Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 203: Transcend

"Bring out your sword." Song Wuya gazed at him calmly. "You've practiced swordsmanship! You used a sword to defeat the Beastfolk Fighter, the Crimson-Tooth Tiger, and even that Beastfolk Warrior! You are at your strongest with a sword!"

Li Pin paused at his words. However, out of respect for his opponent, he complied. He took up his sword and ascended the arena step by step.

This scene caused Zhao Yushi to frown. She couldn't help but glance at Song Wuya. Doesn’t he realize Li Pìn's primordial qi hasn’t fully recovered yet?

Even if Song Wuya managed to win against a weakened Li Pin, how could that prove his claim to be the best in the world?

But considering Song Wuya had also recently broken through and was not yet at his best, facing a weakened Li Pin might make for a fair match. Therefore, she chose not to comment further.

However, she took note of Li Pin, now armed with a sword. It turned out he knew swordsmanship.

If she wanted her victory to be truly deserved, she would need to face Li Pìn in his strongest form as well.

***

Song Wuya's challenge to Li Pin left many people shocked.

However, they were even more shocked when Li Pin took him up on his challenge.

As they watched Li Pin walk toward the arena with his sword, the Martial Saints in the crowd began to discuss among themselves.

"It's like an early semifinal or even a final match."

"Why is Song Wuya suddenly challenging Li Pìn? Is he even using the privilege of being a seeded contestant?"

"Who knows? I thought Song Wuya and Li Pin would face each other in the final round. It seemed likely the world champion would be decided between them, but they’re already having their match in the second round of the round-robin."

"It must be the arrogance of a swordsman at play. But I'm more curious about how good Li Pìn's swordsmanship is. His martial arts have proven to be among the strongest, but if his sword skills are also exceptional.... Given the inherent advantage of weapons...wow. His rating might need to be reassessed to a higher level."

Song Wuya's challenge to Li Pin, even demanding him to fight with his sword, caught everyone off guard, including Li Pin himself.

Standing on the stage, Li Pin looked at Song Wuya. "You really surprised me."

"I know," Song Wuya replied. "But after seeing you face the Great Sun Chosen One with raw strength, I knew I had no other choice."

"Why is that?"

"Because of..." Song Wuya's emotions wavered slightly, "fear!"

Li Pin was somewhat taken aback by this answer. "Fear?"

Not only him, even the host who had yet to leave the stage looked astonished.

Song Wuya is... afraid?

"I started learning the saber under my grandfather. He told me that a qualified swordsman should not fear anything, any object, any situation, or anyone!

"Since I began practicing the saber, I've faced countless opponents, both strong and weak. Even the Martial Saint, representing the pinnacle of martial arts, has fallen under my saber. In my lifetime, I've never known what fear or suppression feels like!"

He looked at Li Pin. "But you... you make me feel it."

"Oh."

Li Pin listened patiently.

"At twenty-three, achieving the realm of Martial Saint, you defeated Cheng Yufeng head-on. Faced with Great Sun Chosen One's attack at his strongest form, you managed to hold your ground and evenly match him with your strength... Li Pin! You are too strong! It's like a towering mountain blocking my view!"

Song Wuya gazed at Li Pin, every word sincere. "You are the first person who makes me feel that no matter how hard I try in this lifetime, I may never surpass you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Pin understood why Song Wuya challenged him.

"This feeling makes me horrified, uneasy, apprehensive, and confused."

Song Wuya slowly drew his saber. "I don't know how to resolve this problem, nor do I know how to overcome and surpass this mountain. The only thing I can do is to face you directly while I still have enough courage to draw my saber!"

A chilling Saber Intent began to emanate from him, and his words were filled with an absolute, indomitable will. "I will destroy this mountain, which is you!"

Li Pin replied heavily, "Alright! Your courage is truly admirable. Then let me see just how high this mountain of yours really is."

With that, Song Wuya cleared his mind of all distractions. At this moment, his eyes held nothing but Li Pin and... the towering mountain that embodied Li Pin.

It seemed as if his own existence was gradually becoming blurred, or rather, his own mental spirit and will were merging with the saber in his hand.

In that world, there was no longer Li Pin or Song Wuya. Only a saber, one that could tear through the heavens and cleave through the clouds, and an imposing mountain that seemed to reach the skies.

