Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent-Chapter 594: Past

In the courtyard, Li Pin quietly flipped through the documents Chao Yang and Chao Yu had delivered.

They contained records of Baili Qingfeng's time on Blue Planet.

Joining the team wasn't an option for these two anymore, but Li Pin had decided to let them remain as auxiliary personnel, given the value of the documents they provided.

***

Li Pin carefully examined each case.

"Jumping off a building, drowning, poisoning, lying on train tracks..." he murmured softly. "To him back then, it wasn't a gift—it was a curse. So..."

He paused briefly. "He went mad."

Unable to endure the overwhelming burden of the True Spirit, with its near-prophetic ability to perceive the future, he lost his mind.

Yet, in a way, he was fortunate. At the very moment his sanity shattered, he died.

This coincided with the invasion of Blue Planet by the Twin Moon Domain. In a desperate bid to resist the True Gods of the Twin Moon Domain, humanity unleashed a nuclear onslaught.

The war decimated Blue Planet's population by twenty percent. He was among those lost. But he didn't truly perish.

As a being of the True Spirit, how could a mere nuclear explosion destroy him? It was never enough to end his existence.

Perhaps driven by a desire to escape Blue Planet, or out of fear that he might bring harm to it, he chose not to reincarnate there. Instead, he found himself in a new world, the Celestial Barren Domain.

The once-insane Li Wuzhi from Blue Planet was reborn in this world as Baili Qingfeng.

The trauma of his past life left his mind shattered, and for a long time, he seemed unwilling to recover. For eighteen years, he drifted through life in a haze, lost and disconnected. It wasn't until his final year of high school that he finally awakened the memories of his past life.

The pain and chaos he had caused his family on Blue Planet weighed heavily on him. Having already "died" once, he now held life in a reverence he had never known before.

And so, he turned to martial arts.

Li Pin muttered, "Is this why he began training?"

Was it simply... to avoid death?

But as Li Pin reflected on Baili Qingfeng's actions, that explanation didn't quite seem to fit. In many situations, Baili Qingfeng was willing to throw caution to the wind, disregarding life and death, and charging forward without hesitation. So, simply saying he didn't want to die didn't quite capture the full picture.

Li Pin pondered. Was he constantly torn between wanting to live and wanting to die?

Then, as if struck by a sudden insight, he murmured, "Or perhaps... he didn't want to die in a meaningless way, like suicide. He wanted to make a difference, to die in a grand, glorious manner?"

Gloriously? Li Pin fell into deep thought. Did Baili Qingfeng truly seem like someone who sought a dramatic, heroic end?

"The most plausible explanation is that he never fully grasped the true power of his True Spirit talent. As outsiders, we know he wouldn't die, but did he? Did he truly understand the extent of the True Spirit's strength? No, he didn't."

Li Pin's voice turned calm. "From that perspective, he was genuinely risking his life."

He couldn't quite determine whether Baili Qingfeng's actions were guided by his True Spirit—its ability to sense danger and foresee the future—or if this was simply the essence of his character.

After a while, Li Pin set aside his wandering thoughts.

He had never been one to dwell too long on a single issue. If he couldn't figure something out, he would simply ask directly when the time came.

At that moment, he sensed something unusual within himself. "Hmm? The version limit has been broken?"

In the next instant, his qi and blood surged wildly, and under the guidance of his spiritual power, his true qi condensed rapidly. In no time, a Golden Core had formed within him.

"It seems that Sword Saint Zhao, the one who pioneered the Three Thousand Dao Scriptures, has also reached the Golden Core realm," Li Pin remarked.

Unlike Sword Saint Zhao, whose Golden Core required a massive amount of energy to sustain, Li Pin's control over his own power had reached an unparalleled level of precision. Even in a place like Celestial Barren, he had no worries about his Golden Core regressing.

After briefly adapting to the newfound power of the Golden Core Realm, he once again turned his attention to the refinement of his inner spirit.

"An inner spirit as clear as a mirror, reflecting the world around it..."

***

Time flowed on.

While tempering his inner spirit, Li Pin quietly observed the changes unfolding in the world, never interfering in Xiya's political affairs. He maintained an air of absolute neutrality, seemingly unwilling to align himself with anyone.

His detached stance emboldened the once-cautious forces of Celestial Barren, who began to act more boldly.

As the stories unfolded, a crisis emerged. A tier twelve powerhouse from the Twin Moon Domain led an army into Celestial Barren.

Though Li Pin had the power to prevent it, he chose to let the event unfold.

As an observer, he sought to witness the main storyline in its entirety, to understand how Baili Qingfeng, so pure-hearted at this moment, would eventually tread the path toward becoming the Void Emperor.

During this time, factions like Celestial Mystery Tower and Xiya naturally sought his aid, hoping he would intervene and repel the legendary invaders from the Twin Moon Domain.

Yet, he remained unmoved.

At most, he ensured the safety of Xiaya City.

