The birth of the Dharma Body was born of extraordinary coincidence, and its strength came from equally rare fortune.
Had the second stone puppet not been born without innate spiritual awareness, Yang Kai would never have thought to pour one of his split consciousness into it, transforming it into his Dharma Body. Had there not been a thread of fortune on the Suspended Continent, the Dharma Body would not have grown so rapidly.
Because he had refined an entire Suspended Continent, it was able to reach such a terrifying level in such a short time.
That single punch carried the force of an entire continent — the power of an entire world.
Though Yang Kai's physical body was formidable and his realm was no trivial matter, how could mere flesh and bone withstand the strike of a whole continent?
Being sent flying and even sustaining injuries from it was therefore no surprise at all.
"You ought to find me a staff like Xiao Xiao's!" the Dharma Body said with a wide grin.
If it had a divine artifact like the Heaven-Shaking Pillar in hand, the Dharma Body wouldn't even need to draw on any other power — brute force alone would be enough to overcome every trick in the book. Moreover, what it could achieve would surpass even Xiao Xiao.
"When the chance comes!" Yang Kai nodded, then his figure blurred abruptly. With a single flicker he appeared above the Dharma Body, twisted mid-air, and swept a whirling kick downward.
Source Power raged along that leg — Yang Kai was clearly showing no restraint whatsoever.
The Dharma Body, far from panicking, simply raised one arm overhead to block while threading its other massive hand under its armpit, splaying five fingers like a mountain as it lunged toward Yang Kai.
Yang Kai's eyes narrowed. A thunderous shout burst from his mouth: "Condense!"
As the word fell, a deep hum resonated outward, and the surrounding space — influenced by the laws of space — suddenly solidified.
The Dharma Body's movements faltered for just an instant, its colossal frame meeting enormous resistance. The great hand reaching for Yang Kai was no longer as swift as before.
It sank its weight lower and let out a guttural roar: "Break!"
From within that titan's body, a violent surge of force erupted in a single heartbeat.
Crack, crack, crack…
Sharp, snapping sounds rang out as the frozen space loosened once more.
It had actually used the sheer brute power of its body to shatter the spatial law suppression Yang Kai had deployed, and it continued reaching for Yang Kai without pause.
Yang Kai didn't dare move any closer. He stamped down, a muffled boom sounding from beneath his foot, and his body shot backward like an arrow loosed from a bow. Then his hands opened and closed in sequence. A colossal moon-blade took shape in an instant, and without a moment's hesitation, he unleashed it.
The enormous moon-blade was black as ink, curved like a scimitar, and slashed straight toward the Dharma Body's arm.
The Dharma Body's gaze sharpened. It shifted its claw into a fist and hammered it forward with the ferocity of a roaring tiger.
The brutal fist force exploded beyond the knuckle, meeting the moon-blade in midair before it could descend. With a deafening boom, the moon-blade disintegrated and the fist force vanished without a trace.
Before Yang Kai could even collect himself, the Dharma Body had already stomped both feet, and from the earth below, a pillar of soil erupted skyward. The Dharma Body seized it in one hand — the scattered column of earth compressed at its grip, a flash of luminescence flickering across its surface — and in a flash it turned as hard as iron, becoming an earthen staff.
With a single grab and a savage swing, this staff of earth, over a dozen zhang in length, hurtled toward Yang Kai through the air, its shrill whistle sounding as though it would pierce space itself.
Yang Kai's expression changed. He didn't dare stay in place. Spatial energy wreathed his body and he flickered to the side, letting the earthen staff strike nothing but empty air.
"Heh heh heh!" The Dharma Body seemed to have anticipated this. Seeing the outcome, it showed not the slightest alarm. With a strange laugh, it bent sharply at the waist, pressing both massive palms flat against the ground. The next instant, the earth hummed and trembled.
Beneath Yang Kai's feet, earth dragons burst forth from the ground one after another, writhing and coiling, lifelike in every detail — scales, claws, and fangs bared — converging on him from all sides. A rough count revealed more than a dozen of them, sealing off every avenue of retreat.
"Dragon Transformation!" Yang Kai gave a low shout, channeling the Golden Sacred Dragon's origin power within him. His right arm swelled abruptly by a size, the entire limb sheathed in energy that幻化 into dragon scales, and his right hand morphed into the shape of a dragon's claw.
Then, twisting his body, he plunged into the swarm of earth dragons.
Soon, shrill shrieks and explosive detonations echoed from within. One by one, the earth dragons crumbled and fell apart. Amid a sky full of billowing dust, Yang Kai's figure shot out like a god descending upon the world.
Across his body, five-colored radiance bloomed. Countless Five Elements sword qi screamed toward the Dharma Body in a furious volley.
The Dharma Body merely curled its lip. With a single stomp of one foot, an earthen wall rose before it instantly. Like the earlier staff, the wall's surface shimmered with a flash of light and became incomparably solid.
Shh, shh, shh, shh…
The sword qi hammered into the earthen wall but could not breach that layer of defense, every last streak deflected and absorbed.
Only after the sword qi had been fully spent did the Dharma Body wave one hand, and the wall blocking its path crashed down.
But before it could take any further action, Yang Kai across from it suddenly broke into an odd, eerie smile — and then from his left eye, a burst of golden light flared.
"No good!" the Dharma Body squawked in alarm, hurriedly trying to avert its gaze. But it was already too late. The moment those golden rays entered its vision, its attention was seized and pinned fast, leaving it utterly unable to think of anything else. Its expression went blank.
A moment later, the golden light faded. The Dharma Body shuddered and snapped back to awareness.
Yang Kai stood before him looking utterly dejected. The two stared at each other — one pair of big eyes meeting another — for a long moment before they both burst into hearty laughter.
It took a good while before the laughter gradually subsided.