Chapter 757: Recognition

Li Pin glanced at the Supreme Ladder. "Mutual destruction? But this unique artifact doesn't see it that way. A loss is a loss; there's nothing unacceptable about it."

He calmly said, "In this world, there is no such thing as perpetual victory."

Sasha hesitated slightly. "The Supreme Ladder..."

The Supreme Ladder had deemed him to have failed the trial, but it should not have been so.

She said solemnly, "There were three main issues this time. First, you are advancing too rapidly, and your foundation is lacking. The secret arts you've mastered are insufficient to handle complex environments. Second, related to your foundation, your understanding of Cosmic Radiance Divine Weapons is too limited, and your current gear can no longer keep up with your strength. As for the third..."

Sasha paused. "You became arrogant."

"Arrogant?"

Li Pin thought for a moment and quickly understood what Sasha meant by arrogance.

He had not used the Great Dao Radiance. If he had used the Great Dao Radiance, a force that's on par, or possibly beyond Supreme-level power, he would have easily cleared the step.

He could have used that overwhelming advantage to kill the Sky Clan's Tyrant.

The Abyssal Rift was different from the Astral World and the vast universe. Its unique environment rendered rules nearly nonexistent.

In an environment without any laws, the quality of the cultivator's self-evolved laws mattered far more than their quantity.

If the Cosmic power evolved by a Tyrant in the Abyssal Rift was akin to soil, then the Supreme power would be akin to steel. In a situation where mass was equal on both sides, steel could easily crush soil.

"It wasn't arrogance. I just knew exactly what I wanted," Li Pin said. He glanced at the Supreme Ladder. "What I seek is evolution—transcendence. What I want is to surpass myself."

He withdrew his gaze and looked at his own hands. "Thus, from beginning to end, I've had only one opponent."

"Yourself," Sasha said. "Supremes, Highlords, even Transcendents don't count as your true opponents."

Li Pin remained calm and said nothing, but Sasha already knew the answer.

She fell silent for a moment before saying, "It's enough that you know your thoughts. Never reveal them to others. Not every Supreme or Highlord is as understanding as the Black Abyss Highlord, capable of tolerating everything about you."

"I know." Li Pin smiled. "I won't go around declaring it, but if someone asks, I won't deny it either... that's who I am."

There seemed to be words on Sasha's mind that she wanted to say, but in the end, she refrained. She only said, "You're really... different."

Li Pin considered her words a compliment.

"Didn't you say earlier that you wanted to climb as high as possible on the Supreme Ladder to attract more powerful opponents?" asked Sasha.

"There are still over seventy years until the Ten Thousand Tribes Dominion War," replied Li Pin. "Don't tell me you believe I won't be returning to challenge the Supreme Ladder again after making progress during this time."

"Challenge it again?"

Li Pin nodded. "Yes. I'll challenge it again and again, right up until the Ten Thousand Tribes Dominion War begins."

He smiled. "By then, I'll be in my strongest state. Likewise, the alien races will surely send their top elites to face me in a true battle of races, a fight to the death."

"Aren't you afraid that by revealing all your power, those alien races would be able to dismantle every aspect of your strength and counter you completely?"

"I'll be waiting," Li Pin said calmly. "The strong fear nothing; the strong dread no one. The strong become the strongest, and the strongest are invincible."

Sasha looked at Li Pin, this man who, step by step, had risen from a Divine Being into a Cosmic Radiance with the strength of a Tyrant.

At this moment, she couldn't help but feel that, compared to the advancements of Intelligent Lifeforms, humans, too, could be quite impressive in their own right.

A wave of noise suddenly rose from all around them.

The crowd had noticed Li Pin being transported out of the Supreme Ladder.

Though he hadn't conquered the eighty-first step, all sorts of exclamations and praises echoed from every direction.

For a Tyrant who had cultivated for less than two hundred years, this kind of achievement was worthy of astonishment from any member of the human race.

At Li Pin's current rate of growth, the Human Race would undoubtedly gain another Sacred Monarch in a few years, maybe even a Divine Emperor. Such a powerhouse was a pillar of humanity, a source of deep strength.

Amidst the cheers and exclamations, Mo Xuan, along with two Heavenly Emperors and several Sacred Monarchs and Tyrants, had already gathered around Li Pin.

"Eighty steps," sighed Mo Xuan in amazement. "Incredible! Since I assumed leadership of the Humanity Sanctum, you are, without question, the most exceptional member to emerge from it. In the thousands of eras of Humanity Sanctum's history, I fear that more than half of our accumulated records have been broken by you alone."

Li Pin nodded in greeting. "Hall Master Mo Xuan."

Li Pin then turned to acknowledge the Red Emperor, White Emperor, and the familiar Tyrants and Sacred Monarchs gathered nearby.

He even spotted Wang Fuyun and the others watching from afar and nodded toward them as well.

"The Black Abyss Highlord truly had discerning eyes. Among so many prodigies and geniuses in the Heavenly Prison World, you are undoubtedly the number one. This is evident from your current accomplishments. Over the past hundred years, many talents and prodigies, including those of other races, have left the Heavenly Prison World. While some have achieved Cosmic Radiance, none have ascended like you, gaining Tyrant-level combat power in one leap."

