Chapter Ninety-Four: Fighting the Human Lightning Bolt Again

The Pure Yang Hall was split in two by a single sword, with countless dead and wounded.

The Diamond Temple was blasted into a abyss by one punch; who knew how many survived?

At the Orthodox Heart Sect, Jiang Ming’s killing intent burned even fiercer. As the foremost of the righteous path, its two supreme experts ought to have been slaying demons and eradicating evil, yet they had done otherwise and deserved death all the more; they were nearly wiped out to the last man.

The Demon King Sect was swept away, utterly annihilated save for those who happened to be away.

The Lunar Palace—destroyed.

Within the imperial city:

The tyrant-emperor was slain, the treacherous ministers butchered.

The strongest in the palace were almost exterminated in one slaughter, leaving only a prince of somewhat decent repute. As for the officials, a brief probing with soul-deluding arts was enough to trigger a bloodbath across the imperial city.

It was not until the following afternoon that Jiang Ming returned to Bright Moon City.

At the manor:

“Hongyi! I’ve already bathed the world in blood, cut down all the powerful, and even slain the old emperor. Do you want to be an empress?”

“No! I only want to cultivate, and one day smash through the void with my fists and follow in your footsteps. If I became empress, I’d have to shoulder the world, and then I’d probably have no time left to cultivate.”

“Yunshuang, what about you?”

“I don’t want to either. It’s boring!”

“All right then.” Jiang Ming gave a helpless smile. “To prevent the world from falling into chaos, we’ll first send the powerful in the city out to garrison the various regions, and also spread martial arts throughout the land, teaching the common people. I truly hope that everyone may rise like a dragon, and that demons and monsters will be suppressed forever.”

“Everyone rise like a dragon?” Yan Hongyi was stunned. A look of longing appeared in her eyes before she hesitantly asked, “Brother Jiang, can everyone really rise like a dragon?”

“Of course.”

“How would we do it?”

“A proper system. Open channels for the common people to rise. Found academies. Enlighten the people. Spread martial arts across the world. Improve the economy and livelihoods, and so on.” As Jiang Ming spoke, thoughts flowed through his mind. In the end, he pressed a finger to Yan Hongyi’s brow, leaving her dazed for a long while.

After more than half an hour, she finally came back to herself. The way she looked at Jiang Ming had changed, and brilliant light blazed in her eyes. “Brother Jiang, if we follow the method you taught me, it might really be possible for everyone to rise like a dragon. It will take a long time, but there is truly hope! Also, also—once the empire operates smoothly and we implement a cabinet system, the emperor himself will be freed.”

She sounded hesitant, uncertain, yet eager to try.

“Moved by the idea?”

“I am! I come from humble beginnings, and I know the hardships of the common people. Though I was later taken to the Lunar Palace, I have always wanted to do something for the world. Only—only, Brother Jiang, I’m afraid I won’t do it well.”

“You’ll only know if you do it. If you never do, it will never be good. With the methods I’ve taught you, no matter how bad it gets, how bad can it possibly be? Besides, I’ve already sorted through the world’s strong once. In three months, I’ll do it again. By then, Bright Moon City will hold the strongest force in the entire world. That will be your confidence and your foundation.”

“Brother Jiang, I’ll do it. And I’ll also establish a sacred ground for martial cultivation, to nurture more and more experts who can break the void and ascend, so they can assist you in the future!”

“Haha, you’re thinking far too ahead.”

Jiang Ming could not help but laugh.

He also thought of the Ninth Princess, Flame Phoenix—that was the first empress he had nurtured—along with Honeysuckle and Little Lan.

He wondered how they were doing.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Ming began examining the Mind-Stilling Mirror and the Emperor Sword, two highly unusual weapons.

According to the records, they had been passed down from antiquity.

Antiquity?

Jiang Ming found this puzzling.

If they truly came from such ancient times, then where was the method by which they had been forged?

With a single glance, the Mind-Stilling Mirror could immobilize an astral spirit’s dharma form, leaving it unable to move and at the mercy of others.

“It’s still not strong enough. Otherwise, if it could truly freeze someone in place so they couldn’t move at all, then it would be truly invincible.”

