ring kept expanding, drawing ever closer to Ye Qiu.
“Ye Changsheng, brute force cannot stop Great Sun Tathāgata,” Little White Fox transmitted.
“You know how to break Great Sun Tathāgata?” Ye Qiu glanced down.
Little White Fox nodded proudly. “Of course I do. If you want to know, you have to…”
Smack!
Ye Qiu delivered a hard slap to Little White Fox’s backside.
“Yes!” Little White Fox looked utterly satisfied. “Ye Changsheng, you really understand me.”
“Cut the nonsense. Hurry up and tell me how to break Great Sun Tathāgata,” Ye Qiu urged.
Little White Fox explained, “Although Great Sun Tathāgata is a Buddhist divine ability, it lacks the supreme yang rigidity of true Buddhism. Instead it is filled with soft, yin energy. No matter how great your strength, striking it achieves nothing.”
“So you cannot overcome softness with hardness. You must use softness to conquer softness.”
“Ye Changsheng, I can teach you a demon clan secret art to break Great Sun Tathāgata, but you have to…”
“No need!” Ye Qiu rejected her outright.
“Hmph, is agreeing to my request really that difficult?” Little White Fox huffed in annoyance. “Fine, let me see how you plan to break Great Sun Tathāgata.”
“Then watch closely.” Ye Qiu sank his knees, assumed a horse stance, and adopted the opening posture of the Thirteen Tai Chi Forms.
At that moment, his aura became ethereal. Ignoring the approaching golden ripples, he began performing the Thirteen Tai Chi Forms.
Each movement was slow and leisurely, as though he were strolling through a garden.
Seeing this, Wuhua sneered in disdain. “Ye Changsheng, I advise you to give up resisting. Those pathetic moves of yours cannot possibly stop Great Sun Tathāgata.”
Just as the golden ripples were about to engulf Ye Qiu, he suddenly pushed both palms forward.
Boom!
A massive Tai Chi diagram materialised in an instant, completely halting the golden ripples.
After a brief stalemate between the Tai Chi diagram and the golden ripples, the ripples receded like a retreating tide.
In that same moment, the seated Tathāgata image behind Wuhua shattered.
Wuhua staggered back several steps, his face dark as he stared at Ye Qiu.
Ye Qiu stared back.
Battle intent soared between them.
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
With a simultaneous roar, the two charged at each other. The great battle erupted.
They fought from the ground to the sky, then from the sky back to the ground, trading blows flesh to flesh, clashing with pure force. The earth quaked, mountains shook, shattered rock flew everywhere.
Their speed was so great that they seemed to teleport from place to place. Onlookers could only glimpse two blurred shadows colliding endlessly, the sounds of impact ringing without cease.
Terrifying shockwaves swept outward, reducing the surroundings to ruin. Ancient trees were uprooted and exploded into fragments.
Countless massive fissures tore open the ground, spreading far into the distance.
In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged over a hundred blows.
“Kill!”
Wuhua roared. Every punch carried devastating might, like an enraged vajra, utterly terrifying.
Yet Ye Qiu refused to yield an inch. He mobilised his full strength and blocked every strike.
At this moment Ye Qiu’s blood boiled. It had been ages since he last met such a powerful opponent. The longer he fought, the braver he became, determined to crush his foe completely.
Boom!
After parrying Wuhua’s assault, Ye Qiu launched a ferocious counter-attack, unleashing thirty-six consecutive punches. Each one sank with immense weight, unstoppable as a war god, forcing Wuhua into constant retreat.
Although Wuhua managed to block the punches, the sheer force shook him so violently that blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“So the Buddha-son of Great Thunderclap Temple is only this much.”
Ye Qiu gave a cold laugh, gathered one hundred percent of his power, and threw a punch.
Boom!
His golden fist carried unmatched momentum as it smashed directly into Wuhua’s. Wuhua was hurled back hundreds of metres, vomiting blood, his face ashen.
“I underestimated you.”
Wuhua wiped the blood from his lips, then a sinister smile crept across his face. “Ye Changsheng, killing me will not be that easy.”
“Enough talk. Your time has come.” Ye Qiu prepared to strike again when, suddenly—
