Chapter 874: Perceive

"All my power..." Li Pin nodded. "I'll return those same words to you."

He didn't summon the World Stabilizing Halberd or the Six Paths Wheel. Instead, he stuck to the Ruoxi Sword. "You may have reached the ninety-ninth step of the Supreme Ladder, but if you don't bring out your strongest form and go all out, you'll lose—fast."

Those words made Heavenly Emperor Jin'que pause slightly. His eyes narrowed as he gazed at Li Pin. "Has anyone ever told you that... you're bold?"

"Plenty," Li Pin answered honestly. Then added, as if he couldn't help himself, "Far too many."

A golden light swirled in Jin'que's palm, forming a long spear. "Extraordinary men walk extraordinary paths. I know what you're trying to do. You're betting everything on this one fight. Your future, your fate, hoping that if you defeat me, you'll earn Emperor Xi's recognition and help.

"With that, you might turn the tide of this war. Behead me, rally Emperor Xi's power, support Chang Sheng, North Pole, and High Palace, and suppress the chaos single-handedly. Then, with that unmatched achievement, take the throne as the Central Sovereign Heavenly Emperor and gather all the world's fortune into your hands..."

He leveled the spear, its tip pointed straight at Li Pin. "But this gamble of yours was doomed from the start. Of all your mistakes, the worst... was choosing me as your opponent."

Li Pin had planned to explain, but after a moment, he decided it wasn't necessary.

Once I show enough power, Jin'que would naturally be forced to call out Zhu Zhao, who has been hiding in the shadows. And he would also have to unleash the hidden experts of the Astral Lord Council, buried within the Myriad Astral God Hall. Therefore...

He chose not to waste words and simply struck. "Take this."

The moment the sword was drawn, time and space began to swirl, then merged into one.

As the power of spacetime surged, matter and energy also exploded into existence, growing at an unbelievable rate. In the blink of an eye, it reached the limit of what the Astral World could withstand.

In that instant, Jin'que faintly felt a terrifying ripple spreading across both time and space. It was as if he were a small wooden boat drifting quietly on the lake's surface, and beneath that surface lurked a prehistoric beast. As it stirred gently, it sent out suffocating waves of pressure.

He could sense this ripple, because he, too, had mastered the power of spacetime.

Indeed, Central Sovereign Heavenly Emperor Jin'que had achieved a feat normally reserved for Divine Emperors. He had grasped spacetime power.

With it, he could perceive the shift and transformation brought by Li Pin's sword. But... his control over matter and energy... was too slow. It was so slow that before his wooden boat could transform into a steel warship, the beast below had already burst out of the lake with crashing waves, smashing down hard enough to shatter that tiny boat in an instant.

Horror suddenly gripped Jin'que's expression.

We were both converting matter and energy! How is he doing it so fast?!

In the next instant, the long spear in his hand suddenly transformed. It was originally just a Sovereign Divine Weapon, but now, it rapidly grew, reshaping into a massive sword over six meters long.

The blade was engraved with countless ancient markings, each emanating a deep and mysterious aura.

Under that aura, the sword felt... alive.

Jin'que's strength hadn't increased by much. But with that weapon in hand, he managed something extraordinary, like moving a mountain with a feather.[1] He struck with pinpoint accuracy, hitting the weakest point in the Eternal Swordlight's mass-energy conversion.

Bang!

An invisible ripple burst out from the clash of blade and swordlight, sending tremors through the area around the Central Sovereign Palace, like a small earthquake shaking the ground.

The shockwave spread through the palace and quickly reached every corner of the Myriad Astral God Hall. By the time it arrived, the force had weakened to almost nothing, yet everyone still sensed it at once.

Inside the hall, one Heavenly Emperor after another, along with many Sacred Monarchs, felt their thoughts stirred.

"A battle is happening near the Central Sovereign Palace."

"Is someone here to rescue us?"

"This ripple... it's the aftershock from the palace formation blocking the corrosion of the Eternal Oblivion Force..."

Outside the palace, Divine Emperor Xi stared at the giant sword in Jin'que's hand, the same royal spear that had transformed into a massive battle blade. His expression shifted slightly. "This is..."

He could sense the aura of a Sovereign Divine Weapon from the sword, but there was also something more—an unusual trace of Transcendent power.

"Transcendent?"

Jin'que didn't pause for even a second after shattering Li Pin's Eternal Swordlight. "Radiance of the Undying."

As he merged with his sword, golden light engulfed his entire form. The light radiated like extended sensory tendrils.

When Li Pin struck again with another beam of Eternal Swordlight, the feedback from those golden tendrils allowed Jin'que's massive sword to lock onto a new weak point and crush it again with flawless precision. Then, he closed in, directly charging at Li Pin.

This time, Xi saw it clearly. "He cultivates the Transcendent path as well."

Jin'que... he had actually cultivated the Transcendent path. And he has progressed just as far, if not further, than the Supreme path.

In the next instant, Emperor Xi's gaze snapped toward the massive sword in Jin'que's hand. "Something's off!"

