Chapter 446: 164
A seemingly ordinary finger, yet its tip appeared to possess a black hole, capable of soul-snatching, capturing heart, and annihilation of consciousness, filling the view, seemingly about to suck in one’s divine soul and utterly erase awareness.
This was the finger of a third-rank strong person! It was the finger of Karma Tathagata, the master of Great Freedom Heaven!
Facing this finger, no one below the third rank could defend against it, and Hui Neng was no exception. He felt his divine soul stir, about to break free and plunge into the black hole at the fingertip, there to be obliterated completely.
Just at that moment—
"Boom!"
A colossal sound came from the distant horizon, the sound waves trembled, forming copious waves that surged boundlessly.
The figure of "Karma Tathagata" also seemed to be affected by the sound waves, showing obvious fluctuations. Hui Neng’s mind steadied, and he immediately formed the Zen Meditation Seal with his hands, shouting loudly, "Stabilize!"
The tumultuous mind was forcibly calmed, the figure of "Karma Tathagata" suddenly halted, then shattered like a mirage, revealing the figure of Jiang Li.
Furthermore, Hui Neng discovered that part of his Primordial Spirit had already begun to leave his body and might completely separate the next moment.
"The monk has good fortune and strong stabilizing power,"
Jiang Li lamented as he slowly lowered his right hand, "If it were a few moments later, you would have separated soul and body, and then the secrets of Buddha Country would have completely opened to me."
Previously, Jiang Li had detected flaws in Hui Neng’s Mental State and thus shook his mind, stirring the Heart Demon to attack him with his own fears.
This was a combination of the Heart Demon Secret Sword and the Moluo Sword Manual, not turning one’s own thoughts from the imaginary to reality, but rather projecting the opponent’s Heart Demon into the real world, creating a strange Demon Realm.
At that moment, Hui Neng thought of Karma Tathagata, and Karma Tathagata immediately materialized, pointing a finger at Hui Neng.
That finger was indeed a third-grade finger, because that’s what Hui Neng believed. The finger that merged illusion with reality, seemed fake yet real; if Hui Neng couldn’t break free, he would be defeated as though struck by Karma Tathagata’s finger, soul and body split apart.
But in reality, everything was false, and it might be said that rather than being extracted by a finger, it was he himself who actively let his Divine Soul leave the body.
Even if he possessed "Buddha’s Scripture of the Strongman Moving Mountains" and had a powerful physical body, if one voluntarily separates soul and body, then even the strongest physical body would be useless.
Unfortunately, a resounding boom disrupted the situation, causing Hui Neng to wake up with resolution.
And he was indeed worthy of being the second disciple of the Awakened One, seizing this fleeting opportunity to stabilize his mind and shatter Jiang Li’s strange technique.
Now his mind was stable and alert; if Jiang Li wanted to defeat him, he would have to do it through sheer force.
"Your Heart Demon Sword has indeed greatly opened this young monk’s eyes," Hui Neng said with his hands clasped together, his expression solemn.
The person before him was just like a second Karma Tathagata, not only having made progress with the "Moluo Sword Manual" in a short time but more importantly, his eye power to penetrate the human heart, utilizing the methods of the Heart Demon.
Any flaw in the heart could possibly be exploited, and if he wanted to kill someone, the victim might not even know how they died.
"Boom!"
The thunderous sound came again, mixed with the roar of raging torrents. Dark clouds rolled and expanded wildly from afar. The sky above grew increasingly overcast, with chilling winds howling, carrying a cold deadliness.
"Ah!"
Li An suddenly exclaimed in shock, looking toward the distance with a terrified face.
Jiang Li and Hui Neng also looked over at the same time, only to see behind a distant mountain, a monstrous head the size of a small mountain rising up, its fierce and violent aura spreading like a canopy covering the sky. Even separated by at least hundreds of miles, one could feel that terrifying ferocity.
With a flattened nose and bulging forehead, he looked like an enlarged monkey, his head covered in white hair, and his two eyes radiating a ghostly blue glow, like two deep pools.
The giant head continued to rise until his chest, covered in blue hair, was exposed before he finally stopped, his large hand fiercely grasping the nearby mountain peak and emitting a thunderous roar.
"Yin Xiao’er, you dare to obstruct me!"
The palm pressed down on the mountain peak, and the mountain body began to sink. The tremors spread far and wide, cracking the earth and causing fierce torrents to spurt out wherever they passed.
The riverbank beneath Jiang Li’s feet shook violently, collapsing a large section; the calmed floodwaters surged once again, as if enraged flood dragons were churning within them, and the flood spread to the shore.
"Pfft—"
Li An suddenly coughed up blood, his face filled with shock, "The water veins, Qi Yang River’s water veins have been shattered."
Li An was the River God of Qi Yang River. With the water veins shattered, he bore the brunt of the impact as the River God and immediately suffered backlash, vomiting fresh blood.
What’s more, the river was now out of control and overflowing.
The previously subdued flood roared and surged once again. Li An, as a River God, was now powerless to stop it.
And this was only what could be seen at the moment.
Further afield, numerous rivers also erupted in turmoil, and floods spread disastrously.
This single shake from the enraged ape had shattered at least dozens of water veins; countless places were about to suffer calamity.
"Wuzhiqi, you’re courting death!"
A thunderous shout rang out from the sky in front of the enraged ape. A spear appeared in the air; one became ten, ten became a hundred, and hundreds of thousands of spears rained down like a storm, each as powerful as thunder and lightning, causing mountains to collapse and earthquakes upon impact.
"What can you do to me?"
The giant ape laughed wildly and directly uprooted the mountain top it was holding, smashing it into the sky and knocking down countless spears.
But in the next moment, it was smashed by an immense force.
A figure in midair grew from small to large, soon standing dozens of meters tall, with three heads and six arms, wielding all sorts of weapons, and striking down at the giant ape.
The giant ape stretched out its hand to summon a torrent of water, which formed a colossal Water Sword, waving it to create flood-like Sword Flows that blocked the offensive. With a somersault, devoid of any clumsiness despite its massive form, it landed on a large mountain.
Only then did the giant ape fully reveal itself; by mere sight, it was nearly a hundred yards tall. Its movements were akin to a natural disaster in human form.
The giant ape wielded its sword, its movements like surging waves, countering the attacks that came like a violent storm. Their battle raged on, with each move powerful enough to shatter mountains. Everywhere they went, the ground crumbled, mountains were destroyed, and dust filled the air.
Wuzhiqi continued to battle while retreating, darting around like lightning, expanding the scope of the battlefield, causing incessant tremors and floods to overflow.
With the riverbank of Qi Yang River half-destroyed, nothing could stop the oncoming waves as they surged toward Jiang Li standing on the riverbank.
"Clang—"
Sword Light flashed, parting the waves, utterly unable to approach Jiang Li.
He watched the sweeping waves, his brow furrowed. Unleashing Sword Light, a streak of Sword Light shot forth, slicing through the flood, and carving a long trench forward. The water backflowed, temporarily diminishing the overflowing rivers’ rushing momentum.
However, at that moment, a brilliant Buddha Light traversed the sky, with a person inside it. Upon seeing this scene, he immediately shouted, "Brazen evil being, daring to cause floods and harm the people!"