***

"So it's true... With Baili Qingfeng gone, all sorts of people have started crawling out of the woodwork."

Li Pin propped his chin on his hand, listening to Fang Chunyang's report while gazing into the distance.

Fang Chunyang said, "In the end, they paid the price. Baili Qingfeng used others to eliminate them, wiping them out completely."

"Has Baili Qingfeng returned?" Li Pin asked.

"Based on the timeline, he should be back soon—"

"No, not soon." frёewebnoѵēl.com

Li Pin paused, sensing something. "He's already back."

With that, he rose to his feet, stepped out of the courtyard, and began walking away. Before long, he arrived in the newly renovated old district at the foot of Mountain Qingyuan.

On one of the streets, he spotted Baili Qingfeng.

However, the moment Li Pin laid eyes on him, he suddenly halted, observing from a distance.

Baili Qingfeng was holding Baili Zhu's hand, but his gaze was fixed on a pane of glass.

At that moment, Li Pin could clearly sense something rapidly fading from Baili Qingfeng, while something else was swiftly awakening.

That awakening will....

"This is...!?"

Li Pin quickly took a step forward. Yet, after only three steps, he stopped again.

With his condensed Golden Core, equivalent to the strength of a tier twelve martial artist, he could distinctly hear Baili Qingfeng's faint murmurs.

"I am Baili Qingfeng, a model student with excellent grades and character. I love reading, researching, listening to music, and practicing martial arts... My life plan is to find a girl I like, fall in love, get married, have children, and watch them grow up. And then, with my aging wife, I would sit on a grassy field, our fingers intertwined, watching the sunset together..."

Li Pin sensed the sudden shift in Baili Qingfeng's aura.

"Void...." he murmured.

That was... the power of Void.

He.... is this the moment he succumbed to the Void faction, planting the seed that would one day turn him into the Void Emperor?

But wasn't there still more to the story? And that speech he just gave... a model student?

Li Pin's mind was flooded with questions.

Is he being serious?

In the next moment, the overwhelming surge of Void energy dissipated.

Li Pin shifted his gaze to the small figure beside Baili Qingfeng. She was the owner of the divine treasure world, Baili Zhu.

He stood still, silently observing.

He watched as Baili Qingfeng and Baili Zhu entered a store.

He watched as Baili Qingfeng stepped out again, his entire demeanor subtly different.

The Void Emperor had yet to descend. For now, he was still Baili Qingfeng. Or rather... a human.

Just then, Baili Qingfeng, now leading Baili Zhu back, caught sight of Li Pin and called out in surprise, "Senior Li? You're here too?"

"I was waiting for you," Li Pin replied.

"Waiting for me?" Baili Qingfeng was momentarily taken aback, then sighed with a hint of weariness. "I really don't feel like fighting...."

"No problem. Let's chat."

Baili Qingfeng quickly nodded. "Sure, as long as you're not here to pick a fight, I'm all ears."

With that, the two entered Li Pin's courtyard.

"Make yourself comfortable," Li Pin said.

Shortly after, Chao Yu entered cautiously, serving them tea.

"Take Little Zhu outside to play," Li Pin instructed.

"Understood," Chao Yu replied, leading Baili Zhu away.

"What did you want to discuss, Senior Li?" Baili Qingfeng asked.

"Your goals," Li Pin said, looking at him. "Tell me, what are your aspirations in life?"

"My aspirations?" Baili Qingfeng thought for a moment, then answered without hesitation. "Like most people, I want to finish university smoothly, hopefully find a love that's pure and unburdened by external pressures.

"Then, I'd like to marry someone I truly love, someone who shares my interests. We'd start a family, raise our children, and grow old together, watching each other age gracefully..."

Li Pin listened patiently, especially as Baili Qingfeng spoke about his vision for life, his words filled with hope and longing for the future. Throughout the conversation, Li Pin remained silent, simply listening without interruption.

A long while passed.

Only after Baili Qingfeng had fully shared his dreams and plans did he pause, eventually letting out a deep sigh. "But now, things seem... different. I don't even know why."

He regretfully said, "At my age, I should be sitting in a university classroom, studying without a care in the world. So why... why has it turned out like this?"

He looked at Li Pin, as if searching for an answer, yet also questioning himself. "Why did things end up like this?"

"If I gave you the chance to go back to university, would you take it?" Li Pin asked. He then added, "Everything you're dealing with, all the responsibilities you're carrying—none of that would matter anymore. You'd just need to return to school. Could you do that?"

"Go back to university..." Baili Qingfeng pondered.

His mind wandered through the years of experiences he had accumulated.

He thought of Xiya and the current state of the Celestial Barren Domain, the moments he had lived in the Twin Moon Domain, and the Immortal God Emperor who had set his sight on him. And then there was his promise to Little Zhu—to help her find her parents.

In the end, Baili Qingfeng reached a conclusion even he himself wasn't certain of.

"Maybe..." His voice trembled slightly. "I can't go back."

Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.co(m) for the b𝘦st novel reading experience