Li Pin’s secret art began to burn silently within him. "No matter how skilled a person may be, there will always be someone better. This world is never short of towering peaks. One day, someone will come and shatter this mountain of mine, and defiantly tell me that my path was wrong...."

Li Pin’s once serene body seemed to have ignited momentarily before exploding with fierce and turbulent qi and blood. Like a torrent, it flooded his entire being. "But until then, brave climber, I will use my strongest sword to honor your determination to face even the greatest difficulties without hesitation, and to climb with your saber."

Clang!

The sound of the sword echoed through the air!

The entire world lit up the moment Li Pin swung his sword. It was as if a great sun had suddenly burst through the darkened sky, pouring endless light and illuminating the world.

The light was accompanied by a terrifying, blazing flame. In the midst of it, a three-legged divine bird seemed to be soaring, emitting a soul-shaking piercing long cry.

Just as this piercing cry and the dazzling flames reached their peak, Song Wuya made his move. His saber descended from the heavens. Like a falling meteor, it left no mark; elusive and enigmatic.

The moment the saber was unleashed, it thundered through the blazing sun-like phantom that illuminated the heavens with an immense force.

The clash between the saber's light and the sword's aura sparked visible flames in the air where the two stood. An endless blaze erupted even before their weapons met.

Song Wuya’s brilliance took form in Li Pin's perception. If he was a mountain, an imposing and ancient peak standing for countless years, then at this very moment, the saber strike Song Wuya delivered was like a meteor falling from the heavens!

The power of the meteor was immense!

Following its descent, not only could it flatten mountains, but it could also shake the very tectonic plates of the continent, possibly turning seas into land.

In Li Pin's spiritual perception, this strike burned through the sky and sought to remake reality. It impaled his spiritual world, aiming to obliterate everything in its path.

Mountains, rivers, plains, forests, oceans... all were to be destroyed! Total and utter destruction!

"Such... an astonishing strike," Li Pin commented sincerely.

He didn't manage to block the strike.

Despite having infused his sword strike with the Eight Enormities True Fire Force Great Sun Golden Crow, which seemed like it was going to scorch the heavens and vaporize the oceans, he failed to block Song Wuya's blade.

The saber cleaved through his technique, its force undiminished, and plunged into his spiritual world. It felt as if everything was being shattered, both spiritually and physically, turning into nothingness.

"However, I promised you that I would show you... my strongest form...."

In that instant, the mountain, seemingly on the verge of collapse, began to rise. It grew! As if it had a life of its own, expanding rapidly.

Not just the mountain, but even the Great Sun Golden Crow contained within his sword was undergoing an astonishing transformation, from a divine beast into a true, radiant sun.

A sun that bathed all creation in its radiant glow. Under this illumination, everything seemed to soar rapidly, transcending its previous limits.

As Song Wuya descended with his heavenly saber, seeming to shatter the heavens and crush the mountains, he felt the earth tremble beneath his feet and himself shrink into insignificance.

The mountain he was about to crush beneath him grew at an incredible speed, rapidly filling his entire field of vision.

That was not all!

In the violent turbulence and roar within his spiritual world, the towering mountain seemed to grow beyond measure, reaching into the clouds. No matter how hard he tried to see, he could not see its peak.

Climb the mountain? How could he climb a mountain whose summit he could not even see?!

Rumble, rumble!

The mountain, now towering to the extreme, filled the sky. As this mountain swelled at speed, Song Wuya felt himself sliding down continuously from it, accompanied by massive rocks that tumbled down with the mountain’s rise.

These boulders, like a torrential rain, pelted down on Song Wuya. Despite his utmost effort to swing his saber and unleash the strongest strike, he could not stop the endless barrage of falling rocks.

Finally, as his saber-swinging slowed, a terrifying boulder several hundred meters in size rolled down from the mountain and crashed against his strike, violently shaking the saber he wielded.

Crack!

It seemed as though his entire spiritual world shattered!

The world before Song Wuya's eyes slowly began to collapse!

He came to the abrupt realization that his Saber Intent which he had poured his full mind, will and conviction into...

Had shattered!

With his Saber Intent shattering, the world, forged from his Martial Will and conviction, collapsed, revealing before him a great sun.

The Great Sun Infinite! A sun radiating boundless light, dominating the entire world.

Rumble, rumble!

The instant the great sun became clearly visible to him, his saber light and body were immediately consumed by its intense, limitless brilliance.