Jiang Ming sighed.

As for the Emperor Sword, he discovered within it a surge of imperial aura, along with an incomparably sharp and indestructible edge. It was like the essence of sharpness, yet far more profound and unfathomable.

“This is the true essence of sharpness.”

Jiang Ming came to a sudden realization.

It was a higher level of dao resonance, a further sublimation of conceptual power, a deeper mystery of heaven and earth, containing genuine, unbreakable force.

“If I could take it with me, it would indeed be a pair of formidable weapons. What a pity.”

Jiang Ming shook his head helplessly.

He gave the Emperor Sword to Yan Hongyi and placed the Mind-Stilling Mirror under Yunshuang’s management. In addition, he arranged several divine weapons and other treasures for Yan Hongyi.

After that day, the world was shaken.

All eight peak experts had been killed. The Pure Yang Hall, the Diamond Temple, and the rest had been destroyed. The imperial city had been drenched in blood, and the old emperor was dead...

Each of these events was earthshattering, so unbelievable that they seemed like a dream.

Had the world’s top powers not been thoroughly bloodwashed?

The remaining minor factions and various families were all stricken with fear. They hastened to send tribute to Bright Moon City and strictly restrained the younger members of their clans.

When the common people gradually heard the news, they were all overjoyed and spread the word everywhere: Jiang Ming was a saint of the present age.

Soon after, Hongyi led a force straight into the imperial city and forcibly seized the throne with overwhelming strength. Those who refused her were legion; even the border armies stirred. Yet after Jiang Ming swept through them in one pass, they all became obedient.

Yan Hongyi’s first step was to reorganize the army. Using the personnel of Bright Moon City as the foundation, she gradually seized control of power. But to command the whole world as though it were an extension of her own arm would inevitably be a long process.

Time flowed on.

Jiang Ming also frequently sent his astral spirit roaming the world. He traversed deep mountains, old forests, rivers, lakes, and seas more than once, and whenever he encountered powerful demons or monsters, he destroyed them all.

Only after sorting through the world from beginning to end several times did he finally feel at ease.

One day, outside the imperial city:

“Jiang, are you really going to challenge the might of heaven?” Yan Hongyi, now already quite imposing, was nonetheless deeply worried at this moment.

Yunshuang was the same.

Liu Li had followed along as well.

Along with them came a group including Ashfall and others.

“This step must be taken. Otherwise, none of you will be able to break the void, let alone ascend.” Jiang Ming raised his head to the moon, while the power lying dormant within him began to awaken at high speed.

Having understood the past, he discovered that although beings from beyond the domain had descended into this world, they had never broken its heavenly restraints, and there had never been anyone who ascended.

If he did not break those restraints, then it would only become even harder for Yan Hongyi and the others in the future.

In truth, he himself had no certainty, because his cultivation had not yet reached the sixth realm.

Now there was just over a month left before the five-year deadline. He intended to test it first.

His gaze sharpened, and an information screen appeared before him:

Name: Jiang Ming

Qi Cultivation: Fifth Layer (Grandmaster, Yin-Yang Scripture)

Body Cultivation: Fourth Transformation (Dragon-Serpent Suppressing Heaven Skill)

Spirit Cultivation: Fifth Rank (Dharma Form, Yin-Yang Spirit Refining Scripture)

Techniques: Myriad Swords Returning to the Origin, Three Swords of Immortals’ Slaughter, Horizon Step, Inch Fist (Nine Layers), Yin-Yang Sealing Arts, Spirit-Servant Art, Sword Controlling Art, and others.

Talent: Hundredfold Comprehension, Nirvana Rebirth, Soul Sovereign, Master of Space, Master of Fate.

Quest: Become the Federation’s top martial scholar in the final stage of the martial examination; as a Qi cultivator, open three hundred and sixty-five acupoints upon reaching the fifth major level.

Not much had changed.

Spirit cultivation still remained at the fifth rank. Perhaps because he had been continuously tempering his physique and opening acupoints, his path of soul cultivation had not broken through.

Body cultivation was relatively slow to cultivate again from the beginning.