Red Emperor Yan Hao stepped forward and smiled. "I can't speak for others, but in my opinion... you are definitely deserving of the supreme prodigy title."

"You flatter me," Li Pin replied humbly.

He did not deny it because the standard and level of prodigies in the Heavenly Prison World were indeed not very high. The fact that someone like Wang Fuyun could get into the top ten in the Heavenly Prison World was the best evidence of this.

Naturally, it was precisely because the level of those prodigies was so low that, even though the Black Abyss Highlord had been abducting people for tens of thousands of years, many Supremes turned a blind eye and couldn't be bothered to intervene.

If he hadn't gone too far, the Homo Sapien Supreme Council might not have even moved to stop him. They wouldn't care if geniuses who might not even become Cosmic Radiance got abducted.

The Human Race lacked anything but talent or geniuses.

"Shall we talk somewhere else?" Ji Shun asked with a smile from the side.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Li Pin glanced at Mo Xuan and Yan Hao, sensing they had more to say, and nodded. "Alright."

"Lady Sasha, please excuse us." Ji Shun said courteously.

The next moment, he waved his hand.

The space around Li Pin, Mo Xuan, and Yan Hao twisted, and in an instant, they vanished without a trace.

***

"The Hall Masters have left with Dao Child Li!"

"A Tyrant in just two hundred years... It's no surprise he's receiving this level of attention."

"The last time someone performed so stunningly on the Supreme Ladder was probably Sacred Monarch Zhi Qi over a hundred epochs ago, right? But he was a Unique Lifeform, his talent can't be measured by human standards."

"Amazing. Who would've thought that the Humanity Sanctum would produce someone like Li Pin in this era! It's foreseeable that when Humanity Sanctum recruits again, applicants will flood in. Not just Cosmic Radiance descendants from major factions, probably even Endless Divine Mountain, Omni-Merchant Guild, and the Heaven Ordainment Sect won't be able to sit still."

"Speaking of Heaven Ordainment Sect, didn't King Great Luo of Wisdom spread rumors saying Li Pin didn't live up to his name? Come on, let him explain it now! How exactly is Li Pin unworthy of his name? All day long, just spouting nonsense."

"At the end of the day, King Great Luo of Wisdom is still the Dharma King of the Heaven Ordainment Sect, so it's best you don't be so blunt with your words...

Hmmm?

Oh

, Sacred Monarch Zu Tian, it's you. Ah, yes, you're right. That King Radiant of the Infinite just blabbers all day."

Even though Li Pin had already left, the discussions in the field didn't subside. Numerous Starshines, Solar Radiances, Cosmic Radiance cultivators, Tyrants, and Sacred Monarchs stayed behind, still conversing with those around them about this once-in-a-century spectacle.

All sorts of voices and discussions could be heard constantly.

Yun Lai, Yu Xuexian, Wang Fuyun, and Yu Li all showed expressions filled with this same emotion.

"He looked at me! He looked at me! Just now, Dao Child Li looked at me and greeted me."

"Dao Child? Call him Tyrant. Reaching the eightieth step on the Supreme Ladder already qualifies him for the title of Tyrant. I wonder what title Tyrant Li will choose."

"Now that you mention it, didn't the Tower Lord go without a title during the Cosmic Radiance phase? What should it be? Light of Dragon Abyss? Light of Xuan Pin? Light of Glory?"

The group discussed excitedly among themselves.

Wang Fuyun watched their discussion with a somewhat emotional expression.

Back in the Heavenly Prison World, he had already known that with Li Pin's talent, he would eventually shine brightly and earn fame among the human race.

However, he had predicted that that day would be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of stellar years away. The earliest he had presumed was a thousand stellar years. He never imagined that this day would arrive so quickly.

Since leaving the Heavenly Prison World, it had only taken Li Pin a hundred years to become a Tyrant, ten times faster than Wang Fuyun's most optimistic prediction!

What talent and brilliance...

"From now on, who would dare say he isn't a supreme prodigy?" Wang Fuyun murmured to himself.

He turned his gaze toward the so-called Five Giants—Thousand Dust, Luo Shenxi, and the others. His gaze was especially attracted to Luo Shenxi. Her dazed and deeply shaken expression, for some reason, brought him a strange sense of satisfaction.

After all, before Li Pin came to Humanity Sanctum, she had reigned supreme, suppressing all other cultivators in the Sanctum for thousands of years. With her unmatched stance, she never once regarded any of the Sanctum's prodigies as worthy.

She carried herself like the direct heir to a future Supreme, and even speaking a single word to others seemed like a benevolent gift.

But now, everything was just as he had suspected.

"The era of Luo Shenxi has ended today. Humanity Sanctum now welcomes the era of Li Pin."

Though this era might prove short-lived, from this day onward, no prodigy of the Humanity Sanctum aspiring to the title of supreme prodigy could ever surpass the standard set by Li Pin.

If they couldn't reach that standard, then they had best return to cultivating in earnest.