Chapter 164: The Mortal Cage of Red Dust, Slashing into the Realm of the Heart

Jiang Ming was exceptionally confident.

This was the towering confidence born of absolute strength.

The Master stepped back, his white hair and beard fluttering in the wind. A faint smile hung on his face—calm, composed, and serene, seemingly even more confident than Jiang Ming himself.

"Are you really going to solo him?" The Supreme Bone-bearer Shi Lei’s eyes bulged.

He knew all too well how terrifying the Emperor of the Strange Octopods was. If he had faced him alone, he would have been slaughtered long ago. Had the Master not stood guard nearby, even a joint effort between him and Fang Qinghan would not have been enough.

"You're a beast!" Fang Qinghan gave him a thumbs-up.

Arrogant and conceited though he was, facing Jiang Ming left him with no choice but to sigh helplessly.

His own innate talent was astonishing and peerless, yet this fellow completely overshadowed all through the ages.

"Brother Jiang, we'll watch you unleash your mighty divine might!" Wang Qiutong smiled.

Any sense of urgency had truly vanished for her now.

She had long since stepped into the Eighth Realm of martial arts, and had even slain an Eighth-tier powerhouse single-handedly. For the remainder of the time, all she needed to do was endure until the ten-year period elapsed.

"Just watch and see!"

Jiang Ming stirred his spirits and strode toward the Emperor of the Strange Octopods. With every step he took, ripples spread across the space beneath his feet, stirring the very fabric of order.

"Did you really think that dragging things out with me for so long would allow you to suppress me?" The voice of the Emperor of the Strange Octopods was extremely hoarse. As the words fell, his massive body abruptly shrunk, transforming into a humanoid shape.

He had feet, a torso, and arms.

He also possessed a head and facial features, except that a single vertical eye grew between his brows, and a fleshy crest crowned his head. Eight tentacles danced wildly in the air above him, each covered in densely packed eyes.

His aura also surged explosively by a massive margin, causing the firmament to twist and the great sun to shake.

This sudden transformation terrified everyone present.

"I knew all along that you were still concealing your strength, and indeed you were!" The Master’s calm voice rang out. His entire being seemed to undergo a transformation as well, his body seemingly embedded within the space itself. A slight movement of his could affect everything around him, as if he were truly manipulating the heavens and the earth.

"You discovered that I wasn't using my full strength, just as I discovered your concealment," the Emperor of the Strange Octopods sneered. "You didn't want to provoke me because you lacked the certainty to contend with me; you wanted to stall me simply to buy time for these ants to grow. And why do you think I played along?"

"Heaven unleashes its murderous intent, all living beings wail, mountains of corpses and seas of blood shroud the skies in malevolent Qi—this is what I truly need!" His face twisted into an eerie expression. "The more slaughter there is, the more malevolent Qi, death Qi, decay Qi, nether Qi, curse Qi, and despair Qi accumulate. And these are my very nourishment!"

"Now, in this realm..." The Emperor of the Strange Octopods waved his arms, stirring the vault of heaven. All manner of negative Qi between heaven and earth converged in a bizarre fashion, pouring directly into his body.

Wang Qiutong, Shi Lei, and the others attempted to intervene, but found themselves utterly powerless to stop him.

An even more bizarre scene unfolded: his flailing arms transformed into tentacles, and pair after pair of eyes emitted an eerie glow. Under this illumination, the air itself twisted, and the laws of nature were corroded.

Ran Xin’s expression shifted dramatically. She actually felt an impulse to transform into a monster, forcing her to retreat rapidly until she landed directly within Chang'an of Great Tang.

Even Shi Lei was shocked: "Under the corrosion of the strange ocular light, my physical body feels as though it's about to reform and turn into an alien entity, and even my mind is involuntarily plunging into chaos. How terrifying!"

Wang Qiutong and the others all wore expressions of stern vigilance.

Bizarrely, the Master merely watched calmly, showing not the slightest intention of intervening.

