Chapter 152: Let Me Have a Breakthrough First

Using the Cleaving the Heavens as the blade, all Dao converge into one.

This is the terrifying might of the Heaven-Cleaving Technique.

In terms of sheer offensive power, it might not match the ultimate burst of the Inch Fist, but the Inch Fist has its shortcomings—it requires close-quarters combat to unleash its true potential. The Heaven-Cleaving Technique, however, is entirely different. An axe splits the vast firmament, cleaving heaven and earth in two.

Even with the Urahan Bell suppressing the universe, the void was still cleft apart, and the ethereal chains of rules were snapped one by one, transforming into a destructive edge that fell directly upon the chessboard.

Boom...

The torrent exploded, the cosmos shook, and the chessboard trembled, emitting surges of substantive energy that radiated outward before cracking sounds echoed.

Crack...

The sound grew increasingly loud, and finally, it shattered violently, scattering in all directions as countless fragments.

The Buddha Lord's Chessboard: destroyed.

"Impossible!"

The Great Sage Buddha let out a shrill, piercing shriek of utter horror, his face contorted in disbelief.

That was the supreme treasure of the Buddha Lord, the foundational artifact of the Suspended Temple! How could it possibly be cleaved apart?

Not even the Master of the Academy could have guaranteed such a feat!

Yet, an absolute nobody had just sliced it to pieces.

Following that, a chilling terror gripped his heart, a sensation of impending death seizing his chest like a giant hand and suffocating him. The Great Sage Buddha abruptly realized that Jiang Ming was raising his axe once again, its terrifying aura shaking the firmament as the laws within a radius of a hundred miles were forcefully suppressed.

"I cannot block this axe. I cannot block it—absolutely not!"

The Great Sage Buddha’s soul trembled violently. He wanted to flee, only to find himself locked in place. The surrounding void had frozen into a formidable suppression force, leaving him with nowhere to run and no place to hide.

"You want to kill me?"

A ferocious expression flashed across his face.

"Then I'll stake everything on the millennium accumulation of the Suspended Temple! If I don't counter-kill, I will be killed!"

"A Thousand Buddhas Return to the Body!"

"Ten Thousand Buddhas Divine Palm!"

The Great Sage Buddha brought his palms together, and streams of golden light converged rapidly from all directions, fusing into his body. His aura soared endlessly, and a colossal, thousand-foot-tall Buddha projection materialized behind him.

Instantly, the beating of wooden fish, chanting of scriptures, and other Buddhist sounds resounded, growing louder and more magnificent, boundless and grand. They resonated with the various Buddhist arrays entrenched in this region, drawing upon their power to amplify his might with surging divine majesty.

His power reached its absolute peak, to the point where the void itself seemed unable to bear it.

Elsewhere.

Beside a great river, an old ox grazed on green grass, while the white-haired and white-bearded Master of the Academy sat quietly nearby.

He raised his head to watch.

"I felt an aura capable of cleaving heaven and earth in two, one that even shook my soul. Master, who possesses such mighty power? The Abbot? His swordsmanship is peerless and his strength unfathomable, yet he lacks this kind of power." The First Disciple of the Academy asked in a leisurely tone, slowly brewing tea.

Then, he stood up and gazed toward the direction of the Suspended Temple. "It seems I see a Buddha—boundlessly vast, infinitely immense, as if filling the entire cosmos. Has the Buddha resurrected? Are they fighting in the Suspended Temple?"

"It's that young man. His primordial spirit is profound, his physical body boundless. Though his martial cultivation is merely at the sixth realm, he has comprehended numerous profound, unfathomable, and immensely powerful Daos, merging them all into one to manifest a supreme divine technique capable of splitting heaven and earth." Even the Master wore a solemn expression. "The foundation of the Suspended Temple is no trivial matter, but in the end, it is finished. That old bastard of a Buddha Lord left behind contingencies and hoped to resurrect, but after this battle, he's completely done for. Heh, interesting, truly interesting."

"Master, is this great calamity brought by them?" the First Disciple mused. "And the convergence of the Nine Domains—our history was severed, our past forgotten, and even you, Master, were affected."

