Chapter 2908: Mountain Itself!
The courtyard trembled under Lin Muâs feet.
He stood in the open stone plaza that the monks of the Great Burden Monastery had prepared for himâone reinforced with formation arrays meant to withstand the seismic pressures of gravity-based combat. Yet even those humbling defenses groaned under the presence of his body.
TheBurdenless Dominator Physique.
A form not just cultivated, butforgedfrom the convergence of three forcesâMetal,Earth, andGravityâtempered through Dao and elevated by will. It wasnât just a defensive physique. It was afortressof flesh.
Still, Lin Mu did not understand its limits.
He needed to know what this new body could truly endure. The changes in his body had been profound. Even his arm which he had damaged greatly back when he fought with the Withered Spirit Daoist was now fully recovered.
He had intended to temper it again, but the Burdenless Dominator Physique fixed that as well.
He called forth one of the senior monksâVenerableElder Shan, a cultivator equal to theSixth Tribulation Stageof the Immortal realm and the monasteryâs strongest monk in residence aside from the abbot.
"Strike me with your strongest blow," Lin Mu said calmly.
Venerable Elder Shanâs brow furrowed in hesitation. "Bearer Lin, this body of yours... even if the Abbot said it transcends the Dominator Sutra. Are you sure?"
Lin Mu simply nodded. "If I donât test it, I canât rely on it."
The monk hesitated, then cupped his fists and released a deep breath.
Boom!
With the roar of moving mountains, Venerable Shanâs arm blurred through the air and landed a devastating gravity hammer-fist directly onto Lin Muâs chest. The blow cracked the formation beneath Lin Mu, sending shockwaves in every direction and forming concentric spiderwebs in the stone tiles.
Lin Mu didnât budge.
Not an inch.
Venerable Shan pulled his hand back and blinked in disbelief. "You didnât even flinch..."
Lin Mu looked down.
There wasnât even a scratch.
Not a mark.
"Sixth Tribulation stage..." he murmured. "Completely nullified."
He raised his hand, flexing his fingers. The golden hue of his skin shimmered faintly, while thebrown mountain runesetched across his body rippled gently like still water disturbed by a single drop. They hadnât even reacted defensivelyâthey didnâtneedto.
"Letâs go further."
The abbot, who had been observing in silence, gave a nod and gestured toward the formation. "We can increase the pressure by summoning projection relics. I believe we still have the Seventh Tribulation imprint stored in our vault."
Moments later, a sealedstone diskwas brought forthâone of the relics left behind by an ancient Grandmaster. Activating it summoned a phantom figure, a spectral warrior condensed from residual intent and willpower of a long-dead cultivator who had reached theSeventh Tribulation Stage.
The spectral warrior rushed forward with a mighty bellow, drawing back its arm and releasing a crushing blow.
Lin Mu braced himselfânot out of fear, but to study the impact.
CRACK!
The air split with thunder. Lin Muâs body recoiled slightly this time, his heels digging trenches in the stone beneath him. For a moment, the shimmering gold skin dimmed, and a shallow dent appeared just below his collarbone.
Pain flickeredâonly slightlyâbut it was there.
He took a breath... and felt the runes shift.
Szzzâssszzzz.
Themountain runes shimmered, flexed, and then began restoring the dent. Like memory returning to a bent metal, the flesh returned to its previous form within less than a minute.
The monks gasped in awe.
Venerable Shan fell into a silent bow. "This... is no longer the realm of body cultivation we understand."
Lin Mu slowly exhaled.
"So even a Seventh Tribulation-stage strike... only leaves a dent."
He didnât smile. He didnât grow arrogant. Instead, he began calculating.
"Which means... below theTranscendent Immortal realm, I may not even need todefendanymore."
That fact alone was staggering.
But Lin Mu didnât stop there. He moved to the side of the plaza where he had arranged various toxins and caustic spiritual compounds for testingâsubstances known to corrode even defensive arts and artifacts.
He dipped his hand into a basin ofViridian Bone Rot Sap, a caustic poison extracted from Immortal Flesh Melting pines that had killed several body cultivators in the past.
The green liquid hissed and clung to his golden skin, but after a few moments, the mountain runes shimmered faintly and... nothing happened.
His flesh wasimmune.
Then cameSkyfire Sludge, a molten toxic-metal hybrid formed from Meteoric ore residueâsomething that had dissolved enchanted armor in seconds.
Still... his hand emerged untouched.
"Only strong corrosive and obscure energies might work," Lin Mu noted. "Curses, baleful energy, certain obscure Dao skills. Spatial distortion could also bypass it if forced through the folds."
He raised his hand again, but this time looked deeper. "But this is more than durability. This... isfreedom."
"Freedom to fight without restraint."
That was the key.
TheBurdenless Dominator Physiquedidnât just make him tougherâit allowed him to use his skillsrecklessly, without fear of backlash or internal damage.
Even theMountain Collapsing Fist, one of his strongest attacks, which had once strained his bones and torn his tendons, was now possible without consequence.
He stepped to the far edge of the courtyard and exhaled.
"Letâs test that next."
His stance widened. Arms coiled like taut cables, legs rooted like ancient pillars. He drew in qi and let the Immortal qi course through his meridians, reaching his arm and turning into a ribbon of energy. Then came the Immortal Essence from his Three Apertures and turned into another ribbon.
The two ribbons began to spin turning into a double helix form.
The runes on his skin began to glow as Earth, Metal, and Gravity fused into one overwhelming force protecting him in the form of Burdenless Dominator Physique.
Then came the punch.
"Mountain Collapsing Fist- Third Form: Devastator!"
BOOOOM!!!
The double helix of energy that shot from the fist shattered the reinforced boundary of the testing field beyond which was a large mountain.
A shockwave tore across the ground, sending chunks of stone, gravity-forged tile, and energy formations into the air like debris before collapsing the mountain. The monks barely had time to shield themselves before the entire edge of the courtyard was turned into a crater.