The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

Zhao Wushi was also stunned for a moment, not understanding what had happened.

In the next instant, Chu Luren went from extreme stillness to extreme movement, instantly appearing in front of Zhao Wushi and thrusting out a palm. In a daze, Zhao Wushi saw the figure of a giant ape covered in demonic energy overlap with Chu Luren's figure. Chu Luren's palm thrust out was also a punch from the demonic ape with a ferocious face!

Zhao Wushi wasn't in a hurry. He simply swung his arms downwards and braced his chest, as if doing a chest expansion exercise, and used his chest to block the demonic ape's punch.

Chu Luren felt as if he had been hammered against a wall that was both soft and hard, with translucent ripples constantly spreading around him.

After holding on for a while, Zhao Wushi pushed himself up with all his might, and explosions emanated from around the two of them again. Chu Luren took three steps back, and Zhao Wushi... also took half a step back!

At this moment, Zhao Wushi's face also turned dark. He did not expect Chu Luren to be able to do this—mainly because he did not expect that Chu Luren could absorb a master of the level of Kumārajīva in an instant.

Not only did it not weaken, but it was also in a state where Kumārajīva's internal energy was about to dissipate, making Chu Luren exceptionally fierce.

It's more like the "Star Absorbing Technique," utilizing undigested internal energy...

Could this person's mastery of the "Absorption Technique" really be superior to mine? — Zhao Wushi couldn't help but let this unrealistic thought flash through his mind.

As for how the Chu Lu people did it?

It really has nothing to do with martial arts skills...

Chu Luren had already had a vague suspicion before, and after just putting it into practice, he actually won the bet!

As expected, after completely absorbing Kumārajīva's power, a special emblem appeared in Chu Luren's consciousness—Kumārajīva...

Representing Kumārajīva's martial arts skills, his internal energy, and parts of his meridians...

Then Chu Luren directly merged it with the "Tathagata Seal Method"!

In fact, to a certain extent, the "Kumārajīva" badge has already contaminated and been influenced by the Dao Embryo, since the ability to "absorb power" originates from a part of the Dao Embryo.

In this way, Chu Luren not only immediately digested the absorbed "Kumārajīva", but also indirectly used some of the power of the "Tao Embryo" when using the "Tathāgata Seal".

At this moment, Chu Luren neither needed to suppress the rejection, nor did he enjoy the part of "Kumārajīva" that had not yet dissipated. Normally, even the "Absorption Technique" could not be a pure accumulation of addition. After complete digestion, a part would always dissipate. But the part that was dissipating now was acting as a "stimulant" for Chu Luren!

As for the issue of the Dao fetus being "contaminated"...

In other words, the inherent drawbacks of the "Absorption Technique" are not without a solution for Chu Luren—he can use the "Marrow Cleansing Classic" to gradually wash them away afterwards!

Even the Marrow Cleansing Classic cannot completely eliminate its influence; at most, it only affects the "Dao Embryo." The Chu Luren can completely cross the threshold of the Heavenly Gate with his physical body.

After the fusion, the "Tathagata Seal Technique" expanded directly from ten forms to nineteen forms. The first nine forms are still evolutions of the "Tathagata Palm," the tenth move "Sacrifice Oneself to Become a Demon" is the transformation from Buddha to demon, and the last nine moves are all palm techniques with a terrifying demonic nature that correspond to the "Tathagata Palm"!

The reason for merging with the "Tathagata Seal Dharma" is precisely because Kumārajīva himself was a demon who had fallen from Buddhahood, and he had no time to worry about anything else!

Chu Luren hadn't expected that the influence of the "Dao Embryo" and the awakening "Fighting Ape Ultimate Intent" would be so great, directly transforming him into the form of a demonic ape.

Chapter 929 Forcing Back

"Five Ghosts Moving Goods!"

Zhao Wushi stood on a surviving stone pillar, his palm cupped together and he gestured to the side. Then, countless boulders in the valley beside him, some two or three zhang in size and others as tall as a person, were all pulled up by an invisible force and hurled at Chu Luren.

Although it is called "Five Ghosts Moving Things", Chu Luren can naturally tell that this is not some mysterious Taoist technique, but rather the use of five different forces to move objects from a distance!

Moreover, these five forces do not include the "dryness" that is currently being digested...

In a flash, Chu Luren realized that Zhao Wushi's "Eight Extremes" had likely already completed five of them, with "Zao" being the sixth extreme!

Faced with the heavy stones thrown by Zhao Wushi, the Chu Luren sometimes moved like a fish, darting through the gaps, and at other times seemed to transform into a giant ape, climbing and using the stones for leverage...

His figure flickered amidst the waves of boulders, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived at the stone pillar where Zhao Wushi stood. With a move called "Demon's Fierce Treading the Sea," he smashed the stone pillar in half!

