Chapter 392: Karma World Wheel, a Battle Close to Dharma

The morning sun shone high in the sky. A waterfall, like a bolt of white silk descending from the heavens, crashed onto the giant rocks below. The thunderous roar was so powerful it made one’s chest tighten.

A magnificent rainbow formed within the churning clouds and mist. The celestial wind howled, whipping at the clothes of everyone on the cliffside, making them snap and flap.

Scattered across the cliff, the soldiers of the Fire Cloud Army gazed at the youth and his blazing Dharma Form beneath the waterfall, their faces etched with grave solemness.

As members of the Fire Cloud Personal Guard, every one of them was a veteran of a hundred battles.

Over the years, they had followed Xie Mingzhi and had seen, fought, and killed countless so-called mighty generals and experts. Yet, this was the first time anyone had ever subjected them to such immense, oppressive pressure.

The men of the Fire Cloud Army began to move in silent coordination, with Xie Mingzhi at their core, faintly forming a military battle formation.

Faint Soldier’s Killing Qi rose from each of them, coalescing into thin, silk-like Soldier Evil Smoke Ropes that connected them to Xie Mingzhi from a distance.

This was the greatest difference between the Military Martial Dao and traditional Martial Dao. The power of Military Martial Arts never stemmed from individual might, but from concentrating the full force of an army and its formation onto a single person!

“Kill.”

Xie Mingzhi gazed calmly at the person at the base of the cliff, his fingers pressing against the Red Ring as he uttered a single word.

The sound wasn’t loud, but like a stone dropped into the center of a lake, it created rippling echoes.

“Kill!”

The expressions of the Fire Cloud Army soldiers grew frenzied as they roared in unison. Their combined battle cry was like a sword, piercing the very heavens.

At that moment, the battle intent of several dozen men merged with Xie Mingzhi’s, becoming one.

Xie Mingzhi’s momentum, which had been shattered by the Dharma Form, surged once more. It climbed higher and higher, like a colossal, invisible blade tearing an opening in the thick clouds overhead.

The Winged Red Ring buzzed without end. The sound of countless blades being drawn from their sheaths rang through the air above Celestial Waterfall Peak.

Xie Mingzhi held the ring in one hand and took a phantom step forward with his right foot. His entire being seemed to merge with the Red Ring, which spun and carved a massive shadow of a ring, dozens of meters wide, into the air. Then, it viciously slashed down toward Fu Juemin!

The ring’s shadow cleaved through the mist like a crimson crescent moon falling from the sky.

Before it even struck, its piercing momentum had already sliced through the condensed, unwavering Force Field surrounding Fu Juemin below.

The fierce wind whipped up Fu Juemin’s robes and the hair on his forehead. Instead of retreating, he advanced. With a faint smile and an air of world-devouring, unparalleled dominance, he slowly took a step forward!

The two supremely powerful momentums collided in the void, erupting with a muffled BOOM. The resulting shockwave shattered the pervasive mist and blew apart the rainbow among the clouds.

VMMMM—

The Demonic Buddha Dharma Form, standing over nine meters tall, moved in sync with Fu Juemin. Its eight giant arms rose up and clasped together!

With a BOOM, it viciously clamped down on the giant ring shadow as it slashed down from above, catching it in its palms.

The faceless visage at the Dharma Form’s center tilted its head up slightly. Two more, even larger and thicker, giant arms abruptly sprouted from its back. One from the left and one from the right, they shot out to grab Xie Mingzhi, who was at the very center of the ring’s shadow!

As these two Dharma Arms thrust forward, phantoms of a Pure Land collapsing into oblivion flickered in the void. Within their palms, one could almost see countless grieving Buddhas falling from grace and demonic shadows wailing in despair.

An indescribably terrifying destructive power lashed out, twisting and tearing the very air in its path!

[Soros Double Trees. Demon Sorrow Pure Land]!

When Fu Juemin achieved his Martial Dao Heart Scenery Dharma Form, he had merged the three arts of Pharmacist, Dragon Elephant, and Bright King, all at the Perfection Realm. By comprehending the true meaning of the three calamities—Creation, Abiding, and Destruction—he single-handedly created the “Four Demon Buddha Forms.”

