Chapter 500: Defeat
Xiang Shan’s bombardment filled the earth with fiend energy, temporarily blocking Zhang Yu’s path.
Immediately afterward, Xiang Shan charged forward, catching up to Zhang Yu.
In the collision, Xiang Shan took a slight step back, while Zhang Yu was sent flying toward Mo Shangjin’s location.
The impact felt like being struck by a massive mountain. Zhang Yu had to fully activate his Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power to stop himself.
“This guy…” Zhang Yu gritted his teeth. “The Mount Sumeru King Sutra combined with a Military-Grade Bionic… two Military-Grade forces stacked together… he’s too difficult to shake.”
Mo Shangjin pushed aside the sand covering him and glanced at Zhang Yu’s grave expression. “When I find an opening, I’ll do my best to hold him off. You focus on taking down the others from Celestial Monsters University.”
“If we had a Formation buffing us while they don’t, we’d have a chance.”
Zhang Yu nodded, his gaze suddenly sharpening as he noticed Xiang Shan’s swelling abdomen. “What the hell is that?”
Mo Shangjin frowned. “He must have absorbed my blood earlier. He’s probably creating my bloodline descendants on the spot. The swelling is likely the reproductive module expanding as it activates.”
Zhang Yu paused, slightly taken aback. “Isn’t this illegal? Against the rules?”
Mo Shangjin replied calmly, “As long as they don’t treat them as living beings, but merely as construction materials… it’s not against the rules.”
“Moreover… unpaid reproduction is a mandatory duty for every member of Celestial Monsters University. For the Monsterfolk of Celestial Monsters University, reproduction is considered a natural skill — both an obligation and a means of earning money, highly valued by countless Monsterfolk.”
Mo Shangjin’s gaze sharpened. “We need to find a way to interrupt this reproduction process soon. I sense something sinister at play here.”
Meanwhile, throughout the stadium, countless monster race spectators erupted into frenzied roars as they witnessed the scene.
“Birth! Birth! Birth! Birth! Birth!”
Watching the cheering masses — the way they howled, tore at their own kind, engaged in Dual Cultivation, defecated and urinated on the spot, and reproduced wildly while chanting madly…
Zhang Yu gradually realized that the Monsterfolk of Celestial Monsters University didn’t despise reproduction itself; they merely resented unpaid reproduction and the Reproduction Tax.
“So this is… what it means to be a monster?” Zhang Yu thought to himself.
Sensing the frenzied cheers of the entire Monsterfolk audience, Xiang Shan threw back his head and roared with laughter, raising his arms as if responding to their primal frenzy.
“Monster Spawn!”
“Today, witness my ascension to the champion’s throne! I shall shatter the limits of both my profession and my race!”
Xiang Shan raised his trunk skyward, then unleashed a violent blast of concentrated fiend energy that instantly blanketed the entire arena.
The pungent, rancid stench spread across heaven and earth in an instant, forcing the Myriad Laws University students to activate their magical artifacts and Bionics to purify the air.
Yet the Monsterfolk in the audience grew even more frenzied under the influence of the fiend energy, with countless Monsterfolk greedily inhaling the descending miasma.
Some smaller monsters even fought over the particulate matter suspended within the fiend energy.
“This is Lord Xiang Shan’s dung! I’ve been waiting for this hot mouthful!”
“Mine! Mine! All mine!”
“So potent! This one gulp will sustain me for the next ten days!”
Amidst the chaotic frenzy of the crowd, Xiang Shan turned his gaze toward Mo Shangjin and Zhang Yu, his overwhelming aura pressing down as he strode toward them. He grinned, revealing increasingly menacing fangs. “Come on, let’s continue.”
With Xiang Shan’s every step, the ground trembled, and the battle erupted anew.
With a single punch, Xiang Shan sent Zhang Yu flying sideways. Then, with a powerful kick, he knocked Mo Shangjin away as well.
At that moment, Mo Shangjin and Zhang Yu resembled two enraged dragons, their earth-shattering power converging on Xiang Shan in a relentless assault.
Xiang Shan, however, stood firm like an unshakeable mountain. No matter how fiercely Mo Shangjin and Zhang Yu attacked, he remained immovable, repelling them again and again.
Suddenly, Mo Shangjin’s hands, which had been bent behind his head in a mudra, shifted abruptly. The gravitational force he had been accumulating above him erupted violently.
Since the battle began, Mo Shangjin had been continuously channeling the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power and the power of his Bionic, steadily amplifying the gravitational force.
Now, with its full release, the force transformed into a prison known as the Eternal Calamity Abyss, binding Xiang Shan tightly.
Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened. “The Eternal Calamity Abyss, the most difficult of the Ten Phases of Suppressing Stars? So this technique was derived from the Seven Absolutes Bionic?”
“That makes sense. In a real battle, I’d need to constantly build up power to activate the Eternal Calamity Abyss, making it impossible to fight effectively.”
“Only a Bionic allows Mo Shangjin to accumulate power while simultaneously engaging in combat…”
Meanwhile, Mo Shangjin, who was activating the Eternal Calamity Abyss, sent a message: “His Military-Grade Bionic is too powerful. Even though my Eternal Calamity Abyss has been charging for so long, it won’t be able to restrain him for long. Act now!”
He spread his fingers, and gravity wave cannons began firing relentlessly at Xiang Shan.
Zhang Yu’s figure flashed. He knew Mo Shangjin’s call to action wasn’t for him to join the assault on Xiang Shan, as such an attack would be ineffective in the short term. Instead, he charged straight toward the Celestial Monsters University’s formation, aiming to eliminate Xiang Shan’s teammates first.
Under the relentless bombardment of gravity wave cannons, Xiang Shan’s abdomen suddenly deflated, as if the reproductive process within had been disrupted.