As Zhao Wushi's figure fell, he used the "Emperor's Arrival at the Land" move from the "Taizu Long Fist" style, bending his legs slightly and stepping steadily towards Chu Luren's head. Chu Luren, in turn, raised his palms and met the move with the "Tai Sui Welcoming the Demon" move.

The two exchanged over twenty blows with their palms and legs. Zhao Wushi even tried to deliver a deadly scissor kick and wrap his arms around Chu Luren's neck, but... he didn't even bother to ask his "adopted son." Chu Luren was an expert in this area, and he easily broke free!

The phantom of the demonic ape that appeared around Chu Luren grabbed Zhao Wushi's feet and pulled them apart, while Chu Luren himself clenched his hands into sword fingers and thrust them upwards!

A soaring sword aura rose from the ground, and even Zhao Wushi dared not easily confront its edge, quickly flipping over to dodge...

If someone were nearby, they could see that the clouds in the sky had been pierced with a hole!

"Turning clouds and rain!"

Zhao Wushi flicked his hand again and then flipped it, and a huge palm print of true energy came crashing down on Chu Luren's head.

"Demon Shatters Mountains and Rivers!"

Chu Luren met the attack head-on with a palm strike, but he was still a fraction of a second off. Not only did a clear palm print, three zhang in diameter, collapse around him, but Zhao Wushi's palm force also subtly penetrated Chu Luren's protective aura, causing his entire body to go numb...

However, just as Zhao Wushi was about to press his advantage, his expression suddenly changed. First, his chest and then his back swelled up!

It turned out to be the Golden Wheel Monk, who began to rebel from the inside out.

Compared to the last time Wang Chongyang was poisoned, after the "Extremely Dry" Golden Wheel was absorbed, although the "Extremely Stable" neutralized it and could forcibly suppress it in the body, the rejection was much smaller. However, there was one difference - last time Wang Chongyang was already under the control of the poison, while this time the Golden Wheel was only attacked by him and his protective true qi was broken!

Even though it was temporarily suppressed within his body, Jinlun now gathered his will and began to resist.

If Zhao Wushi could rest and recuperate at this time, there wouldn't be much of a problem. However, with Jinlun resisting fiercely from within and Chu Luren pressing from without, Zhao Wushi could only snort coldly and push out a palm strike at Chu Luren...

Chu Luren didn't even look, and directly met the attack with a palm. Only after the palm struck did he realize that it was the Golden Wheel that had flown out!

With only a fraction of his former power remaining, Jin Lun flew out and was struck directly on the head by Chu Luren. His skull shattered instantly, but his skin was relatively sturdy enough that it didn't explode like a rotten watermelon. Instead, it was flattened, with blood seeping out. It was clear that he was not going to survive.

After "spitting out" the golden wheel, Zhao Wushi fought Chu Luren again. In less than thirty moves, he gained the upper hand and made Chu Luren vomit blood. However, Chu Luren became more and more courageous in the fight and showed no fear at all!

Despite vomiting blood and having broken ribs, the golden light emanating from Chu Luren grew ever brighter...

At this moment, Chu Luren's "Fighting Ape Ultimate Intent" has subtly surpassed the level of enlightenment!

After all, "enlightenment" is not, to some extent, an increase in strength, but rather the maximization of strength. This is why the stronger Chu Luren becomes, the less obvious the enhancement of combat power from enlightenment becomes.

"Fighting Ape Ultimate" allows one to use their fighting spirit to elevate their combat power to an extraordinary level.

Chu Luren was now fighting a style of exchanging injuries for injuries and risking his life, relying on his "injuries" to allow the fighting ape to exert its full potential...

The "Nine Demonic Forms" of the "Nineteen Demonic Forms" are all of the type that become stronger and more frenzied the more they fight.

Contrary to the "Buddha's Palm," which is now known as the "Nine Forms of Buddha," the stronger the fighting spirit and killing intent, the greater the power.

Although Chu Luren began to accumulate injuries, his morale did not decline but rather rose!

Instead, Zhao Wushi's fighting spirit was gradually suppressed...

Even with Chu Luren's various protective skills, he was constantly injured, so Zhao Wushi was naturally not unscathed either.

More importantly, Zhao Wushi has only lost the internal resistance of Jinlun; he has not completely digested the extreme of "irritability." Coupled with his fear of Yaoyue and Dongfang Bubai, he is gradually developing the intention to retreat.

After all, he hasn't reached the Eight Extremes Unity realm yet, so it would be a bit of a loss for him to really clash head-on with the experts of Tianmen. Once he truly reaches the Eight Extremes Unity realm, Zhao Wushi will not be afraid of any expert from Tianmen!

Now that we're just two steps away, it feels like it would be a loss to go all out...