Four Emptiness Heavens and Sanzu River were both among these four forms.

The power of the techniques increased with each successive form. This technique, [Demon Sorrow Pure Land], was the second of the four and was an advanced derivation of his previous [Glazed Light Palm Buddha Country]!

It primarily channeled the true meaning of the “Destruction” calamity.

When executed through his Dharma Form, its power increased severalfold.

RUMBLE!

As the Dharma Arms fell, the massive crimson ring shadow in mid-air lasted for less than a single breath before it violently shattered.

The shattered crimson light scattered like a thousand startled birds, streaking across the sky and leaving behind fleeting trails of light.

Below, the dozens of Fire Cloud Army guards providing support all shuddered violently. Each one spat out a large mouthful of bright red blood, their auras instantly plummeting!

WHOOSH—

The Dharma Arms that shattered the ring shadow whistled as they tore through the air. Holding his ring, Xie Mingzhi dodged between them, in constant peril with every move.

Fu Juemin watched him, his expression calm as he continued to walk forward.

With every step he took, the Dharma Arms closed in a little further, and the space Xie Mingzhi had to maneuver shrank.

After Fu Juemin had taken five steps, the ten fingers of the giant Dharma Arms formed an inescapable cage, trapping Xie Mingzhi as they slowly closed in.

“Kill!!”

Seeing this, the Fire Cloud Army guards roared in fury, coughing up more blood.

In mid-air, Xie Mingzhi’s aura suddenly skyrocketed, momentarily holding back the closing palms. Then, he viciously dragged both of his arms down along the two outer edges of the massive Winged Ring.

The ring’s edge sliced open Xie Mingzhi’s arms from palms to shoulders. Blood gushed out, but instead of dripping down, it flowed unnaturally up onto the Red Ring.

The copious blood, along with the Soldier’s Killing Qi erupting from his body, coalesced at the center of the bladed ring into a swirling, dark-red mass.

The next second, the Red Ring trembled and spun, violently bursting outward with an arc of crimson light!

A shrill cry, like that of a bird, suddenly erupted from the void. With a flash of crimson light, the two giant Dharma Arms, which had been about to close, were severed at the elbow without warning!

“Dharma!”

Fu Juemin couldn’t help but take a step forward, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

He felt the “Momentum”—a force that seemed to stop time and freeze space like amber. He vaguely glimpsed the fleeting shadow of a crimson bird at the heart of the Winged Ring.

It was the same technique Xie Mingzhi had used during their battle on Brocade Street.

‘Up to this point in the battle,’ Fu Juemin thought, ‘Xie Mingzhi has only been using the superficial power of the Winged Ring. Only now has he finally drawn out the “Dharma” within it!’

‘Considering the two times this “Dharma” has appeared, it seems the “Dharma” within the Winged Ring requires blood as a catalyst—be it from others, or from himself.’

The moment the “Dharma” within the Winged Ring was activated, Xie Mingzhi’s face aged with visible swiftness. Blood streamed continuously from the wounds on his arms, yet his eyes shone as bright as stars, and his momentum surged to an unprecedented height!

Below Celestial Waterfall Peak, the faces of the supporting Fire Cloud Army guards were ashen. They continuously spewed blood, their bodies swaying as if they could collapse at any moment.

Their very Essence Qi and spirit seemed to be continuously siphoned away by Xie Mingzhi through the Soldier Evil Smoke Ropes above, feeding constantly into the Winged Ring. Yet, despite this, their emotions grew ever more fanatical, ever more frenzied.

“KILL!!!”

The third cry of “Kill” rang out.

At this moment, the formation of just over forty men roared with the force of a million-strong army charging into battle.

The battle cry shook the heavens, almost drowning out the incessant, thunderous roar of the waterfall.

Amidst the roars, the leaping bird shadow within the crimson bladed ring almost became corporeal. The amber-like “Momentum” expanded without pause, like a colossal celestial blade slashing viciously down at Fu Juemin!

This strike had clearly surpassed the one he had used on Brocade Street.

Xie Mingzhi’s face was withered and old, his vitality gushing out of him, yet he seemed not to care in the slightest. Completely dominated by a heaven-piercing battle intent, he simply continued to press the Red Ring down!