Seeing the aura of the Emperor of the Strange Octopods grow stronger and stronger, the Master finally spoke: "As heaven’s movement is vigorous, so must a gentleman ceaselessly strive; as earth’s terrain is receptive, so must a gentleman support things with deep virtue. What I cultivate is the Way of the Gentleman within heaven and earth, the Way of the Mortal World among humanity. Whether it is death Qi, malevolent Qi, or curse Qi, all belong to the mortal dust-force of the human realm. You are an outsider, existing outside the order of heaven and earth, leaping beyond the mortal world—yet now, you have integrated yourself into this very mortal dust."

"The shackles of the mortal world, the prison of humanity!"

"You came, and you became tainted. No matter how powerful you are, it is difficult to leap beyond this miasma of mortal desires."

"Therefore, I am not in a hurry!"

The Master smiled. "Trapped within the birdcage, though one reaches the pinnacle of heaven and earth, it is difficult to peer beyond them. Yet you came, bearing power from beyond the heavens, allowing me to witness a vast world, a more profound power system, and above all, the hope of transcendence. Therefore, I am not in a hurry. Truly, not in a hurry."

With these words, the image of the Master—whom everyone had previously thought to be nothing particularly special—instantly soared high above the firmament.

"You plot against me, and I scheme against you. Let us see whose methods ultimately prove superior." The Emperor of the Strange Octopods remained utterly unconcerned.

His confidence far surpassed that of the Master.

Because in the essence of life, he was vastly, vastly more powerful than humanity.

"Look..." Bai Bing cried out in alarm, gazing toward a forest below her. An expression of profound shock crossed her face.

Compared to the past, her progress had also been immense.

Both her martial path and soul path had stepped into the Eighth Realm side by side. Her strength was unfathomably powerful, and she had single-handedly slain Eighth-tier alien powerhouses, successfully completing her descent missions.

Among the descenders, her strength might not be ranked at the absolute top, but looking at the world today, how many could compare to her? Very few indeed.

Even the likes of Wuming and the Sword Saint were forced to pale into insignificance before her.

Naturally, anything that could shock her was extraordinary.

When the others looked down, every single one of them drew a sharp breath.

The forest below was twisting.

Trees, vines, flowers, and grass were all contorting, as if they had all become sentient life-forms, emitting intensely chaotic fluctuations.

It was akin to a riot of myriad demons.

"What on earth is this power of yours?" Fang Qinghan could not help asking.

"The power of chaos, the power of distortion, the corrupted power of the soul, the dark power of creation..." The Master could not help letting out a soft sigh. "This is true demonic power. Taking oneself as the source, it influences everything around it, compelling all other objects to involuntarily transform toward chaotic evil. Such power is unprecedented and unheard of, exceeding imagination and defying common sense. If it cannot be resisted, then the entire world will be assimilated by him, reduced to a fallen land of evil. The evils of beyond the realm, the Great Demons, and the Heavenly Demons are all insufficient to describe it."

"You have indeed perceived a fraction of the essence," the Emperor of the Strange Octopods laughed. "I came, and I conquered! To conquer this world and turn it into my nest will inevitably push my strength a step further, making me a true Strange Deity. With a single glance, I distort reality; with another, the soul and will; with a third, the essence of life. Beneath my gaze, all shall become my slaves!"

Without another word, Jiang Ming charged straight into the fray.

With a flicker of his figure, a dense multitude of afterimages appeared. The sword in his hand unleashed a variety of peerless sword techniques, resembling twenty or thirty Jiang Mings attacking simultaneously, terrifying to the extreme.

Sword Qi cleaved the void, forming wave after wave of sword curtains that enveloped the Emperor of the Strange Octopods.

His figure never paused; vanishing and reappearing, his attacks fell like rain.

Yet this terrifying sword Qi was directly obliterated by streams of bizarre light.

At this moment, all the tentacles on top of the head of the Emperor of the Strange Octopods stood erect and flared outward. Eye after eye opened, emitting eerie light that linked together to form a forbidden domain.

Within the forbidden domain, laws were altered. No matter how fiercely the sword Qi howled or how capable it was of cleaving heaven and earth, it simply could not completely shatter the domain he had formed.

"So strong!" Ye Bai was shocked. "Brother Jiang's sword-dao divine ability has truly reached the absolute limit of power. Inconceivable."

"This is the ultimate application of the Dao of Space." The Academy's Senior Brother Li Manman had also arrived long ago, and at this moment, he remarked, "Step by step, spatial superposition. Every step unleashes an attack; his extreme speed and execution make him look as though he possesses countless avatars. This is equivalent to an entire army in a single person, a one-man siege. Who could possibly withstand this?"

