Chapter 119: Dharma Body

"Roar!!"

Su Yuanbai, overcome by pain, beat his chest and stomped his feet. The sound issuing from his throat was no longer human, but a bestial roar filled with raw ferocity. It conjured a whirlwind reeking of a pungent, bloody stench that surged directly toward Zhong Cangqiu.

Zhong Cangqiu did not even bother to dodge; he simply stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

A faint, arc-shaped barrier of golden light emerged before him. Although the foul-smelling whirlwind caused cracks to spiderweb across the barrier, it failed to shatter it.

"You possess a fraction of the power of the ancient beast Zhuyan; the malevolent wind from your maw was enough to crack my golden shield," Zhong Cangqiu remarked with a light laugh, looking down at Su Yuanbai, whose white fur was now stained with blood.

Suddenly, the smile on Zhong Cangqiu’s face froze.

Su Yuanbai, who had been leaning against the earthen wall and baring his fangs, had vanished, carried away by the whirlwind.

He had fled?

Deep golden light rippled within Zhong Cangqiu’s pupils, nearly spilling over. He scanned the ground, his gaze stretching into the distance, desperate to find a trace of Su Yuanbai. Having finally encountered something interesting, he did not want to let it slip away.

Wait.

Zhong Cangqiu looked up abruptly. A dark shadow in the sky was rapidly enlarging, and a pair of massive crimson feet filled his vision, obscuring everything else.

The faint golden barrier that had been hovering before him instantly expanded to encase his entire body.

*Bang.*

The Night-Brahma sword tilted slightly, and Zhong Cangqiu’s posture swayed.

*Crack.*

The sound of the golden barrier shattering followed. It was not merely cracking; shards of golden light began to drift away. The ancient, desolate, and savage aura seeped through the fissures, pressing down heavily on Zhong Cangqiu’s heart.

Just as he struggled to catch his breath, Su Yuanbai’s fist, as massive as a boulder, descended.

*Clang.*

The sound of a sword ringing out erupted.

The golden longswords that had been embedded in Su Yuanbai’s body tore themselves free, forming a Sanskrit-character sword formation in mid-air that pinned Su Yuanbai to the ground.

*Boom.*

The earth shuddered, forming a deep pit marked by Sanskrit characters.

"I didn't expect you to have some measure of wit."

Zhong Cangqiu, hands behind his back, rode his Night-Brahma sword to the edge of the pit. He looked down at the fading golden light and the distant sound of beastly roars, exhaling a breath of stale air.

Had that punch landed, Zhong Cangqiu would likely have been killed instantly. While his physical body was strong by ordinary standards, under such a savage, desolate blow, he would have been as fragile as paper. The sudden crisis had nearly forced him to unleash a power he had not yet mastered.

The roars faded.

Zhong Cangqiu could no longer sense that ancient, savage aura, and the violent golden energy permeating the air returned to normal.

*Clang.*

The sword-ringing sound returned.

Golden light flickered from within the pit, rising at high speed. Soon, the Sanskrit sword formation filled the crater.

However, as the formation ascended, Zhong Cangqiu’s golden pupils suddenly narrowed.

In the center of the formation, a hand was gripping the hilt of one of the golden swords, and its owner was now revealed before him.

"What that stupid ape did just now has nothing to do with me."

The man leapt out of the pit, his handsome face wearing a look of helplessness as he let go of the sword hilt and sighed. The mark on Su Yuanbai’s brow had vanished.

Zhong Cangqiu had no desire to hear explanations from the handsome man in the crane-patterned crimson robe. The moment the man had jumped out of the pit, Zhong Cangqiu’s heart had constricted.

A threat. And a dangerous one.

The golden sword formation in mid-air transformed into a rain of blades, striking at Su Yuanbai.

"Using the same trick twice isn't exactly clever, is it?" Su Yuanbai looked up at the descending rain of blades and chuckled.

Zhong Cangqiu stared at him, his voice cold. "It works, doesn't it?"

"There is a beast there, shaped like an ape, with a white head and red feet, known as Zhuyan; where it is seen, great war follows."

Su Yuanbai looked up at the golden rain about to fall upon him. He made no move to flee, instead smiling and whispering to himself.

*Ding, ding, ding.*

The golden rain came to a halt before Su Yuanbai, as if time itself had frozen. Only the crisp, bell-like chimes of the sword tips vibrating against each other echoed.

A white-headed, red-footed Zhuyan, three zhang tall, manifested behind him.

Su Yuanbai looked down at the stunned Zhong Cangqiu and smiled softly. "I see you realized this isn't a martial soul, but my Dharma Body."

As Su Yuanbai waved his hand, the Zhuyan behind him mimicked the motion, slamming its palm toward the golden swords. The rain of blades instantly lost its momentum and clattered to the ground.

"That foolish ape has been caged too long; it always wants to solve problems with its fists, forgetting it is a Zhuyan," Su Yuanbai remarked to Zhong Cangqiu, who stood atop his Night-Brahma sword.

"Zhuyan belongs to the element of metal and governs the scourge of war."

Su Yuanbai pressed his fingers together and lifted his hand; the Zhuyan behind him did the same, clapping its palms together.

The discarded golden swords on the ground suddenly rose like an orderly legion, exuding a murderous aura, and shot back toward Zhong Cangqiu in unison.

Zhong Cangqiu once again conjured the faint golden arc barrier, but before the swords could even touch it, the barrier dissipated on its own.

"Your golden shield is useless against a Zhuyan," Su Yuanbai said with a smile. "Or rather, any technique belonging to the metal element of the Five Elements is useless."

Zhong Cangqiu looked at the fading golden light in the eyes of the Zhuyan behind Su Yuanbai and understood why his shield had failed.

He tilted his Night-Brahma sword, and the golden legion attacking him transformed into a mist of water.

"Thank you for the reminder," Zhong Cangqiu said calmly.

Su Yuanbai showed no surprise, merely nodding slightly. "Your mastery of the Five Elements transformation is quite practiced. Shall we call it a draw?"

Zhong Cangqiu looked at Su Yuanbai and the three-zhang-tall Dharma Body behind him. Based on the abilities displayed, he was certain it was a true Zhuyan Dharma Body. What he could not fathom was how this man possessed it without being consumed by the beast's desolate, savage consciousness.

"My advice is not to dwell on things you cannot understand. For instance, I cannot understand why you had the power to kill that mutated centipede spirit at Faci Temple, yet chose to stand by the foot of the mountain and do nothing," Su Yuanbai said, catching the flicker of doubt in Zhong Cangqiu’s golden eyes.

"Great waves wash away the sand; the strong survive."

Zhong Cangqiu looked up at the smiling man and replied calmly.