VMMMM—

Under the terrifying momentum of the “Dharma,” the pressure became tangible. Countless, densely packed ripples appeared in the air.

The ripples overlapped, blurring nearly half the sky and creating an eerie sense of impending fragmentation and collapse.

Under this dreadful might, the body of the once-imperious Demonic Buddha Dharma Form trembled violently. The black demonic flames on its surface were beaten down, as if the form itself was becoming overwhelmed and unstable.

Facing this terrifying strike, Fu Juemin did not retreat. Instead, with a flick of his sleeve, he stepped onto the void and flew up to meet it head-on!

His eyes shone brilliantly. At this moment, they saw nothing but the “Dharma” that was faintly revealing its true nature.

As he spread his arms, the massive Demonic Buddha Dharma Form followed suit, raising its eight arms high before slowly bringing them together in a sealing posture.

“Karma World Wheel!”

Beneath the tide of dense ripples, Fu Juemin hung suspended in mid-air, his entire being seeming to merge completely with his Dharma Form.

The massive Demonic Buddha Dharma Form rapidly dissolved, leaving only the triple halo of light that had been behind it!

In an instant, the triple halo split apart and reassembled, forming a blurry, chaotic, black Dharma Disc.

The three true meanings—Creation, Abiding, and Destruction—cycled and alternated within the Dharma Disc.

At that moment, time around Fu Juemin seemed to stand still.

His robes, which had been whipping about in the violent airstream, stopped moving.

In this strange stillness, Fu Juemin calmly pointed a single finger toward the rapidly expanding crimson ripples in the sky.

“[True Demon Realm]!”

[Karma World Wheel. True Demon Realm]!

The final of the “Four Demon Buddha Forms,” and the technique in Fu Juemin’s arsenal that came closest to true “Dharma”!

However, it was missing the true meaning of “Void” from the four true meanings of Creation, Abiding, Decay, and Void. The Dharma Wheel was incomplete, and thus a true Dharma Realm could not be formed.

It was still a far cry from true “Dharma.”

However…

What Xie Mingzhi had summoned with all his might was merely a superficial sliver of the “Dharma” within the Winged Ring.

Moreover, Fu Juemin’s three True Gangs were as vast as the ocean. In terms of pure “power,” he surpassed Xie Mingzhi by an immeasurable degree!

BOOM!!

Finger and ring collided. Two powers, both infinitely close to “Dharma,” crashed into one another.

In that instant, the entire sky above Celestial Waterfall Peak trembled violently, like a block of translucent gelatin.

Everyone caught within this field experienced a powerful and surreal sensation of being distorted.

Even the mighty, silver waterfall seemed to stop for a fraction of a second…

Silently, a massive white shockwave expanded in all directions. Wherever it passed, the clouds and mist vanished, leaving the world clear.

When the commotion finally subsided, a figure, having lost all support, plummeted from mid-air like a bird with a broken wing.

THUD!

Xie Mingzhi, who now looked over twenty years older than before, knelt on the ground. His back was hunched as he supported his weight with the ring, held in both hands.

He gasped for air several times, wheezing like an asthmatic. Then, he raised his clouded eyes and slowly looked ahead.

When his gaze fell upon the tall, slender figure standing silently in the distance, it froze.

The man was carefully examining a deep, bleeding gash on the tip of his own right index finger.

He watched it for a moment, then slowly raised his head.

His gaze swept over the bodies of the Fire Cloud Army guards, more than half of whom had died on the spot, before finally landing on the withered, near-death figure of Xie Mingzhi.

“Xie Mingzhi…”

Fu Juemin looked down at Xie Mingzhi and sighed, his tone tinged with regret. “It’s a pity you only have another forty years to live, at most.”

“A pity you only brought forty Fire Cloud Personal Guards with you today…”

“If you had another four hundred years of life to burn, or forty thousand subordinates in formation to support you—”

“Then maybe… you really would have stood a chance of killing me.”

As his words fell, Xie Mingzhi’s body trembled violently, and he nearly collapsed on the spot.

As for the surviving Fire Cloud Army guards sprawled haphazardly on the ground, their indomitable wills shattered upon hearing this. Faces filled with utter despair, they looked as if they were suffocating.