The Monk's response to Qingya Fairy was a punch that exploded with power instantaneously, as if it possessed the terrifying force to destroy heavens and obliterate the earth!
"What?!"
Qingya Fairy, with eyes widened in disbelief, shouted as he was engulfed by the punch in the next moment...
The rampant power pushed through ten thousand miles, flattening mountains where there were mountains and splitting rivers where there were rivers...
The Monk slowly withdrew his fist, and in front of him, Qingya Fairy's entire body was obliterated, the upper half of his body and both arms splatting onto the ground with a snap.
The land deity holding the earth and the mountain god, staring with bulging eyes, were at a loss for words.
The Monk withdrew his fist. "Daluo Golden Immortal? Cut!"
The Monk looked at the land deity and the mountain god beside him, who shuddered with fright.
"Master... Mourning for your loss," the land god didn't know what else to say, feeling the Monk's gaze seemed sorrowful, so he just blurted that out.
The Monk glared at the land god. "I'm not a monk!"
The land god pointed at a jade plaque on the Monk's waist. "You are a monk, it's written right here."
The Monk picked up the jade plaque and saw three big characters: Tang Sanzang!
On the back, two characters: Monk!
"Tang Sanzang? Monk?" The Monk touched his bald head, completely unclear about his own situation now.
Mainly, he couldn't even recall who he was, his mind filled with some fragmented and sparse memories, he seemed to have lived in a chaotic era full of gods and demons.
He seemed to be one of the gods and demons, only he was different from the others, his power was passive invincibility.
If he made a move without reason, his combat power was comparable to a rabbit, absolutely useless. But if it was passive retaliation, like if someone provoked or attacked him, he was invincible, crushing all opponents with a single punch!
Since then, he embarked on a path of appearing vulnerable enough to provoke others into attacking, so he could become invincible.
For this, he learned eight hundred ways to provoke, three thousand methods to feign weakness and act pitiful, and made them a part of his marrow, every movement, every look, seemed so rubbish-like and easily bullied.
You might even think that not bullying him would mean living in vain.
However, he later discovered a BUG, that as long as he believed you were provoking him, it was enough to activate that invincible power within him.
Thus, he developed another habit, malevolent speculation.
But by then, he couldn't change the deep-seated habits of weakness and provocativeness engraved in his bones.
So, a bastard always filled with malicious speculations and appearing particularly provoking and vulnerable was born.
Then his memories had a gap.
Next thing he knew, he was inexplicably thrown into the river of time.
There was someone who claimed to be the master of the Heavenly Dao, forbidding any creature from crossing the river of time.
The bald man retorted, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
Then the other party made a move.
The two fought for who knows how many eons, and the later memories became even more blurred, only vaguely remembering that the opponent opened a Time Wormhole, shouting like a god of misfortune: "You have crossed through time, I will sever your timeline, leaving you with no past! Get lost!"
Then he was thrown out.
When he woke up, he had traveled through time, become stronger, and also become bald.
Right, after the battle through the river of time, he seemed to have grown even stronger, not just by a little!
After a long thought, he still couldn't remember who he was!
Finally, he shook his head and cursed, "Old cunning fellow, you really did chop a part of my past... Well, if it's Tang Sanzang, then so be it, as long as it doesn't hinder my freewheeling life."
"Old man, where is this?" Tang Sanzang asked.
The land god, seeing that Tang Sanzang wasn't exceedingly brutal, finally relaxed. "This is Hundred Mountains City, eastward is the Great Tang Empire, and ten thousand miles to the west is Five Fingers Mountain."
"Hundred Mountains City? Great Tang? Five Fingers Mountain? Never heard of them..."
The mountain god pointed towards a towering mountain to the west whose silhouette pierced the clouds. "That is Five Fingers Mountain. Four hundred ninety-nine years ago, this great mountain descended from the heavens, and underneath it a monkey was suppressed."
As the mountain god said this, he kept an eye on Tang Sanzang to see his reaction.
But the guy was clueless, clearly unaware of this significant event. The land god and mountain god exchanged glances, both baffled. Back then, when Sun Wukong caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace and was suppressed under Five Fingers Mountain by the Buddha, it was such a big event that someone of Tang Sanzang's level shouldn't be unaware of it.
The two saw only the character for 'monk' written on the plaque, not a name, so they didn't know who this bald man really was, what his Taoist title was, or even his identity.
"A stone pressing a monkey? Who has the time for this..." Tang Sanzang smacked his lips and then looked bewildered.
He had arrived, but what should he do next?
Looking towards the east, following the land god's words, that was the Great Tang, a prosperous era shining across the skies, clearly a peaceful and flourishing time...
"A prosperous era equals rules, equals boredom, not going!"
Then looking to the west, where mountains surged, wild beasts howled, and demonic energy surged towards the heaven...
"Hair's gone, just the right place to vent my frustration!"
But before that...
