Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Catastrophe of Shattered Flesh (2)

The notion of inevitability left Jiang Feng with a sense of frustration. He knew he was about to be thrust into a fierce struggle—one that would be far removed from the earlier scene where he had vanquished Xue Qiming with such might and valor.

Fang Ping unleashed his “Poseidon Incarnation.” The nether energy within his body began to transform into mist, and in an instant, waves crashed all around—spray, surging water, and a thick, inexorable force battered Jiang Feng’s confidence. Within this surging tide, Jiang Feng seemed to glimpse the shadow of the myriad wonders of the underworld; in the depths of the sea, he thought he saw towering palaces, enchanting vistas, and even several divine dragons gliding through the water.

Jiang Feng was completely trapped.

Though he had become ever more adept at using the Xuantian Return-to-Spirit Armor, he no longer possessed the confidence to withstand Fang Ping’s nether arts head-on. Every so often, he struck at his watery prison with the Xuantian Divine Palm, but every attack was absorbed—none so much as caused a ripple of suspense.

All those present could see it clearly: Jiang Feng had fallen entirely into a disadvantage, while Fang Ping was in complete control.

“What’s going on? How did Jiang Feng suddenly become so weak?” Duan Xingyun asked in disbelief.

“I noticed it long ago,” Fang Yichen replied with a faint smile. “Jiang Feng’s nether energy is almost spent. He’s already at the ninth stage of Nether Warrior—just a step away from the Void Nether Realm. Although breaking through from the ninth stage to the Void Nether Realm doesn’t bring a calamity of cosmic magnitude, it does trigger a bodily catastrophe. If he overexerts his nether energy, he won’t be able to control that disaster. Once it erupts, he’ll hardly be able to save himself, let alone win the match. I suspect that’s exactly what he’s worried about—so he dares not go all out.”

“That’s right,” another agreed. “The breakthrough from the ninth stage to the Void Nether Realm indeed brings the risk of a bodily catastrophe. Xingyun, when you broke through, you were under our careful watch, and only thus did we help you suppress the calamity. But now, Jiang Feng’s nether energy is so abundant that it defies cultivation norms. If the calamity is triggered, he’ll be wiped out, body and soul.”

He glanced at Jiang Yuehai, whose face was ashen, and quickly corrected himself, “But this is also an opportunity.”

“An opportunity? What kind?” Duan Xingyun’s eyes lit up.

Xuan Xingzi looked again at Jiang Feng, trapped in the watery cage, and said with a smile, “Given Jiang Feng’s situation, his nether energy has coexisted in his body for so long that, under normal circumstances, a calamity would almost certainly befall him. But his opponent is Fang Ping. In the face of death, people summon forth extraordinary strength. Perhaps, under this pressure, he might just survive the bodily catastrophe.”

“Master, you mean that only by awakening all his potential under immense pressure—braving the bodily catastrophe—does Jiang Feng have any chance of winning?” Duan Xingyun was taken aback. “But that’s too risky. With his current prowess, it’s simply not worth the gamble.”

He was right. Jiang Feng’s cultivation was enviable anywhere. If he forced the catastrophe and failed, it would be a pointless loss—not just for the Jiang family, but for the whole of Jiuyan Town.

“If he doesn’t take the risk, do you think he can pass the bodily catastrophe unscathed?” Jiang Yuehai said with a fierce glint in his eyes, making Duan Xingyun shudder. “Even if we old fellows joined forces, we might not be able to stabilize the nether energy raging within him. Without the pressure to awaken all his potential, he stands no chance of a breakthrough. Your master is right—his nether energy truly defies the heavens. Who at the ninth stage ever possessed the nether energy of a third-stage Void Nether master? If the catastrophe comes about in mundane circumstances, there’s no surviving it. Should it erupt, his whole body will become the source of the explosion—how are we to save him? In that instant, he’ll be reduced to ashes, inside and out!”

Duan Xingyun had not expected the usually protective Jiang Yuehai to let Jiang Feng face such a trial on his own at this crucial moment.

Upon reflection, though, Duan Xingyun understood. Jiang Feng’s cultivation was a marvel in a century. If he could not seize his own fate, no one else could change it for him.

