Chapter 166: Capability

The human and the tiger kept on crossing paths. The entire process could be described as happening at the speed of light. It was overwhelmingly fast. This extremely simple movement wouldn't lose out to any blade or bullet.

It was a testament to a practitioner's absolute trust in their capabilities and the ability to predict the opponent's next moves!

And the current situation proved that...

Li Pin had the capability that matched up to his confidence.

With a leap, he performed a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree somersault before landing steadily on the ground and standing straight up.

Roar!

The Crimson-Tooth Tiger that had crossed paths with him let out an agonizing howl. The sharp sword had pierced through its head and came out from its chin, destroying its cranial nerves. This caused the mid-tier ferocious beast to lose its balance and smash heavily onto the ground. It also slid over ten meters away, bringing up soil, smashing down a tree, and tearing down a pile of shrubs.

It came to a stop. Its vital signs slowly ceased... until it died.

One sword.

Relying on his strengthened mental spirit which allowed him to become increasingly sensitive to the external world, he accurately sensed the ferocious beast's movement trajectory. It was as if a super calculator had been installed into his brain, allowing him to perceive every subtlety.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He had captured the trajectory of the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's rampage, its physical characteristics, power exertion, and other data. Having taken all these variables into account, he had simulated and calculated the best attacking path. He had then used perfect, precise execution to realize this optimum attacking path, dealing a fatal blow to this mid-tier ferocious beast!

Li Pin moved forth step by step, walking toward the Crimson-Tooth Tiger's corpse. At the same time, he turned his attention toward the Great Sun Chosen One.

Putting aside the Great Sun Chosen One's reputation, just his capability as a Martial Saint alone was sufficient to attract Li Pin's attention and curiosity! After all, becoming a Martial Saint was the ultimate path for this world's martial arts! And on Blue Planet, this was an unprecedented realm.

From a more secular perspective, this was a brand new limit.

Therefore, for such an expert to duel an Orc Fighter that was comparable to an official Astral Cultivator in his strongest form....

Boom!

The Great Sun Chosen One was sent hammering back at an even faster speed than when he had charged forth, fresh blood spurting out of his mouth. His sleeve and gloves had been torn to shreds by the violent force. Even his arm seemed to have been completely crippled.

His bloody appearance... was painful to look at.

This Martial Saint's cultivation art was known as the Great Sun Tathagata Sutra. It was a path of light, of dominance, and also blazing fieriness. This martial art not only allowed the Great Sun Chosen One to be extremely courageous in a head-on physical combat, but also provided him with astonishing defense.

Even if he were to be shot directly by small-caliber firearms, he could rely on his physique which had been tempered by the Great Sun Tathagata Sutra and astonishing Aura Force to deflect the bullet. At worst, the bullet would just get lodged in his flesh and fail to penetrate deeper.

This approach of relying on head-on confrontation and the tempering of his body allowed him an unparalleled advantage in combat between martial artists of the same realm. He had relied on this top-notch legacy to defeat Martial Saints of the same realm on multiple occasions. However, when up against ferocious beasts...

If the ferocious beasts had a qi and blood level of over 110 points, the difference between them wouldn't be just a little.

He had fought against low-tier ferocious beasts previously. In those battles, he sent out his Buddha phantom to charge over. It was really as if Buddha had descended and was going to deliver all living creatures from suffering, slaughtering everything in its path.

However, when fighting against the Orc Fighter that was comparable to a mid-tier ferocious beast... all these flashy moves didn't matter. The Orc Fighter simply didn't care.

There were no killing moves. There were no techniques. It had swung its club with absolute power and speed, shattering the Buddha Phantom and Buddha's descent completely.

If it hadn't been for the Great Sun Chosen One's top-notch, genuine astral equipment gloves and the natal astral armor that he was wearing, fending off quite a lot of the violent impact—he'd be dead.

No, any grandmaster would've straight up bit the dust under the Orc Fighter's attack.

Li Pin tilted his head in utter confusion.

“This is it?"

Having sent the Great Sun Chosen one flying with a single swing of its club until he hacked out blood, the Orc Fighter clearly knew that such trash couldn't pose a threat to it. Done with him, its focus turned toward Li Pin, who had just reached the Crimson-Tooth Tiger corpse's side and had pulled out his Lingfeng Sword.

Its eyes were filled with wariness.

Roar!

The Orc Fighter bellowed.

It seemed to... even be speaking some sort of language.

Such an astonishing evolution rate was also the primary reason why they were referred to as orcs [1].

Even though they were evolving toward the admirable Astral God, that all-mighty Astral God's form was, for some reason, similar to that of humans.

Glancing at the still-alive Great Sun Chosen One, Li Pin asked, "This is what you mean by the winner getting to kill them all?"

This one question made the seed participant who was viewed as the most hopeful contender for the World's Top Martial Competition flush. He even began to tremble from fury and shame.

"Bastard... how dare you... I... I am the Great Sun Chosen One...."

The Great Sun Chosen One struggled. Even though his arm was dyed red with blood, he tried to prop himself up, wanting to get back up to his feet.

However, at this moment, the Orc Fighter, having not received a response from Li Pin after so long, let out an enraged bellow. It then took great strides and charged at Li Pin.

Standing at an imposing height of 2.56 meters, the Orc Fighter was radiating overwhelming pressure. Its savage appearance and the pernicious aura it had accumulated from repeatedly dying its hand in blood made it so that its disposition during its sole charge wasn't any less suffocating than that of an army of thousands or ten thousand.

