Chapter 501: Mount Sumeru King Sutra (Thanks to 'Yinyue' for Becoming Alliance Leader)

Chapter 501: The Sumeru Mountain King Sutra (Thanks to 'Yin Yue' for becoming a patron)

"The Sumeru Mountain King Sutra..."

Watching Xiang Shan undo the chaotic upheaval Mo Shangjin had wrought upon the arena with a single punch, Zhang Yu recalled the intelligence he held on Xiang Shan's martial arts.

"A military-grade martial art from the Civil Engineering Department of Heaven Demon University: The Sumeru Mountain King Sutra."

"Like the Heaven Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power, it is a technique that manipulates terrestrial gravity."

"Yet, its manifestation differs greatly. The Sumeru Mountain King Sutra borrows the weight of the earth itself; it allows one to imbue every strike with the crushing mass of a mountain, while simultaneously shunting the force of incoming blows into the very crust of the earth."

Observing the collision between Xiang Shan and Mo Shangjin, Zhang Yu realized that Xiang Shan had pressed the weight of the entire arena against his opponent.

And after Mo Shangjin countered with his own Mountain-Moving Divine Power, Xiang Shan had redirected that force back into the arena, suppressing the ground that had just been heaved upward.

Following that exchange, their auras surged, signaling the start of the next clash.

Behind Mo Shangjin, his flesh rippled as a crimson ribbon emerged, coiling around his neck, shoulders, and arms. It was one of the Seven Absolute Dharma Remains—the Skin Dharma Remain—which utilized the terrestrial gravity Mo Shangjin exuded to facilitate anti-gravity flight.

In this state, Mo Shangjin barely needed to exert himself; where his heart willed, his body followed, allowing him to move through the sky with maximum agility, minimal consumption, and lightning-fast reflexes.

It also conserved his strength for combat and construction.

As the red ribbon fluttered, Mo Shangjin vanished, soaring into the sky and reaching an altitude of a thousand meters in the blink of an eye.

"Xiang Shan! Let us take this to the heavens so we don't harm the spectators!"

With a roar, Xiang Shan grinned, his thick legs kicking against the air to create ripples as he launched himself like a cannonball toward Mo Shangjin.

"Mo Shangjin, if you want to distance me from the earth to weaken my Sumeru Mountain King Sutra, just say so. Why the pretense?"

As he spoke, the countless tons of sand and earth in the arena suddenly grew light, as the terrifying weight converged upon Xiang Shan’s fist. It struck out toward Mo Shangjin, carrying visible, distorted ripples in the air.

Simultaneously, Mo Shangjin clasped his hands in the sky. His intact arms split in the next instant, transforming into four arms with hollowed-out joints.

These hollow sections allowed the limbs to interlock, ensuring they functioned as a pair during daily use without increasing the burden of Dharma Remain synchronization.

This was the Arm Dharma Remain, another of the Seven Absolutes.

The upper two arms bent, forming a seal behind his head.

Boom!

A source of terrestrial gravity suddenly manifested above Mo Shangjin’s head, emitting waves of gravitational fluctuations.

As these waves swept over Xiang Shan, he felt as if he had plunged into a pool of liquid mercury, his momentum involuntarily slowing.

Xiang Shan was clearly not surprised; he had seen this move during their past encounters.

He knew that once his opponent entered the four-armed state, the upper pair would maintain the seal, generating this gravitational source and continuously accumulating power to intensify the field.

Any attack approaching him would be repelled or slowed to a crawl.

But this was not enough to stop him.

"Mo Shangjin!"

"Come and fight!"

Xiang Shan’s muscles bulged, and with another step that shattered the air, he continued his charge.

But the next moment, Xiang Shan felt another force of terrestrial gravity dragging at him from afar, as if invisible hands were pulling him violently toward the earth.

"Zhang Yu..."

Xiang Shan’s gaze sharpened. A glance downward confirmed that Zhang Yu was indeed using the Heaven Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power to anchor his body.

Feeling the combined pressure of Mo Shangjin and Zhang Yu from above and below, Xiang Shan understood their tactic.

"You want to control me together and wear me down?"

"Do you two... even have the capacity to exhaust me?"

Xiang Shan let out a wild howl, his blood and mana surging violently. His skin began to change at a visible rate, shifting from grey to a deep, pure black.

As his skin darkened, crimson patterns emerged with the pulsing of his veins, forming an intricate and magnificent spiritual circuit across his body.

Seeing this, Zhang Yu’s heart skipped a beat. He knew human meridians and vessels could never be this orderly; this was clearly the result of Dharma Remain modification.

"Is this Xiang Shan’s military-grade Dharma Remain?"

Before Zhang Yu could process this, he felt the terrestrial gravity he had locked onto Xiang Shan suddenly vanish into thin air.

"What?"

In mid-air, Xiang Shan had become like a slippery black fish. No matter how Zhang Yu exerted his Mountain-Moving Divine Power, the opponent easily slid past his influence, making it impossible to lock on.

Instead, Xiang Shan’s speed increased, and after a few aerial dashes, he was already before Mo Shangjin.

Zhang Yu realized it then: "It’s not sliding away—it’s absorbing."

"His skin is constantly absorbing the gravity we apply, even turning it into kinetic energy to boost his own movement. That’s what created the sensation of him being slippery."