Xuan Xingzi sighed. “Elder Jiang speaks the truth. When we faced our own bodily catastrophes in youth, which of us wasn’t trembling with dread? The higher the realm, the greater the calamity. That is the law of cultivation and the heavens. It cannot be defied. I remember when I faced my own catastrophe, I was out on a mission, with nothing but a single Great Yuan Pill—no proper tribulation elixirs at all. My master, to help me survive, expended immense nether power to shield me. Even so, I barely escaped with my life, my body torn apart, blood and flesh everywhere. If not for my master stabilizing my soul, I would not stand here today.”

Duan Xingyun listened, his heart pounding. He recalled his own breakthrough, but with so many elders of the Langya Chamber of Commerce guarding him, he had faced no real danger. Only now did he realize how terrifying a tribulation could be.

“If Jiang Feng survives this catastrophe, one day he will surpass us all. No wonder, despite all his mistakes, Elder Jiang still holds him in such esteem.” Xuan Xingzi kept this thought to himself as he glanced at the other family heads, each wearing an expression of envy, jealousy, and resentment. But when his gaze fell on Fang Yichen, he was surprised. Fang Yichen wore an eerie smile—on his usually solemn, dignified face it looked especially unsettling, sending a chill down one’s spine.

“Why does Master Yichen seem so pleased? Does he wish to see Jiang Feng die here?” Xuan Xingzi wondered, drifting into thought.

Within the watery prison, Jue gradually discerned the truth. Each time Jiang Feng had to use vast nether energy to resist the water pressure, he seemed to hold back, never daring to unleash his full strength. Jue asked, “Boy, what’s wrong? Are you unwell?”

“I can only use thirty percent of my power! It’s maddening. If I could use it all, I’d shatter this watery tomb to pieces. Why struggle here?” Jiang Feng replied grimly. “Some of my nether energy is completely out of control. I don’t know why. I have to use all my will to keep it suppressed, so I can only draw on a third of my strength.”

Jue was startled. He emerged within the sea of consciousness, examined the flow of nether energy throughout Jiang Feng’s body, and his face changed dramatically. “Boy, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“The good news,” Jiang Feng answered instinctively, desperate for any comfort.

“You’re on the verge of a breakthrough. If you succeed, you’ll step into the Void Nether Realm—a whole new world.” Jue’s voice trembled with longing for the Void Nether, a realm that now seemed remote to him, but entering it would mean a surge not only in Jiang Feng’s nether energy, but perhaps also his soul force.

Delight burst from Jiang Feng. He had always envied Duan Xingyun’s cultivation—sixth stage Void Nether. How long would he have to train to even glimpse that realm? Now, according to Jue, he was about to step into it himself.

But unease quickly crept in. Jue had said, if the breakthrough succeeded. But what if it failed?

A wave of dread nearly suffocated him. He asked, “And if I don’t succeed?”

Jue gave a bitter smile. “That’s the bad news. Your nether energy is simply too abundant. If you fail, you’ll trigger a bodily catastrophe. Even a normal one is dangerous, but with your current cultivation, it’s almost certain death!”

A matter of life and death!

Jiang Feng knew well the weight of those words. He had survived the Sandfall once—the terror of it was still fresh in memory. If he triggered a bodily catastrophe now, he could not count on another stroke of luck.

“This is the worst possible timing...”

His nether energy was indeed immense, rivaling even a sixth-stage Void Nether master. But if he forced the breakthrough and set off the catastrophe, it would be catastrophic. And with only thirty percent of his strength under control, he could not wield the power of the Rivers and Mountains Bottle. If he tried, the artifact would backfire, his nether energy would run wild, and the catastrophe would surely come.

Yet though suppressed, Jiang Feng’s eyes now gleamed with a ferocious light. Anyone who saw the murderous intent in his gaze would be chilled to the bone. At this moment, Jiang Feng seemed a devil risen from the underworld—ready to devour anything in his path, a beast of the plains that would never let its prey escape.

“Ha, Jiang Feng looks thoroughly soaked in that watery cage,” Xuan Xingzi remarked, unfazed. “Fang Ping’s nether energy is remarkable, able to manifest the power of water. That Poseidon Incarnation is a rare art.”

Fang Yichen pressed his palms together, his face thick with feigned humility. “You praise me too much, Brother Xuan Xingzi.”

“Jiang Feng, it seems you’ve lost your savagery—only brutality remains. Is it because your nether energy is too full and you’re facing a bodily catastrophe? I’ve killed many like you. Slaying them before their calamity strikes—standing above the wrath of heaven itself—is truly intoxicating.”