Tang Sanzang touched his bald head, then casually took the hat from the head of the land god and placed it on his own.
The land god wanted to say something, but with one look from Tang Sanzang, he immediately shut his mouth and dared not make a sound.
Tang Sanzang said, "Saving your life, for just a hat, that's not too much, right?"
The land god shook his head repeatedly: "Not too much, not too much…"
Tang Sanzang nodded his head, then rubbed his hands together with excitement as he looked westward and said, "Wild game, here I come!"
With those words, he strode towards the west.
Unable to resist, the land god asked, "Elder, may I ask your esteemed surname?"
Without turning back, Tang Sanzang threw back, "Tang Sanzang!"
The land god and the mountain god exchanged glances, both faces filled with astonishment.
"Tang Sanzang? Wait, that can't be right. According to the timeline, it's not yet time for the five-hundred-year appointment, so why is he here early?"
"Such a fierce monk, does he still need someone to protect him on his journey to the West?"
"Are you sure he's on a pilgrimage? Why do I feel like he's going to stock up instead?"
"..."
A few minutes ago, at the base of Five Fingers Mountain, a mossy monkey casually bit a rock next to him, then spat it out with a 'ptui', knocking a little land god head over heels.
"Great Saint, stop messing around," the land god said, rubbing his buttock and crying out.
This monkey was none other than Sun Wukong, who had caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace over four hundred years ago.
Sun Wukong hummed, "You old man are truly boring. I've been pressed under here for four hundred and ninety-nine years, you've fed me rocks and made me drink copper juice every day, and I've never complained. Spit a rock at you to cheer myself up, and now what? Too much?"
The land god forced a smile and said, "Great Saint, it was Buddha who pressed you here, and it was also Buddha who commanded me to feed you metal and copper juice. I merely follow orders, could you please not make it difficult for the small god?"
"Look at you, all meek… whatever, scram."
Sun Wukong then heard a loud bang, and soon saw a fist seal streak across the sky, destroying everything it touched…
The land god got so frightened he dived headfirst into the ground and disappeared.
Sun Wukong looked at the mountain that had been leveled to the ground and just scoffed.
The distance from Five Fingers Mountain to Hundred Mountains City spanned ten thousand miles; a punch that traveled this far had very little power left.
It was okay for scaring the land god, but Sun Wukong found it rather mediocre.
After a while, Sun Wukong boredly glanced once more at where the mountain had once been: "To not hit the big mountain but the small one! You blind fool, hope you go bald young!"
"Monkey, who are you calling bald?"
As the voice sounded, a shadow covered the moonlight above Sun Wukong's head, plunging everything into darkness.
Sun Wukong was startled; the newcomer had managed to approach him silently, unnoticed. This was quite impressive!
Sun Wukong slowly raised his head to look, and saw a bald man standing in front of him looking down at him.
It was a shiny bald head—his face looked harmless, silly, and not very intimidating…
A cloud passed in front of the moon, and the bald head flashed with a silvery light…
Sun Wukong couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter: "Hahaha… your head, hahaha… it really doesn't have a single hair! Hahaha… and it's reflective too, hahaha… even Buddha's curly hair looks better than yours, haha..."
Black lines immediately covered Tang Sanzang's forehead—his greatest pride had once been his lush, beautiful long hair, which had mysteriously disappeared! Now he was a monk he despised, completely hairless at that!
And now, being ridiculed right to his face…
This was absolutely a provocation, a bold provocation!
Power was awakening, anger was roaring!
Tang Sanzang's lips twitched slightly, his dopey eyes gradually growing grim as he uttered each word, "Monkey, do you find this funny?"
"Hahaha… It's not just funny, it's hilarious, hahaha…" Sun Wukong, who had dared to make a scene in the Heavenly Palace and feared no one in heaven or on earth, found it truly amusing.
Crack!
Tang Sanzang clenched his fist.
Shoosh!
Tang Sanzang stepped back, bowed forward, and spun around, pulling his fist behind him.
Sun Wukong was taken aback, then laughed even harder: "Baldy, you're not thinking of hitting me, are you?"
As he laughed, Sun Wukong suddenly found it difficult to continue, because the expression on the bald man's face was becoming more and more terrifying, not to mention the aura around him.
Sun Wukong had fought through South Heaven Gate and battled countless deities, but he swore this bald man seemed stronger than anyone he had encountered before!
Such a terrifying oppression, he had only felt from Buddha himself…
"No... could it be? This baldy is as fierce as curly hair?" Sun Wukong was startled and blurted out in shock.
But as the words "this baldy" slipped out, the bald man's expression became even more terrifying, power escalating!
Sweat beads the size of peas rolled down Sun Wukong's forehead, and he sensed that if he took this punch, he was very likely to be beaten into a pulp!
In that critical moment, he suddenly shouted, "If you're a man, let me out and have a fair fight! What's it worth hitting a monkey that can't move?"