Chapter 287: Chapter 147: One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Techniques, the King Buddha is Beheaded

"Huh?!"

A cry of shocked disbelief suddenly erupted!

The phantom of the Divine Monarch that Zhong Ming had manifested exuded a radiant Divine Power capable of eclipsing the heavens and earth. Its crushing aura instantly froze the arrogant certainty of victory on Cheng Lv’s face. His pupils shrank to pinpricks, his eyes filled with incredulous horror—he had never imagined that a mere Qi Cultivation cultivator could summon such a terrifying Divine Monarch Dharma Aspect and unleash such peerless might!

But the shock lasted only a moment before Cheng Lv’s face twisted once more into a fiendish grimace.

"I will not lose!" he bellowed, the sound waves making the surrounding air hum. "I wield the strength of a hundred men! I am invincible!"

BOOM!

Amid his roar, the speed of his descending giant palm increased significantly. Veins bulged like horned dragons on his knuckles, and every inch of his muscle was tensed to its absolute limit. He was pouring every ounce of his strength into this blow, determined to utterly crush this unexpected variable!

But while he was strong, Zhong Ming was no weakling.

’My Dominating Thought can crush anything!’

VMMMM!

As Zhong Ming murmured, his Sword Heart, Heaven and Earth, Only I am Supreme, immediately cloaked the Divine Monarch’s fist.

In that instant, the already immensely powerful fist gained a new sharpness, one that seemed capable of tearing the very void. It was as if this single punch could pierce through heaven and earth!

As for how a Sword Heart could be applied to a fist:

’Be constrained by a physical form? Heh. To a Sword Cultivator, the sword isn’t so restrictive. The sun, moon, and stars; the mountains, rivers, grass, and trees; even the clouds and the moonlight—all of it can be my sword. And so, my fist can become a sword, too!’

In addition to the sharpened fist, a gilded wheel of light, like a primordial Great Sun, suddenly unfurled behind the Divine Monarch that Zhong Ming had summoned.

As the Divine Wheel slowly turned, countless rays of brilliant light poured down, casting the Divine Monarch in a glow that made it seem impossibly majestic and sacrosanct.

This grand spectacle undoubtedly triggered the third-stage characteristic of the Candlelight Heart Eye: Heaven and Earth, Only I am Supreme.

The blessing of ’Supremacy’ caused Zhong Ming’s power to surge by another level.

Meanwhile, the hundred heads on Cheng Lv’s body represented his vaunted strength of a hundred men. But Zhong Ming, in fighting one against a hundred, had triggered the ’Solitary’ characteristic of the Great Sun.

Supremely great and unyielding, solitary and unique—this granted Zhong Ming a two-fold amplification of his Divine Power.

Under this dual enhancement, Zhong Ming’s power surged. The Divine Monarch phantom grew even more solid, as if a true Ancient God had descended upon the mortal world.

’A pity I’m not in a high place right now... but this will be enough!’

BOOM!

And so, the Divine Monarch, empowered by the dual blessing of the Sun’s Divine Power, violently collided with Cheng Lv’s Hundred-Headed King Buddha Dharma Aspect!

The moment they collided, the Divine Monarch’s iron fist and the King Buddha’s giant palm were locked in a stalemate for a full breath. A violent energy raged between them, forming a visible storm that compressed the surrounding air until it shrieked under the strain.

But the stalemate lasted for less than a breath.

VMMMM...

The next moment, the peerlessly sharp power on Zhong Ming’s fist suddenly dissolved into thousands of watery ripples. They followed the meridians of the King Buddha’s arm and frantically seeped inside—this was the fundamental esoteric principle of the Longxi Peak lineage: Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water!

BANG! BANG! BANG!...

These internal detonations caused the arm of Cheng Lv’s Hundred-Headed King Buddha to erupt in a rapid-fire series of explosions.

The King Buddha’s arm, formed from the power of a hundred men, began to shatter inch by inch from within. Flesh splattered and bones disintegrated!

"AHHH—!!!"

A heart-rending wail burst from Cheng Lv’s lips. He could clearly feel the excruciating pain from his arm, but he was powerless to stop it.

But while his opponent’s state was miserable, Zhong Ming... was not entirely unscathed either.

Undeniably, Cheng Lv truly possessed the strength of a hundred men. In terms of raw power, his palm strike had already surpassed the limits of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator and reached the level of Cultivating Evil.

The violent force surged through the Divine Monarch’s fist, causing the Immortal Mist Robe fluttering about its body to instantly go taut as a steel cable, even emitting a sharp cracking sound as if about to snap.

A circular shockwave of air erupted from the Divine Monarch, spreading outward. The ground trembled violently in its wake as countless spiderweb-like cracks spread frantically, as if from an earthquake.

Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water.

As the foundational technique and esoteric principle of the Longxi Peak lineage, it was also the first ability Zhong Ming had comprehended and the one he had studied most deeply. This Dao Rhyme was not merely for attacking; it could also be used to redirect force, reverse a disadvantageous position, and turn peril into safety.

Now, most of the force from Cheng Lv’s Cultivating Evil-level palm strike was being guided by this Dao Rhyme, channeled along the Divine Monarch’s robe and dispersed into the surroundings.

The Immortal Mist Robe wreathing the Divine Monarch Dharma Aspect was far from a simple decoration; it was a fusion Zhong Ming had developed, combining the Longxi Magical Robe and the Divine Monarch’s Star Armor.

The robe, stretched taut and even beginning to tear, had redirected an immense amount of force.

Better still, the robe was woven from clouds, mist, and water vapor. With a mere thought from Zhong Ming, a vast amount of water vapor converged on the Star Heaven·Divine Monarch and wove itself anew into the robe’s flowing streamers.

Cough, cough...

However, even after redirecting most of the force, the remaining impact still sent Zhong Ming’s qi and blood into turmoil. His internal organs felt as if they’d been struck by a sledgehammer, and his frame felt twisted out of place. The sharp crack of several breaking bones echoed within his body, and a trickle of crimson blood escaped the corner of his mouth.

There was no denying it: Foundation Establishment was Foundation Establishment. And the level of power a peerless prodigy could reach in that realm was terrifyingly strong.

’My strength still isn’t enough. I need to reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.’

While Zhong Ming was dissatisfied with his own lack of power, the cultivators he was protecting at his side were left staring, dumbfounded, after the heaven-shaking blow. Their faces were a mixture of utter shock and wild elation.