Mo Shangjin then aimed his palm at Xiang Shan’s head, preparing to strike directly at his brain.
But in the next instant, Mo Shangjin suddenly lost focus, and the Seven Absolutes Bionic covering his body began to twitch uncontrollably. The Eternal Calamity Abyss, which had been operating at full power, abruptly weakened, showing signs of collapse.
“Hmm?”
With a deafening crash, Xiang Shan seized Mo Shangjin’s head, a cruel smile spreading across his lips. “Activating the Reproduction Module weakens my chest and abdominal defenses. I deliberately exposed this flaw to lure you in.”
“You focused solely on attacking this weakness after the Eternal Calamity Abyss activated, allowing me to invade your Seven Absolutes Bionic.”
Mo Shangjin sensed countless Soul Cultivators invading his entire Bionic. Their sheer number… even his meticulously trained Soul Cultivators struggled to resist.
These invading Soul Cultivators surged in like moths drawn to a flame, each one throwing themselves against his Bionic with suicidal determination.
In the Spirit Realm, the Soul Cultivators howled in panic.
“Boss, we can’t hold out! They’re completely insane!”
“This is a scorched-earth attack! We need to retreat!”
“According to the contract, the pay isn’t worth dying for…”
“More money! More money!”
Mo Shangjin knew that with just a moment and a few more Spirit Coins, he could restore his Bionic’s mobility.
Meanwhile, in the material world, the clash between their Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power and Mount Sumeru King Sutra shattered the earth beneath their feet into layers of crumbling rock.
Yet Xiang Shan’s hand remained clamped firmly around Mo Shangjin’s head.
The pitch-black hand, like a black hole, devoured the Earthly Fiend Gravity surging toward it, making it impossible for Mo Shangjin to break free despite exerting all his strength.
Sensing his opponent’s desperate resistance, Xiang Shan said coldly, “Are you thinking that in just a moment, your Bionic will regain mobility, Zhang Yu will repel my allies, your teammates will complete the Formation, and you’ll regain the upper hand to defeat me?”
“Unfortunately, that’s destined to fail.”
The moment Zhang Yu arrived at the construction site, wielding the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power, he saw Elephant Monsters piercing their own hearts, transforming into living stakes that stood rooted in the earth.
Simultaneously, vast swathes of corpses around them morphed into living stakes, blanketing the ground like a forest of tombstones.
“You…”
“Committed suicide? Turned yourselves into living stakes?”
Zhang Yu’s heart jolted at the sight. He could understand the Celestial Monsters University using corpses to create living stakes, but for the monsters to sacrifice themselves?
It was as if these Elephant Monsters had been mere bait to lure Zhang Yu here, discarding their lives the instant he arrived.
Ethereal figures emerged from their bodies, visible in the Spirit Realm.
They laughed, looking at Zhang Yu. “What’s one life lost if it means Big Brother Xiang Shan wins? We can always earn it back later!”
Zhang Yu paused, struck by the unwavering trust in their eyes, as if witnessing a familiar scene.
But in the next instant, his gaze turned icy. The Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power surged to life, sweeping mercilessly across the corpses before him.
The moment his teammates died, transforming into Living Stakes embedded in the earth, the Formation was completed, channeling immense power into Xiang Shan.
But the Formation lasted only a fleeting instant before Zhang Yu destroyed it, the entire process spanning barely a fraction of a second.
Xiang Shan seized this infinitesimal window to utterly defeat Mo Shangjin before him.
With the Eternal Calamity Abyss breached, the Seven Absolutes Bionic temporarily paralyzed, and Zhang Yu temporarily distracted, Xiang Shan knew this was his best chance to defeat Mo Shangjin.
If he could defeat Mo Shangjin now, even with the Formation’s support and Zhang Yu’s presence, Myriad Laws University would stand no chance against him.
This opportunity had been bought at the cost of everything by the Soul Cultivators — his brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts.
It was a chance forged by his teammates’ sacrifice, who had given their lives to delay Zhang Yu for that crucial moment.
In this single instant, he had to defeat Mo Shangjin, the strongest member of Myriad Laws University’s Civil Engineering Department!
“Mo Shangjin! This strike carries not only the weight of mountains, but the weight of my clan, my brothers, my descendants — everything I have!”
With a roar, Xiang Shan’s right arm tensed violently, empowered by a military-grade cultivation technique, a Military-Grade Bionic, and the Formation’s residual power.
At the same moment, Mo Shangjin felt his head cracking, as if it were about to be torn apart.
Their gazes collided violently at point-blank range.
Mo Shangjin’s heart clenched. “Will I… lose?”
“Will I die?”
“Will I go bankrupt?”
“Should I keep fighting?”
“Hold on?”
“Zhang Yu should be here soon, right?”
Doubt surged through Mo Shangjin’s mind. “Can I trust him? Even if it means risking bankruptcy? Gambling my future… for this one final match?”
Xiang Shan roared inwardly, “Generations of lower-class monsters from Celestial Monsters University… generations of younglings sold and devoured too soon… they believe I can change everything… they believe today — they fucking know today — everything will be different!”
Xiang Shan bellowed, “Right arm! Fight to the bitter end!”
The Right Arm Bionic activated its self-destruct mode, operating at 120% capacity!
With a deafening roar, just as Zhang Yu rushed back to the center of the battlefield, just as he channeled the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power to strike Xiang Shan…
The Right Arm Bionic, pushed beyond its limits, began to shatter.
Terrifying force pressed down on Mo Shangjin. With his body’s damage levels reaching critical thresholds, the Bionic automatically transmitted the surrender signal he had prepared in advance.
Mo Shangjin! Defeated!