"An army in a single person?" Shi Lei’s breathing hitched. "He actually悟出了 (comprehended) such a terrifying technique? This fellow is truly no longer human."

He sighed once more.

Fang Qinghan shook his head. What would he do if he faced such an attack?

It was virtually impossible to resist!

Every single sword strike was unimaginably powerful, but what about all of them unleashed together? Proud as he was, he knew he could hardly withstand it.

"He is strong, but the Emperor of the Strange Octopods is even stronger. Brother Jiang still hasn't broken his defense—inconceivable!" Wang Qiutong felt a sense of dread. "Everyone, prepare yourselves just in case!"

Chen Bei and the others all nodded, each secretly driving their most formidable divine abilities so they could erupt at any moment.

Boom...

Jiang Ming’s techniques grew increasingly proficient until he finally shattered the defense of the Emperor of the Strange Octopods, only to be sent flying by the latter's ferocious counter-explosion.

"Forbidden domain! Tentacles!"

Jiang Ming stared at his opponent, his expression turning grave to the absolute limit.

The domain power formed by his opponent was terrifying to the extreme—distorting laws, reshaping order, and even drawing upon forces from the netherworld for augmentation, rendering his defense invincible.

Who in this world could have blocked the attacks he had just unleashed?

Yet they were effortlessly intercepted by the Emperor of the Strange Octopods.

"In that case..."

Jiang Ming charged forward once more. His densely packed afterimages reappeared, and the Huolin Sword in his hand simultaneously unleashed the Twelfth Sword: A Single Point of the Black Hole Pierces Myriad Laws, A Single Cold Gleam Across the Ends of the Earth.

Spatial movement art, spatial swordsmanship.

Perfect fusion elevated his offensive power to even more terrifying heights.

"As expected of an ant valued by the Master—truly extraordinary, but that is all!" The Emperor of the Strange Octopods spoke in a flat tone, yet it harbored towering confidence. As his words fell, he spun abruptly, and the tentacles atop his head lashed out wildly in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, they collided with Jiang Ming's Huolin Sword three hundred and sixty times.

The world could not bear this force, fracturing successively as spatial vortices emerged across the vast sky. The terrifying power also proved too much for the Huolin Sword to endure, and it finally shattered with a loud bang.

Bang...

The longsword burst into countless fragments that rained down in all directions.

"Such fierce tentacles! They're even tougher than divine weapons!"

Jiang Ming’s pupils contracted, but his assault did not cease. Countless afterimages continued to materialize, though a battle-ax now appeared in his hand.

This was the Heaven-Splitting Ax brought from the prime world.

"The Heaven-Splitting Stance!"

The moment this ax appeared, Jiang Ming erupted completely.

Streak after streak of afterimages raised their axes simultaneously, descending as one to cleave countless rifts directly into the cosmos, completely shattering the forbidden domain of the Emperor of the Strange Octopods.

"This divine ability..." The Emperor of the Strange Octopods was finally alarmed.

He waved his arms, lashed his tentacles, and unleashed ultimate power.

Even with numerous strange eyes bursting forth with evil light to distort the void, they still failed to block Jiang Ming's continuous, endless onslaught.

Rumble...

The firmament trembled, and the world was terrified.

The entire universe abruptly darkened, and an immense terror welled up in the hearts of hundreds of millions of living beings, bringing the false death-sensation that the world was about to end.

The Emperor of the Strange Octopods was sent flying backward, his entire body bathed in blood and covered in wounds, with even one of his tentacles cleanly severed.

"You actually managed to injure me!"

He let out an intensely shrill roar. The blood spilling from his wounds seemed to transform into an evil entity, twisting into a new life-form before being mutually obliterated by the still-reverberating forces.

"To think I still couldn't kill you, not even severely injuring you—Emperor of the Strange Octopods, you are truly strong!" Jiang Ming was moved.

He was well aware of how terrifying the Heaven-Splitting Stance was, especially when driven by the Myriad-Thread Flow movement technique, consecutively executing dozens of Heaven-Splitting strikes.

Nearly a fifth of the True Qi within his body had been drained dry.