Perhaps Jin'que has also cultivated the Transcendent path, but that path is unimaginably difficult. Forget dual cultivation; few had succeeded even when they focused only on one.

The reason Jin'que can wield the mysteries of the Transcendence to such a degree, effortlessly seeing through and shattering Li Pin's seemingly perfect and ultimate Eternal Swordlight, is entirely because of his battle sword. That sword...

Divine Emperor Xi's pupils dilated. "A Transcendent Divine Weapon!?"

Jin'que actually possessed a Transcendent Divine Weapon?

But he quickly recalled the people backing the Astral Lord Council. With that connection, it no longer seemed surprising for Jin'que to have such a weapon.

Moreover, even if Jin'que wielded a Transcendent Divine Weapon, Xi wouldn't interfere. After all, a Divine Weapon was part of the cultivator themselves. Of the three core requirements of a Divine Emperor, one of them was the Supreme Divine Weapon.

Bang!

The second clash erupted immediately between Li Pin and Jin'que.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Li Pin could rapidly convert mass and energy, making every strike push the limits of his power. Under the effects of spacetime acceleration, his sword would hit the instant it was drawn.

However, the Transcendent Divine Weapon in Jin'que's hand had given him the ability to analyze all things. He saw through every flow of Li Pin's power with perfect clarity, and easily countered with less force, achieving the feat of striking later yet arriving first.

"Interesting," Li Pin said calmly.

As Jin'que closed in, Li Pin's third sword struck out.

At that same moment, the Heavenly Fate Light radiated from his body.

Bathed in that light, the world seemed to fall into a state of stillness. Within that frozen moment, Li Pin observed how the sword in Jin'que's hand moved, as if it had a life of its own, gathering and analyzing all available information in a way he couldn't comprehend.

That ability...

The Heavenly Fate Art faded away. The Eternal Swordlight Li Pin struck with changed shape several times in an instant.

Almost at the same time, Jin'que's sword also changed in response. But this time, his sword's speed clearly lagged behind the shifts in the Eternal Swordlight.

Jin'que's giant sword burst with dazzling golden light, shattering the swordlight as it approached. However, the shattered light still moved like it had life, crossing spacetime to strike him.

If not for the golden battle armor flashing a brilliant light to dull the swordlight's edge, those broken rays would have torn through his Divine Body and broken the perfection of his realm.

Jin'que's expression tightened. "How could this be...?"

Yet Li Pin did not stop, following up immediately with a fourth Eternal Swordlight.

This strike was even more intricate and unpredictable than the last.

Even with the Transcendent Divine Weapon granting insight and control over all sword techniques, Jin'que felt trapped when this sword came at him. No matter how he fought, he had no choice but to clash with it head-on.

This was... a truth that transcended all change, that the only eternal constant in this world was change itself.

Bang!

In the head-on collision, Jin'que's mass and energy conversion speed couldn't match Li Pin's. He was blasted backward, the fierce swordlight scouring him as the golden radiance of his armor flared to its peak.

But the brilliance could only last so long.

When the swordlight faded, the glow of Jin'que's golden armor had dimmed significantly.

Clearly, if the battle dragged on, it would only be a matter of time until the armor infused with the Transcendent Divine Weapon's power broke.

As he retreated, Jin'que let out a low shout, swinging his sword horizontally to steady himself.

In the next moment, he seemed to merge with the very essence of heaven and earth. A vast array of sun, moon, and stars suddenly appeared above his head, shimmering across the sky.

Endless starlight poured down, flowing into him and instantly steadying him mid-retreat.

Divine Emperor Xi murmured, "Grand Celestial Constellation Cycle Formation."

He reached out, trying to cut off the continuous stream of starlight falling from the heavens.

At that moment, a figure glowing with golden divine light stepped forward calmly.

"Emperor Xi, calm yourself," he said softly.

With a wave of his hand, he dispersed Xi's attack aimed at the formation.

"Zhu Zhao." Emperor Xi's gaze fell on the man. "I promised Origin a fair fight."

The one who had suddenly appeared to block Divine Emperor Xi was Zhu Zhao, another Astral Lord of the Astral Lord Council and one of the three great Divine Emperors of the Human Race.

"Is this fight not fair?" Zhu Zhao asked gently.

"Fair?" Emperor Xi stared at the endless starlight pouring from above. "You call this fair?"

"On the Supreme Ladder, sometimes the environment perfectly suits the challenger. Is that fair? Origin became a Divine Emperor by creating his own technique. Jin'que clearly falls short here. Is that fair? When we Divine Emperors clash with Heavenly Emperors, we wield Supreme Divine Weapons to overwhelm them. Is that fair?"

Zhu Zhao's words carried a weight that seemed to reflect the truths of the world. "There has never been absolute fairness in this world."

He looked toward the two figures locked in battle once more, Jin'que now drawing power from the great formation.

"As the Central Sovereign Heavenly Emperor, Jin'que commands the Grand Celestial Constellation Cycle Formation. For him to wield the formation's power in combat, this battle is fair and just."

1. A metaphor that describes someone achieving something incredibly difficult—or seemingly impossible—with minimal effort or force. ☜