Chapter 2909: Limit Testing "This... is the true Mountain Collapsing Fist," Lin Mu said, his hand lowering. He had used it at thirty percent of his power, which was far beyond what he had ever used before. If he tried that he would likely destroy his arm like he had in his battle with Yao Changying. There was no pain. Not even tension. The Burdenless Dominator Physique had absorbed all the internal blowback, channeling the energy outward with ruthless precision. "So that’s what it means... to be free of burden." The abbot stepped beside him, awe on his face. "You are no longer a man climbing a mountain. You are the mountain itself." A while later... Though the monks had forgiven him for damaging their training grounds, Lin Mu still felt a trace of guilt each time he recalled the crater he’d left behind. So, for his next test, he chose discretion over convenience. Far to the north of the monastery lay a stretch of desolate wilderness: jagged peaks, barren stone valleys, and mountain ranges long abandoned by both cultivators and beasts. The monks had spoken of it simply as the Wailing Spine, a name given for the way wind howled through the broken ranges like the cries of restless spirits. It was the perfect place to unleash destruction without consequence. Lin Mu stood atop a granite outcrop, gazing at the range ahead—mountains weathered by time, some still towering with jagged peaks, others reduced to stumps. The sky above was overcast, the grey clouds hanging low as if sensing the gravity building in Lin Mu’s body. "Let’s start with forty percent..." He took his stance. The earth around him began to sink slightly as his legs rooted, the Burdenless Dominator Physique drawing in qi like a great furnace. His golden skin shimmered with earthen runes, and the gravity around his body deepened, distorting the air like waves of invisible pressure. His arm coiled back—slowly, like drawing a boulder against the current of a river. Then came the release. BOOOOM!!! The Third Form: Devastator, at 40%, tore through the mountain directly in front of him like a sword through parchment. The entire formation folded inward, crumpling like paper before erupting into a rain of stone shards and dust. The force continued onward, disintegrating another peak behind it and carving a trench into the valley below. "Two mountains. With just forty percent." Lin Mu narrowed his eyes, analyzing the output, the feedback in his muscles. "Still no damage. The physique absorbed all of it." His confidence grew. He recovered his energies before reaching his peak. "Again. This time—fifty." He walked deeper into the range, selecting a larger cluster of mountains. These were older, more massive, standing hundreds of meters taller than the others. Some were cracked and eroded. Others had sharp ridges like dragon scales. Lin Mu stood firm. Power surged around him—denser than before. The runes across his chest and arms now glowed with faint brown-gold light, and the earth beneath him fractured slightly from the accumulating pressure. Dust hovered, suspended unnaturally in the thickened air. He clenched his fist. "Mountain Collapsing Fist – Third Form..." His voice echoed through the mountains. "Devastator." CRAAAAASH!!! The shockwave from the punch didn’t stop at one peak. The mountain in front of him was vaporized—disintegrated to dust in the blink of an eye. The one behind it cracked like glass, split vertically down the middle before exploding outward. Three mountains. Then four. Then five. The energy didn’t simply disperse. It tunneled, rippling through stone and soil like a divine tremor. Lin Mu watched, unmoving, as the shockwave annihilated seven peaks in one strike. By the time the sound caught up to the destruction, it sounded like an avalanche, a roaring chorus of collapsing earth. Dust blanketed the sky. Stones fell like rain. He took a deep breath. "My body held again... and still no damage." There was no overheating. No blood vessels bursting. Not even tendon stress. Before, fifty percent would’ve torn his body apart. But now, he could barely feel the recoil. He didn’t even hesitate. "Let’s try fifty-five percent." He decided to be a bit more careful now. A flicker of battle-hunger passed through his eyes. This wasn’t arrogance—this was curiosity sharpened by years of hardship. He had forged his path through blood, fire, and calamity. Now that he had a body to match his ambition, he would not slow down. He ascended a nearby hill and looked down at the densest part of the range—dozens of mountains clustered together like teeth. He exhaled. Then gathered everything. Qi from his dantian. Gravity from his embryo. Earth and Metal from his bones. Immortal Essence from his apertures. "Mountain Collapsing Fist..." "Third Form..." "Devastator!" GRAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!! The punch ripped through space like a divine smite. The leading mountain didn’t explode—it evaporated. There was no debris, only particles of dust that shimmered before vanishing. The mountains behind it were not so lucky. They shattered. Like brittle shells hit by a hammer, ten entire peaks crumbled one after the other in a cascading chain of destruction. Dust clouds hundreds of meters tall erupted skyward like mushroom clouds. The earth itself rolled with the shock, sending minor quakes outward for miles. When the dust settled, Lin Mu stood alone in a basin that hadn’t existed before. The entire mountain range segment was gone. Only scattered rubble and broken plateaus remained, with fresh cracks stretching for kilometers across the stony plains. Lin Mu slowly lowered his arm. His knuckles were red, but not bleeding. His body buzzed slightly from the release of power, but there was no real injury. His heart beat steadily, his breath calm. "Ten mountains... in one punch." "Only fifty-five percent." He shook his head, part in awe, part in disbelief. "How far can this go?" Even he didn’t know. Sixty percent? Seventy? Could he truly unleash it at full strength without crumbling the world around him? But what he did know was this: He was now among the strongest cultivators below the Transcendent realm. And not just in terms of defense—but in absolute destructive capability. He looked at the cratered land, and though satisfied, a small pang of responsibility surfaced again. "...Better go apologize to the monks one more time."