In actuality, if this Orc Fighter with a qi and blood of over 100 points were to be placed in ancient times... it would really be comparable to an army of thousands or ten thousand.

Li Pin's gaze locked onto this Orc Fighter. Based on this Orc Fighter's injuries, he immediately assessed its lethal flaw.

He changed his direction!

A strategy rapidly took form in his mind as his Vitality, Qi, and Spirit kept on condensing.

All of his qi and blood uncontrollably accelerated from the guidance of his mental spirit. Out of which, the great sun's glow from the simulation using the Chaos Meditation Art as a base further projected every bit of qi and blood into his mental spirit world.

Or, it could be said that neural signals were transmitted to every single red blood cell through bioelectricity. It made his cells and organs circulate crazily, causing his body functions to be adjusted to peak conditions.

It was to the extent that he was....

Overcoming his instincts!

Breaking his shackles!

Surpassing his limits!

Exerting 120% of his physical strength!

He instinctively assumed a half-squat position, maintaining the optimal posture to unleash his attack.

The powers of his Blood Core and the Blood-Seething Secret Art kept on circulating in his body, causing his body to enter an abnormally high-temperature state. It was like how atoms would spontaneously fuse and erupt unbelievable energies when subject to over a hundred million degrees Celsius.

His current condition...was the same.

Forty meters!

Thirty meters!

Twenty meters!

By the time the two were less than twenty meters apart, the Orc Fighter had already raised its bone club, preparing to strike down at the speed of a thunderbolt. It seemed bent on exterminating every creature standing in its way, shattering every boulder, breaking even steel.

At that instant, Li Pin made a move. His figure shot out like an arrow released from a bow.

The world seemed to slow down. Li Pin could clearly see the trajectory of the Orc Fighter's swinging bone club.

However, Li Pin soon realized it wasn't the world that had slowed down... but rather that his senses had become faster.

His "Clairvoyance" gift allowed him to clearly sense every bit of changes in his body, including the movements of each and every cell. And when human thoughts and consciousness were immersed into a microscopic level, time would become slower.

Many times, Li Pin felt as though he had spent a long time observing the subtle changes in his body, but in reality, the passage of time was entirely different from his perception.

At this moment, with his ever-increasing mental spirit and multiple uses of top-tier astral equipment, he had uncovered a brand new method of sensing. With these, the cross between fast and slow speed extended beyond his body.

As a result, when his mental spirit was focused to a limit and his thoughts were circulated to an extreme speed, it created the illusion of the world slowing down.

Other people wouldn't know that all these changes had taken place.

The Great Sun Chosen One's gaze had turned blurry due to all the blood. He could only see that when the Orc Fighter charged up to Li Pin and swung down its club at a far greater speed than Li Pin was moving, the latter moved. He took huge strides forward and then leaped. He was still rising upward when he dodged to the side in midair.

The man and beast... passed by each other.

They had a huge height difference, with one below 1.8 meters while the other one was muscular and over 2.56 meters. However, Li Pin relied on his leap and Force eruption to dart past the Orc Fighter's armpit as it swung its club.

As the two figures crossed each other, Li Pin's Lingfeng Sword thrust out at an unbelievable speed.

The Great Sun Chosen One couldn't use words to describe the accuracy and technique of this attack. Under that razor-sharp precision, where even a hair's breadth could result in a thousand-mile miss, the sword thrust fiercely into the Orc Fighter's left temple, exiting through the right.[2]

Li Pin pulled the sword back.

Every movement he exhibited was very smooth, a pleasant sight to behold!

Li Pin's technique and the lethality of his movements instantly made the Great Sun Chosen One, who had witnessed the entire scene, turn breathless! The astonishment this slash brought him hammered the Great Sun Chosen One's mind and soul!

How... is this possible...

The Great Sun Chosen One thought.

This slash....

If there had been a miscalculation... the Orc Fighter's bone club would have been first to land.

If the Orc Fighter had twisted its body ever so slightly... Li Pin's slash would have been half a beat slower.

If the Orc Fighter had swung its club faster... Li Pin would have been smashed to death.

If the Orc Fighter had moved slightly to crash into Li Pin while the two maintained their momentum, Li Pin would have died instantly. It would be like an ordinary person who had been run over by a sedan that was traveling at high speed.

If Li Pin's sword had been ever so slightly slower... in this lightning-fast exchange, the slightest misadjustment of speed would lead to the sword missing the Orc Fighter's head, this very small target.

If the lightning-fast sword that contained the powers of the Blood Core Eruption and secret art activation were to have missed, Li Pin would have definitely lost his balance. When that happened, the Orc Fighter would only need to turn and strike out again with its club...

Li Pin would then be smashed into a bloody pulp!

At this moment, the Great Sun Chosen One couldn't help but be reminded of an ancient training method. It required practitioners to accurately dodge many sedans traveling at high speed on the highway. At the same time, they'd be expected to slip in pamphlets at the cars' sideview mirrors.

Such harsh ancient training methods that could lead to deaths with the slightest bit of carelessness were extremely similar to Li Pin's sword attack!

1. The raws for orcs is a combination of beast and man. ☜

2. In this context, it emphasizes the extreme precision of the sword strike, where even the tiniest error could have led to a completely different result. ☜