Especially when tempering the internal organs, he had to wash them in true qi, nourish them with precious medicines, and even deduce corresponding breathing methods. Only then did he gradually and step by step strengthen the five viscera and six bowels, ultimately forging a body of steel-like organs, immensely powerful.

He had also truly entered the Fourth Transformation and was now tempering the marrow channels.

This was the Marrow-Cleansing Realm.

As he cultivated, specks of silver light began to appear within the marrow channels.

That reminded Jiang Ming of a saying: marrow like silver frost.

It was still not yet complete.

Even so, his strength had increased by nearly a hundredfold compared to his former Fourth Transformation.

The terror of it exceeded imagination.

Most of the reason was that his bones and sinews had been tempered to the realm of jade bones, and as a result the internal organs and marrow cleansing had further unlocked their potential, pushing his fleshly body to an extreme.

Then there was the matter of opening the acupoints within his body.

He had only completed two hundred and ten so far.

On the surface, that seemed slow compared with others, after all Yan Hongyi had already opened a full one hundred and twenty.

But in reality?

It was unimaginably fast.

Because each acupoint held a spatial area of ten zhang across. After opening it, he still had to absorb the world’s primordial energy, transform it, and condense his own true qi to fill it completely. This was an enormous undertaking.

In addition, he also had to set aside time to continue comprehending the essence of concepts and deducing secret techniques and peerless arts.

At times, even when Yunshuang was being intimate with him, he would feel that it was a waste of time.

“If not for the secret realm, where I could gather countless tonics to aid my cultivation, who knows how long it would have taken to reach my present state.”

Jiang Ming turned the thought over in his mind, then sprang toward the distance.

His entire aura also surged beyond the heavens, distorting the void.

“Open for me!”

One punch smashed the night sky apart. Dense cracks appeared in the firmament, and from within them leaked a destructive aura so terrifying that merely seeing it made one’s scalp tingle, while feeling the horror within it made one’s soul tremble.

It seemed Jiang Ming’s power had reached the limit this world could bear. Immediately, dark clouds gathered overhead, thunder rolled, and they revolved around the sky above Jiang Ming’s head.

This sight left Yan Hongyi and the others aghast.

Jiang Ming, however, remained perfectly calm.

He had already experienced this once.

Black clouds surged, and thunder serpents darted through them.

The vortex grew larger and larger, until at last it formed a vortex eye ringed with lightning. From within it stepped out a figure crackling with electric radiance.

It landed directly before Jiang Ming.

Arcs of lightning coiled around its body, and its formidable aura pressed the earth down by an inch, causing Yan Hongyi and the others in the distance to retreat involuntarily.

Its momentum was far too strong.

Even Jiang Ming’s brow twitched.

The next instant, his expression changed dramatically, because the humanoid lightning had activated heavenly suppression. Yet this time the pressure was far too intense, even carrying lightning with it and spreading in all directions to form a forbidden domain.

The terrifying pressure made his spirit tremble.

“Why is your heavenly suppression so strong?” Jiang Ming could not help asking. He had thought the other party would ignore him and attack directly, but to his surprise the humanoid lightning actually spoke.

“The strength of heavenly suppression is related to the strength of one’s concept. It is also related to the degree to which that concept has fused with heaven and earth, and to how many acupoints have been opened within the body, as well as their size.”

Its tone was faint and devoid of emotion, yet Jiang Ming’s pupils contracted, countless thoughts flashing through his mind in an instant.

He also understood what the other meant; Old Tang had once said something similar.

It was just that the Heaven-Manifestation experts he had encountered before did not seem to have particularly strong pressure. Now he finally had true insight.

Whether it was Yin Kaishan or Zhang Yangzi and the rest, they must not have opened many acupoints.

Using acupoints as the vessel and will as the core, wielding conceptual power to reflect the heart of heaven, one would obtain the corresponding heavenly suppression.

The more acupoints one opened and the larger the space within them, the more thoroughly one could prove the resonance of the heavenly heart. The stronger the concept, the same applied.