"It is a calamity, but also an opportunity!" The Master stood up, flicked his sleeves behind his back, and raised his head to gaze at the sky, his long hair and beard fluttering in the wind. "Originally, we fought against the heavens, but we remained under the thumb of destiny. Now, though calamities rage and seas of blood churn, it has allowed your teacher to see the possibility of shattering fate. Beneath the Nine Domains and above destiny, we must fight for our lives now. Go slowly, find Liu Bai, find Jiang Ming, and learn the Dao of combat."

"Understood, Master!"

"Go now. Study the techniques of the Great Sage Monk and Jiang Ming's final axe. Once you comprehend them, I will no longer worry about you!"

"Understood, Master!"

"Hurry up and go. If you delay, it will be over."

"Yes!"

The voice of the First Disciple vanished abruptly.

"The calamity stems from the heavens, but what kind of calamity is it truly? Demonic, ghostly, immortal, Buddhist, or something entirely unknown..."

The Master shook his head.

Suspended Temple.

Chen Bei and the others arrived successively, standing above the abyss and watching the towering projection of the Buddha surge into the sky. Its boundless majesty suppressed the firmament, leaving them deeply shaken.

Immediately after, they saw the Buddha projection strike forward with a myriad of palm imprints, stirring a tidal wave of primordial energy that swept wildly, as if a single palm could shatter the earth.

The next moment, a streak of axe light sliced through the wind, split the firmament, and shattered the universe. Heaven and earth were cleft in two, and the thousands of palm shadows dissolved instantly.

The axe light flashed, reaching a hundred miles away in an instant.

"What a palm strike! What an axe!"

The newly arrived First Disciple of the Academy witnessed this scene, a river of wisdom flowing within his eyes as he analyzed, digested, integrated, and ultimately transformed the spectacle into his own foundation, unable to help uttering a praise.

Looking again, the Great Sage Buddha's body shuddered, and the Buddha projection behind him shattered.

"I mobilized the entire foundation of the Suspended Temple—how could I still be killed? Who, exactly, are you?" His voice was hoarse, laden with grief before twisting into distortion. "You are a demon, an extraterritorial grand demon..."

The words faded as his body suddenly split in two, thoroughly pulverized by the residual power lingering within him, turning into a mist of blood that filled the sky.

His supreme technique was broken by a single axe, and he was slain on the spot.

Hoo...

Jiang Ming, whose complexion was slightly pale, exhaled a turbid breath. Unleashing the Heaven-Cleaving Technique at full power twice in succession took a heavy toll even on him.

The Heaven-Cleaving Technique possessed peerless offensive power, but its consumption was equally immense.

Yet, within the span of a breath, he had already recovered by half.

"Brother Chen, I'll leave the rest to you!" Jiang Ming waved to the sky in the distance.

"Understood, leave it to us!" Chen Bei stepped through the void and landed beside Jiang Ming, gazing at the ravine that had split a mountain peak in two and stretched for hundreds of miles. The corner of his mouth twitched. "That axe of yours has completely crushed the fighting spirit of all of us."

"A forbidden ultimate technique has to be strong, after all!" Jiang Ming chuckled.

"Once a forbidden technique is unleashed, it always drains the user, but you're completely fine." Chen Bei couldn't help shaking his head. "Even if I were to use a forbidden technique now, I'm afraid I couldn't do anything to you. You're a freak, you make me green with envy."

"Who's saying otherwise!" Wang Qiutong descended, glancing at Jiang Ming with a poignant sigh before turning to Ye Bai and the others. "How is it? Are you alright?"

"Almost died!" Ye Bai had already set down Jun Qiye. "If not for Brother Jun, we truly would have died; if Brother Jiang hadn't arrived a moment earlier, we wouldn't have survived either. This place isn't a holy land of Buddha, but a devil's den. It's yours!"

"Good!" Chen Bei pivoted and immediately plunged into a killing spree.

Wang Qiutong, Zhou Tian, and the others also charged toward the four directions.

They were genuinely enraged.

For them, this world held no sense of belonging; their only emotional tether was their fellow classmates who had likewise descended. Attacking any one of them would provoke a violent and relentless backlash.

At that moment, the First Disciple of the Academy also arrived, cupping his fists and bowing to Jiang Ming. "Li Manman of the Academy greets Mister Jiang."

"Elder Brother, you are too polite!" Jiang Ming returned the salute. "Are you here to stop me?"

He carefully appraised the newcomer.

