Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 173: Besiege

Li Pin's expression was ice cold.

With his senses hyper-attuned to the surroundings, he instantly tracked the sword’s trajectory as it shot through the air toward him.

As the sword cut through the air, it was accompanied by an ear-piercing whoosh. Just as it was about to pierce through Li Pin’s back, Li Pin swiftly spun around. The Lingfeng Sword moved like a streak of light, meeting the incoming blade with a powerful thrust.

Clang!

Metal clashed! Sparks flew!

The sword trembled violently from being parried by the Lingfeng Sword and was flung aside.

However... Zhao Sha’s weapon was a heavy sword, weighing over thirty pounds. The sword's gravitational potential energy and force reverberated through the collision and shook Li Pin, causing his charge to falter slightly.

Just then, a startled cry pierced the sky. "Watch out!"

Almost as soon as Li Pin turned to deflect the killing blade, the Orc Warrior, gripping its battle ax, sprang into action. With a low and sudden roar, the Orc Warrior hurled its massive, table-sized battle ax with all its might, sending it hurtling toward the nearest target—Li Pin. The ax carried with it a suffocating, foul wind as it flew.

Its sheer size, the stench it carried, and the overwhelming killing intent of a high-tier ferocious beast were enough to make every cell in the body tremble in fear....

Li Pin's expression became rigidly focused. In an instant, he entered the special state once again.

The trajectory of the incoming giant ax became crystal clear before his eyes, and then...

It slowed! It slowed and slowed until countless escape methods flashed through his mind.

However... with Zhao Sha's precisely timed sword strike, which caused him to lose his balance, coupled with the terrifying explosive force with which the Orc Warrior threw its ax, any action he took would result in injury.

Unless...

"Infinite!"

Li Pin considered the risks of entering the Great Sun Infinite transcendent state—it could leave his Vitality, Qi, and Spirit drained for days. However, at that moment, a figure that had been keeping pace beside him suddenly burst forward with incredible speed.

Su Feiyu!

She had clearly unleashed some sort of secret technique. Additionally, her proficiency in body techniques, much like Qi Feng's, allowed her to accelerate and overtake him. With a forceful thrust, she drove her sword directly into the enormous ax approaching with tremendous force.

Clang!

Sparks flew! Shockwaves erupted!

When the sword and ax met, a sound akin to a sharp spike piercing everyone's eardrums erupted.

Su Feiyu's full-speed strike, executed with unparalleled precision, had hit the side of the battle ax.

Just this exchange was enough testament to her position as a seeded candidate that the Taibai Kingdom had meticulously nurtured. The Kingdom had high hopes for her to secure a top-three position in the upcoming World's Top Martial Competition, and she certainly did not disappoint.

However... no matter how exquisite swordsmanship was, it became futile in the face of overwhelming power. Although Su Feiyu's sword had accurately intercepted the massive ax nearing her, the sheer force it carried in it, capable of crushing everything, broke her short sword on the spot.

That terrifying, violent power even engulfed her entire body, forcefully hurling her through the air. The explosive shockwave shredded the sleeve of her sword-wielding arm to smithereens. It was similar to how a frail human would fare when trying to intercept a speeding car in a foolish attempt to knock it off its course—it was nothing short of brutal!

However, Su Feiyu’s efforts weren’t entirely in vain. The massive ax she intercepted with precision was slightly deflected. Though the change in angle was minimal, Li Pin, with his keen senses, captured it precisely.

As Li Pin shifted sideways, the massive, spinning ax narrowly grazed past him with its suffocating wind pressure. The violent wind above even swept him off his feet, tearing a large hole in the front of his garment. Yet, Li Pin let himself be swept up by the violent wind. With a twist of his body and a series of agile movements, he quickly regained his balance.

He didn't look at Su Feiyu but quickly focused on Zhao Sha, Poison Fang, and Green Bird. "You guys... are dead."

"Haha, well said." Zhao Sha burst into laughter. "Even though this is just a competition, it's not uncommon to encounter a high-tier ferocious beast, the Orc Warrior. Losing a few people, or even a dozen, to it is perfectly normal. Even if everyone perished, no one would suspect a thing."

With a laugh, he drew a short sword barely half a meter long and held it in a reverse grip.

"This sword's name is the Soul Breaker. It was forged from the Astral Crystal of a ferocious beast I personally slayed. Come... let me, Zhao Sha, see what you, the so-called twenty-three-year-old martial arts prodigy, are capable of—"

"Enough talk, finish him quickly!" Poison Fang interrupted Zhao Sha with a low growl before he could finish.

Poison Fang then lunged forward and struck without hesitation.

Green Bird glanced at Su Feiyu, whose arm was drenched in blood and clearly unable to fight, and smiled. "Now, it's three against one."

Three against one!

Even if it had been Zhao Yushi, the Great Sun Chosen One, or Cheng Yufeng, the trio would dare to kill them on the spot, let alone Li Pin.

Despite holding an absolute advantage in this battle, Green Bird still brandished a pair of Emei Twin Daggers and joined the battle. The three moved in for a coordinated assault on Li Pin.[1]

As the saying goes, "Even a lion uses all its strength to catch a rabbit."