To use my heart to verify the heart of heaven is itself a gradual process. From a trace, to a wisp, to one imprint after another, only when the concept governed by one’s own will fully inscribes itself into the void and reflects within the body’s acupoints can it be considered complete.

The extent to which Yin Kaishan and the others had fused their concepts into heaven and earth’s resonance was probably not great either.

“They should all be in the early Heaven-Manifestation stage. The blue-robed man inside the Tower of Heaven-Opening should be the same!”

Jiang Ming had figured it out completely.

As for the humanoid lightning before him?

It was surely an existence at the peak of Heaven-Manifestation.

Had it opened all three hundred and sixty-five acupoints?

Had its will completely merged with the void’s resonance?

Thunder concept?

That was not merely strong.

Jiang Ming voiced his thoughts, also saying them for Yan Hongyi and the others to hear.

“Indeed. The stronger the foundation, the stronger the heavenly suppression.” As soon as it finished speaking, the humanoid lightning grabbed, and a thunderblade appeared in its hand as it slashed down at Jiang Ming.

At the same time, heavenly suppression pressed from all sides, making Jiang Ming feel as though he had sunk into a swamp.

“World, descend!”

Jiang Ming activated the world concept, fusing in the yin-yang and five-element concepts as well. It became a realm of his own, yet could only barely withstand the other’s heavenly suppression.

Immediately afterward, the world realm was cleaved open by a single blade, and Jiang Ming was sent staggering back.

“So strong!”

Shock filled his face.

Facing the humanoid lightning was far more terrifying than when he had faced Yin Kaishan and the eight other experts.

“Again!”

Blood surged hot within Jiang Ming as he took the initiative to kill forward.

He unleashed a host of sword forms and could in fact barely fight the opponent to a standstill.

The two of them battled fiercely; the heavens roared, and the earth split apart.

Yan Hongyi and the others watching were all struck pale with terror, retreating again and again. Even so, when they saw the pits and cracks spreading to their feet, they could not help feeling a chill in their hearts.

Too strong.

Jiang Ming was stronger than they had ever imagined.

The humanoid lightning was even more monstrously powerful, and it understood what Jiang Ming had said: if he could not break heaven and earth’s restraints, then who else in the future could?

At last, he unleashed the Space Sword, nearly shattering the humanoid lightning’s form.

But in the next moment, Jiang Ming’s pupils narrowed to pinpricks, because with a single slash, the other had actually fused heavenly suppression completely into the blade.

Lightning flashed and thunder cracked; its might had increased by at least tenfold.

“This is the heavenly suppression of Heaven-Manifestation controlled to the extreme!”

“Three Swords of Immortals’ Slaughter!”

Jiang Ming erupted as well, but his overwhelming sword strike was still sent flying by the other.

Though he was not injured, he could not help feeling shaken.

“So this is the essence of the power of heaven and earth?”

Jiang Ming’s blood boiled as he charged again.

Even the Bright Moon Sword could not withstand that terrifying force of destruction and shattered apart. He then met the enemy with his bare fists, his blood qi surging and filling the sky.

Lightning flashed and drowned them both.

They fought until dawn, and only then did Jiang Ming finally blast the opponent apart.

It was too difficult.

Even he himself had sustained quite a few wounds.

“After I kill the first humanoid lightning, the world’s restraints will disappear. As for the second and third, they should be reward trials!”

Jiang Ming had already read much about such situations before coming to this world, and with the hints he had received from Old Tang and Old Song, it was not hard to guess.

Rumble...

Above him, thunderclouds churned and the vortex shook the heavens.

Then another humanoid lightning descended, nearly identical to the first, only even more formidable.

So formidable that Jiang Ming’s heart trembled.

At the same time, three hundred and sixty-five points of light shone around its body. Those were clearly acupoints, a humanoid lightning that had opened all the acupoints of the Zhou Tian cycle.

To the left, wild winds swept; to the right, thunder poured down like a waterfall.

“Two concepts!”

Jiang Ming narrowed his eyes.

Yet the next instant, his body suddenly sank as if the heavens had collapsed upon him. His back bent, and he felt as though he could hardly breathe.

He could not help but show a look of horror.