Moreover, Zhao Wushi himself did not realize that he had not fought anyone to the death for twenty years, and had even rarely engaged in serious combat. He spent his days behind the scenes, plotting and scheming, which had caused his fighting spirit to wane!

Twenty years ago, Zhao Wushi might have taken a gamble, risking injury to kill Chu Taisui. What difference would it make?

The fact that Yaoyue and Dongfang have come to us might just be the opportunity for our next breakthrough...

However, Zhao Wushi is now...

Finding an opportunity, they arrived at the mouth of the valley and tore the mountain walls on both sides, causing them to collapse. After Chu Luren blocked the falling rocks, he found only ruins in front of him, and Zhao Wushi had disappeared.

"Old monkey! Get out here!" Chu Luren roared, and the faint phantom of a demonic ape appeared behind him, howling. It was hard to tell which one looked more like the old monkey.

"Gu Santong and Su Xin are already married, you're just a loser!"

"Su Xin's favorite and most unforgettable love will always be Gu Santong. You are just a backup plan and a piece of trash!"

"No wonder your father forbade you to marry a woman from the common people. Your father knows best that you, the bastard child born to a palace woman, are a good-for-nothing!"

Chu Luren shouted in the valley—since Zhao Wushi could use martial arts that resembled the "Phantom Divine Skill," he could likely avoid the "Mingyutai's" senses if he intentionally controlled it.

However, despite Chu Luren's loud roar, the surroundings remained silent—any animal that could breathe had either already fled or was unable to breathe...

It seems that Zhao Wushi has indeed left.

The golden light emanating from Chu Luren gradually faded as his fighting spirit waned. Then, Chu Luren collapsed to the ground, exhausted, aggravating his broken ribs, and couldn't help but reach up to cover them...

Chapter 930 Seeing the True Self

"Amitabha, thank you for enlightening me, Layman Chu," Kumārajīva said with his palms clasped in a monk-like manner.

Gone was the previous malevolent aura, gone was the former solemn and dignified appearance; he seemed to be just an ordinary monk...

Chu Luren stared at him for a long time, marveling inwardly—it wasn't Kumārajīva who was amazing, but Wei Xiaobao!

In the original work, Kumārajīva did indeed gain enlightenment and see the Buddha after losing all his martial arts skills, thus becoming a truly great monk.

However, in the vast martial arts world, Chu Luren had always believed that Kumārajīva was deeply possessed by demons, and even without martial arts skills, it was impossible for his inner demons to dissipate...

The reason for this speculation is Wei Xiaobao!

Both of their demonic thoughts stemmed from greed. Wei Xiaobao's martial arts skills were practically nonexistent, yet he not only possessed demonic thoughts, but they were extremely deep-seated!

Therefore, Chu Luren believed that Kumārajīva would also experience this situation, and had already prepared to keep him as a backup source of demonic energy...

Unexpectedly, Kumārajīva attained complete enlightenment.

On the other hand, Wei Xiaobao's demonic thoughts are indeed the real anomaly—he clearly has no martial arts skills, yet he can still retain pure demonic thoughts!

As expected of one of the "protagonists".

Seeing the look of doubt on Chu Luren's face, Kumārajīva said with shame, "The Buddha teaches his disciples to give up greed, love, attachment, and entanglement in order to have hope of liberation. But I have been unable to give up any of these, and instead have tightened the shackles of fame and fortune... Today I have lost all my martial arts skills. How can I know that it is not the World-Honored One's enlightenment that has led me to repent and be able to attain purity and liberation?"

"It wasn't the World Honored One who made you lose all your martial arts skills, it was me," Chu Luren reminded him.

Kumārajīva smiled and said, "How does Layman Chu know that he is not a manifestation of the Tathagata?"

"I am Tathagata, and you are the Buddha's disciple?" Chu Luren reaffirmed this logic.

Kumārajīva: ...

"Is the master truly enlightened?" Chu Luren actually believed it, after all, before Kumārajīva woke up, Chu Luren had already completed the "corpse-picking" – leaving a Dao embryo on Kumārajīva's body.

Indeed, Kumārajīva currently possesses no martial arts skills whatsoever, yet the Dao Embryo can sense that his consciousness seems to have attained enlightenment, shining brightly...

Even if they become Buddhas or Buddhas, they will still shine brightly.

"I dare not claim to have attained complete enlightenment; it is merely a slight dispelling of the illusions in my mind, allowing me to see my true self," Kumārajīva said, neither arrogant nor humble.

Unlike before, although he had a solemn appearance and always referred to himself as "this humble monk," his words made it seem as if he were saying, "I am a high monk, and you are an ant," and "I can debate the Dharma with the Tathagata; ants, do not disturb my peace."

At the same time, he didn't use much self-deprecation, readily applying phrases like "seeing one's true self" to himself.