Simultaneously, Zhang Yu activated his Appraisal Art, and the information on the Dharma Remain appeared in his ocular implant.

"Jie Liu Ming Wang Type IV: A military-grade Dharma Remain capable of absorbing external forces and enhancing the user's mobility... it is the bane of all martial arts."

"Though it’s called a Skin Dharma Remain, it’s more like a layer of armor. I doubt the Meta-Magnetic Pulse-Severing Hand could even cut through it from the outside."

As Zhang Yu pondered, Xiang Shan reached Mo Shangjin again, his mountain-heavy fists raining down upon him.

The gravitational source above Mo Shangjin flickered and intensified, waves of force sweeping over Xiang Shan and slightly dampening his momentum.

At the same time, Mo Shangjin clenched his fists, white vapor rising from his Arm Dharma Remain. He automatically executed the Comet Strike, gripping his fists like falling stars to clash head-on with Xiang Shan.

With a series of crackling explosions, the two figures in the sky traded blows, their terrifying power clashing like two gods of thunder, creating countless sonic booms that shook the heavens within seconds.

Yet, with every strike, Mo Shangjin felt his power being largely absorbed by Xiang Shan’s skin, while the internal pressure within his own body mounted under the relentless assault.

Suddenly, Mo Shangjin splayed his fingers. His artificial meridians vibrated violently, channeling and gathering layers of terrestrial gravity before firing it as a wave cannon at the point-blank Xiang Shan.

With a thunderous boom, the earth behind Xiang Shan surged.

Rock layers several meters thick were pulverized into dust, and amidst the howling winds, a crater the size of a playground appeared on the ground.

Yet, Xiang Shan, having taken the hit head-on, roared, his fangs lengthening, and without a moment’s hesitation... he charged at Mo Shangjin once more.

Mo Shangjin’s heart sank as he watched. "Even the gravitational wave cannon of the Seven Absolute Dharma Remains is useless?"

Although the Seven Absolutes were marvelous and greatly enhanced the Heaven Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power, Mo Shangjin understood... they were not, after all, military-grade Dharma Remains.

Facing Xiang Shan’s military-grade equipment powered by the Sumeru Mountain King Sutra, he found it impossible to hold his ground.

As he thought, Mo Shangjin was struck in the chest, the force feeling like a mountain collapsing upon him, sending him plummeting toward the ground.

While Mo Shangjin battled Xiang Shan, Zhang Yu tried to interfere while frantically scrolling through the Appraisal Art’s database on the Jie Liu Ming Wang Type IV.

"Welcome to the introduction of military-grade Dharma Remains by the Extreme Tiger Group..."

Watching Mo Shangjin being thoroughly suppressed in the sky, Zhang Yu cursed, "Damn this advertisement!"

"Skip it for me!"

As his spirit coins burned, Zhang Yu skipped the ads, finally seeing the description of this Extreme Tiger Group product.

"Statement from the Myriad Craftsmen Sect... huh?"

Zhang Yu checked; it was indeed an Extreme Tiger brand Dharma Remain, but the first page opened to a statement from the Myriad Craftsmen Sect. He muttered to himself, "Damn Extreme Tiger brand, so this military-grade Dharma Remain is a rip-off of our Myriad Craftsmen Sect’s work? They didn't even bother to change the company name in the statement?"

Zhang Yu still remembered that the Myriad Crafts Sect was a renowned enterprise within the lineage of the Ten Thousand Dharmas.

He flipped quickly through the brochure, his eyes catching the faint, uncropped watermark of "Vajra Profound Works" on the screenshots, and he thought to himself, "Wait... are you all just copying Vajra Profound Works?"

Too weary to care who was plagiarizing whom, Zhang Yu refocused his attention on the specifications of the military-grade Dharma remains.

The more he read, the deeper his frown became: "Given our current state, the odds of a head-on confrontation are abysmal; this piece of equipment is the absolute bane of the Heaven-Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might."

With that realization, Zhang Yu shifted his stance, intending to stick to the original plan he had devised with Mo Shangjin: if defeating Xiangshan in a direct clash proved impossible, they would eliminate his teammates first.

At that very moment, Xiangshan, having just struck Mo Shangjin down with a single blow, reached out to snatch the spray of blood from the air, shoving it greedily into his mouth.

Amidst the wet sounds of swallowing, Xiangshan consumed the blood, his gaze finally drifting toward Zhang Yu.

"Hmph."

"Giving up on a direct confrontation?"

"How truly disappointing."

As he spoke, Xiangshan leveled his trunk at Zhang Yu’s position, and with a thunderous roar emanating from his chest and abdomen, a barrage of black light erupted toward his target.

With a series of piercing whistles, the black beams scoured the earth, corroding the ground wherever they touched, while thick, acrid smoke billowed forward.

To survive at Sky Demon University, Xiangshan had long ago replaced his internal organs with highly purified Dharma remains, which, combined with his body-tempering techniques, allowed him to constantly purge all manner of pathogens, viruses, and malevolent qi.

The metabolic waste filtered from air, food, medicine, and toxins was concentrated into a lethal sludge, which Xiangshan could expel through his trunk-mounted Dharma remains as a devastating barrage of corrosive artillery.

(End of chapter)