Li Manman, the First Disciple of the Academy, gave off a warm, jade-like sensation.

He appeared remarkably gentle.

Dressed in a scholar's robe, he had a scroll tucked into his waist and a water gourd hanging from it.

His attire was simple.

Yet Jiang Ming knew that Li Manman was anything but simple; his natural talent was likely no less than that of the Master, placing him firmly among the top ten figures in the present Nine Domains.

He was slow at everything, yet possessed the supreme speed of traversing space instantly.

Though he did not practice the Dao of combat, a single glance was enough for him to comprehend and master any technique.

"No! I travel the Nine Domains with the Master and have witnessed too much bloodshed. If I see people oppressing the common folk, I will intervene. But for struggles between sects or battles among martial artists like this, at most, I will merely watch. The common folk are innocent, but Jianghu has neither absolute good nor absolute evil." The First Disciple said earnestly. "I came to find Mister Jiang upon the Master's instructions, to follow by your side and learn the Dao of combat."

"I see!" Jiang Ming understood.

Traveling the world brings vast experience.

Such a person would certainly not possess a naive, unearned saintly disposition.

Kindness was reserved solely for the innocent.

"The Master must have sensed an impending danger!" Jiang Ming noted. "You have already reached the Terrestrial Deity realm, and you've comprehended the Dao of Space, haven't you?"

"Yes!" Li Manman nodded. "In the Dao of Space, I have reached the realm of 'Distance-less,' capable of sensing numerous spatial nodes and crossing thousands of mountains and rivers with a single thought."

"My attainments in the sword are decent; I shall demonstrate the Dao of the Sword for you, and in return, you can let me experience the 'Distance-less' realm a few times. How does that sound?"

"If we do that, you'd be taking a huge loss!"

"It's no loss at all!"

With those words, Jiang Ming soared into the air, stepping into the mid-air as the Huolin Sword materialized. He began to demonstrate various arts and Daos.

Sword One: Sword Qi howls across the firmament.

Sword Two: A single sword gives birth to all things.

Sword Nine: A single sword brings forth radiant light.

Sword Twelve: A single point of cold glare across the horizon.

Sword Eighteen: The ultimate point has no sharpness.

Sword Nineteen: A single sword cleaves the heavens.

He executed all nineteen forms of the Return of Myriad Swords to One, while briefly highlighting the profound mysteries contained within each sword style. It left Li Manman's eyes shining with brilliance and filled with awe.

"Every single sword style contains countless variations, capable of deriving endless sword moves, yet each serves as the general outline of a whole series."

"Brilliant, truly brilliant!"

"Even Junior Uncle's talent pales in comparison!"

"However, every sword style requires comprehending the corresponding Dao to cultivate, otherwise its might cannot be manifested."

"A single point of cold glare across the horizon... it actually possesses such profound mastery in spatial swordsmanship. If one comprehends the true intent of space, this sword technique can evolve further to genuinely achieve the feat of spanning the horizon with a single sword."

"Marvellous, marvellous, marvellous!"

Li Manman watched with dancing gestures, completely immersed in the various sword techniques.

After the sword light subsided, it took a long time for him to calm down.

"Thank you, Mister Jiang!" He executed a deep, formal bow.

"I have four more sword techniques; you may observe them as well!" After a slight hesitation, Jiang Ming moved again.

The Executioner Sword, the Slaughter Sword, the Subjugation Sword, and the Annihilation Sword.

The moment these four swords appeared, Li Manman's body stiffened, the light in his eyes flaring brightly.

"Though the swordsmanship is somewhat crude, the principles it contains possess the power to defy the heavens!"

"True Qi, intent, blood Qi, soul power—they fuse with one another, evolving endlessly, exhausting all variations, unleashing an even greater might."

"I see the boundless Dao of the Sword!"

As Li Manman watched and contemplated, his aura shifted incessantly, and even his temperament underwent subtle changes.

"Thank you, Mister Jiang. If I can grasp even a fraction of this, it will be sufficient to protect my Dao." He bowed once more.

"These are just my summaries and evolutions based on intent and the three cultivation systems. Due to my current realm, the derivation is still far too crude," Jiang Ming remarked. "The Dao of the Sword is too lofty and the future too distant; I can only deduce it one step at a time."