Li Pin, holding his sword with one arm, coldly eyed the three closing in on him and took a step back, seemingly trying to draw them apart.

"Go kill that woman first!" commanded Poison Fang without hesitation when he saw Li Pin’s actions. “Both of them must die today."

He knew very well that not a single soul should ever come to know that this fight had ever taken place.

Zhao Sha's eyes flashed with understanding. Grasping Poison Fang's true intent, he immediately turned toward Su Feiyu.

Li Pin raised his sword with both hands and held it above his shoulder. "You're really in a rush to die."

In the next moment, a surge of violent qi and blood erupted from his body.

Using the Blood-Seething Secret Art, Li Pin transformed into a streak of crimson lightning as he lunged forward. The intense friction between his sword and the air created a piercing screech, while layers of white waves burst from the sword's edge. The sharp sword intent that followed seemed ready to pierce Poison Fang from a distance.

Even before the sword arrived, Poison Fang's scalp was already tingling!

"Great Black Mist!"

With a low growl, Poison Fang's figure seemingly dissolved into mist, causing Li Pin's lightning-fast thrust to strike only empty air. The sheer force of the Lingfeng Sword's blade nearly shredded Poison Fang's clothes, but his expression remained unchanged as death brushed past him. This was not his first time walking the line between life and death.

The instant Poison Fang narrowly dodged Li Pin's thunderous strike, Poison Fang twisted his waist and used the momentum to whip his dagger forward in a lightning-fast stab.

He aimed directly at Li Pin's neck as they crossed paths, seizing the opportunity from Li Pin's missed attack with the same precision and danger Li Pin had once demonstrated when hunting the Crimson-Tooth Tiger and Orc Fighter.

Poison Fang might be fast, but Li Pin was even more so.

As Poison Fang dodged his thrust and launched his counterattack, Li Pin bent his knees and dropped down, allowing Poison Fang's dagger to fly over his head. Before Poison Fang could respond with another move, Li Pin executed a fierce sideways shift. Using his body as a weapon, he slammed his shoulder into Poison Fang.

At the moment of impact, Li Pin abruptly straightened both his bent knees like compressed springs, releasing all the stored power into the collision.

In that split second, life and death were at stake.

Bang!

A heavy sound reverberated as a violent shockwave surged through Poison Fang. The Quasi-Martial Saint, who had faced countless life-and-death battles, saw himself become horrified.

Realizing that the best outcome for him was to be thrown back and incapacitated by the force of Li Pin's attack, Poison Fang's eyes flashed with a fierce resolve. He knew he had to act before the explosive force could fully spread through his body.

He quickly withdrew the dagger that had fallen into the empty space, gathered his remaining strength, and aimed it viciously toward Li Pin's head.

"Die!"

In this narrow encounter, where both sides risked everything, Poison Fang was willing to trade injury for death. Even if his chest were shattered, he was determined to drag Li Pin down with him.

Crack!

Bones shattered.

Poison Fang's chest caved in as several ribs broke under the impact. It was as if he had been struck by a speeding car, violently thrown back, and crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Simultaneously, the dagger he had fiercely thrust downward nearly pierced through Li Pin's head. However, the force of the collision had already flung Poison Fang away, causing the dagger to slice just past Li Pin's head, taking a few strands of black hair with it.

This was the essence of a duel between martial artists. Life and death hung by a thread.

A single advantage could turn the tide of battle.

Li Pin's gaze didn’t waver. As Poison Fang was sent flying, he advanced swiftly, switching the sword to his left hand. The muscles in his left arm tensed, and with a surge of boiling qi and blood coursing through his arm, he unleashed a stunning crescent slash.

Clang!

Sparks flew.

An ear-piercing wave of sound erupted as Li Pin's arcing slash clashed directly with Zhao Sha's descending short sword.

The Quasi-Martial Saint had appeared to be heading straight for Su Feiyu to kill her, but their real target had always been one person, Li Pin.

Killing Su Feiyu was merely a tactic to force Li Pin into combat with the three of them. Su Feiyu was already severely injured, so killing her was a matter of time. But Li Pin...

If Li Pin chose to flee instead of facing them, he could rat on them to the committee. Given their brutality toward other contestants, at best they’d be disqualified; at worst, they’d face even death.

Therefore, Li Pin and Su Feiyu had to die.

The flying sparks and Li Pin's icy expression created a stark contrast.

His expression remained unchanged. After blocking Zhao Sha's attack with a single sword strike, his right hand moved with lightning speed.

Fast! Extremely fast!

This speed even surpassed the Emei Twin Dagger Green Bird launched simultaneously.

His hand was almost brushing against the Emei Twin Dagger as he precisely cut into her arm. Leveraging his longer reach, his fingers spread wide and clamped down hard on her wrist.

Crack!

As soon as his fingers dug into Green Bird's wrist, they seemed to turn into steel pincers, instantly shattering the bones in her wrist.

Despite being a Quasi-Martial Saint who had experienced countless battles, Green Bird's face turned pale from the intense pain, and a flash of fear appeared in her eyes.

1. Emei is a famous mountain in Sichuan Province in China, and one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China, using it in this context refers to a Chinese martial art which originates from that region. ☜