That consumption was nothing short of astonishing.

The collision between the two of them, paired with their verbal exchanges, left all the observing spectators shaken to their very souls.

Too strong, both of them were simply too strong.

This burst of explosive power far exceeded the tier proper to the Eighth Realm.

Yet Jiang Ming was merely at the Seventh Realm of martial arts.

This fellow was truly going to defy the heavens.

Even the Master was moved.

Jiang Ming, however, narrowed his eyes and saw that the severed tentacle of the Emperor of the Strange Octopods had already looped back, merging back into his body while all lingering ax-Qi was completely purged.

With a flash of his figure, he charged forward once more.

Simultaneously, his body swelled to a height of nine meters.

Divine ability: As-You-Will Size-Shifting, a threefold explosion.

"Inch Punch, the Twenty-Fifth Layer!"

"Boundless Strength!"

"Fivefold Genetics!"

"Martial Dao Domain!"

Jiang Ming put away the Heaven-Splitting Ax and engaged in close-quarters combat relying purely on physical strength.

Under the suppression of the Martial Dao Domain, the forbidden domain of the Emperor of the Strange Octopods rippled violently, almost shattering, though it was suppressed to the absolute limit.

Then, his twin fists hammered forward, blasting the void apart.

His left fist struck with eleven million seven hundred thousand jin of Vajra force; his right fist similarly struck with eleven million seven hundred thousand jin of Vajra force.

How terrifying was such power?

The limit strength of an ordinary Eighth-Revolution Body-Refining powerhouse was merely three thousand jin of Vajra force, capable of erupting to nine thousand jin under As-You-Will Size-Shifting.

What about him?

Over ten million jin!

Inhuman!

This eruption of his terrified even the Emperor of the Strange Octopods.

"Power of the Evil Emperor!"

The blood within his body boiled, and his entire body instantly took on a dark-golden sheen, causing his strength and defense to skyrocket as he met the attack head-on.

Twin fists, double arms, eight tentacles, the light of evil eyes—all erupted simultaneously.

In the blink of an eye, the place where the two clashed was beaten into complete chaos.

"Retreat..."

Jiang Ming's outburst gave even the Master a creeping sense of horror. With a sudden roar and a wave of a large sleeve, he unleashed a strange force that pulled everyone backward.

Immediately afterward, they watched as terrifying fist-winds tore through a thousand-zhang spatial rift, striking blow after blow without pause, beating that entire region into mush.

This scene made Wang Qiutong shiver involuntarily, and she said in shock: "Brother Jiang's outburst is too terrifying. A single punch from him could reduce me to ashes."

"Even I couldn't block that!" Shi Lei exclaimed in alarm. "I never expected Brother Jiang to be this formidable when unleashing his full power. Inconceivable, it defies common sense!"

The Master cast a sidelong glance at them, thinking to himself: *Never mind the two of you, even this old man couldn't block it!*

Amidst the great battle.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Ming delivered thirty-six punches.

This extreme eruption nearly drained his blood-Qi dry.

Following the outburst, his bones were shaken into inch-long fragments, but his formidable regenerative ability healed them in a flash, and his strength surged anew.

Looking back at the Emperor of the Strange Octopods, he ultimately failed to withstand it, his entire body being blasted apart into a bloody pulp.

"Vile human bloodline, how could you unleash such terrifying power?" The Emperor of the Strange Octopods did not die; he shrieked, "You've blasted my true form apart—good, very good! When I return, you shall be the first one I devour!"

As his voice fell, his flesh and blood abruptly exploded, forming a torrent intended to block Jiang Ming's next wave of attacks. Then, a tiny, miniature Emperor of the Strange Octopods spun his body and drilled straight into the void out of nowhere.

"The Realm of the Heart?"

Jiang Ming saw it crystal clear.

He finally understood why Li Manman had previously said the two Strange Octopod Emperors could vanish silently without it being the Dao of Space.

This was clearly an application of the power of the heart.

Sensing the strange rhythm emitted by the Emperor of the Strange Octopods, his eyes lit up with sudden comprehension.

"Trying to run?"

Hesitating for a fraction of a second, Jiang Ming hardened his heart and plunged straight into the torrent of terrifying energy, diving headfirst after him.