"Mister Jiang's Dao of the Sword melts myriad techniques into one, possessing the potential to evolve a boundless Dao of the Sword. If you continue along this path, you will surely pioneer an unprecedented Dao of the Sword." Li Manman offered the highest praise. "The Sword Saint Liu Bai walks a single path, pushing it to its absolute zenith; Mister Jiang manifests myriad Daos, holding the universe in his heart. Though I know not which Dao is loftier or stronger, I do know that Mister Jiang's talent surpasses all through the ages."

Jiang Ming couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed.

Being praised as surpassing all through the ages by someone of such startling talent—and an honest person at that—truly made his heart bloom with joy.

"Mister Jiang, shall I let you experience the 'Distance-less' realm now?" Li Manman asked again.

"No rush, no rush!" Jiang Ming waved his hand. "The 'Distance-less' realm is the application of the spatial Dao, and I haven't comprehended the true intent of space yet. Even if I experience it firsthand, I won't gain much. Wait a moment, I'll break through first."

Li Manman's expression froze.

Break through first?

Comprehend the true intent of space?

Was the Dao of Space something that could be comprehended just like that?

Then he saw Jiang Ming sit cross-legged, subtle ripples emanating around him—spatial ripples with which he was entirely too familiar.

Li Manman quickly retreated and assumed the role of protector.

Jiang Ming was already immersed in comprehension.

His consciousness merged with heaven and earth, feeling the profound mysteries of space.

For him, breaking through was truly not difficult; after all, he had already reached the perfection of the sixth realm of martial arts (the Heavenly Phenomenon realm), and he possessed the innate talent of the Master of Space.

If not for wanting to integrate various intents into the void to master more heavenly domain power, he would have broken through long ago.

At this moment, he spurred the power of spatial intent, using his mind to sense spatial ripples, rhythms, nodes, and more.

Before long, the surrounding space began to fluctuate violently, like ripples on a lake.

Especially within a three-foot radius around him, under the fluctuations, solid rock shattered and annihilated silently.

This was an immensely terrifying force.

He understood.

The true intent of space.

At the same time, the primordial energy of heaven and earth converged wildly, pouring into his body. The Daoist resonance of space swept downward, tempering his primordial spirit, elevating the quality of his True Qi, and bestowing a further baptism upon his physical body.

His aura began to soar wildly.

"So, this is the Dao of True Intent!"

Jiang Ming dawned upon sudden enlightenment.

No matter how much one read in books, it could never compare to the direct intuition of personal experience.

The relationship between intent and true intent was like that of a soldier and a general—one below, one above; or rather, one superficial and the other profound, belonging to a subordinate relationship.

If both were martial artists who comprehended the spatial Dao.

A sixth-realm Heavenly Phenomenon practitioner would be utterly suppressed by a seventh-realm Human realm practitioner, instantly reduced to a lamb for the slaughter, barely able to put up any resistance.

This was suppression.

Using another analogy, it was even more fitting: authority.

The authority of true intent was one tier higher than that of intent, achieving complete suppression.

He opened his eyes and stood up.

Jiang Ming felt that the world before him had changed once more. With a gentle wave of his hand, space rippled outward.

"You are actually able to fluctuate spatial order out of thin air!" Li Manman was shocked.

"Brother Chen, you've actually broken through again? Congratulations, congratulations!" Chen Bei naturally sensed Jiang Ming's breakthrough and flew back.

He was already past the point of being astonished.

"Congratulations!" Wang Qiutong wore a complex expression.

The others also offered their congratulations one after another.

"All of you are basically at the seventh realm, while I'm only at the sixth. If I don't break through, I won't be able to keep up with you guys!" Jiang Ming said helplessly.

A chorus of teeth-grinding sounds echoed around him.

"Too infuriating! If I could beat you, I'd definitely pin you to the ground and rub your face in the dirt!" Bai Bing snorted and soared into the sky. "I'm furious, I need to kill some people!"

"Right, kill people!" Chen Bei and the others departed once more.

Jiang Ming waved his hand, then replied, "I comprehended it. Space is just a piece of paper."

He raised his palm like a blade and gently sliced; space was cleaved directly in two.

"You... you're a monster!" Li Manman’s mouth twitched as he used a newly learned term, then asked, "Do you still want me to let you experience the 'Distance-less' realm?"