Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent-Chapter 609: Genius

At the foot of Mountain Qingyuan, Li Pin reflected on everything he had experienced in this divine treasure world, piecing it all together into a logical sequence.

The Void Emperor....

Gradually, an absurd yet undeniably fitting growth trajectory took shape in his mind.

He had reached a conclusion that was so ridiculous, no one would believe it if they heard it.

But... Li Pin believed it.

"Genius," Li Pin muttered. He then shook his head. "No, the word genius can't begin to describe him. The proper term should be... Gifted Prodigy."

This wasn't ordinary talent, but an innate brilliance, forged by the essence of heaven and earth—a miracle of the cosmos itself. Like transcendent in the mortal world. A true god walking among men.

Such beings were destined to be beyond mortal comprehension. Even Li Pin couldn't fully grasp it, but he trusted what he had witnessed.

Besides... how many times have people called me arrogant, reckless, or doomed to self-destruction? I have simply embraced the opposition, the pressure, and used every crisis to evolve. But Baili Qingfeng... he is different.

He is running away. Killing, burning, annihilating entire bloodlines. These weren't acts of ambition but methods of escape. Just more extreme ones.

To understand him through his actions, one might really have to discard the facts entirely.

Li Pin found the thought somewhat amusing.

His gaze returned to Mountain Qingyuan. Your talent led you to become the Void Emperor. But before you reached that peak, when your gift had only just awakened... how powerful were you?

A moment later, something crossed his mind, and he let out a sigh. "What a pity... this is Baili Zhu's divine treasure world. Her understanding of Baili Qingfeng's talent is limited by her own realm as a Cosmic Radiance Astral God.

"In the end, even if I fight him, I wouldn't be fighting the Transcendent Void Emperor, but a lesser version that has been shaped by Baili Zhu's limited perception."

No matter how highly Baili Zhu regarded Baili Qingfeng, she could never fully manifest his true potential.

"Cosmic Radiance only reaches the True Spirit Realm. It still falls short of the Transcendent Realm, the so-called Omniscient and Omnipotent. The gap is like that between Absolute Control and Perfection."

The gap between the True Spirit Realm and the Transcendent Realm might seem like a single step, but in truth, it was as vast as the difference between a Tier Four Legend and a Solar Flare Astral God. It was a power level of ten thousand compared to a hundred million, or perhaps even as high as 999 million.

"Inner Spirit, True Spirit, ten thousand, a hundred million."

Li Pin closed his eyes, steadying himself. He emptied his mind, letting it settle like a still lake.

Then, like a mirror, the serene lake reflected the sky and its surroundings. Each ripple, stirred by a passing breeze or the brush of a dragonfly’s wing, spread gently across the water, leaving behind a trace of its brief visit.

Through this reflection and feedback, he perceived the True Spirit, glimpsing the past, the present, and the future.

***

Half a year later.

The war of the Ancient Gods in the Twin Moon Domain had ended.

Mu Yunsheng might have imparted new cultivation techniques to the Ancient Gods, strengthening them considerably, but the time was too short. A few years were not enough for them to achieve a significant breakthrough in strength.

One by one, the Ancient Gods were extinguished. Only the Immortal God Emperor remained, sealed within the Supreme Divine Sword as its spirit, now wielded by Baili Zhu.

Using the sword, Baili Zhu refined the evil gods of Slaughter, Darkness, and Fear into its core.

These innate deities, born of the world itself, could draw strength from negative emotions. By infusing them into the sword, the Supreme Divine Sword's power grew exponentially, and so did Baili Zhu's strength.

The changes in the sword led Li Pin to wonder if it was the same sword as the Supreme Demonic Sword from the Mara World, or perhaps its predecessor.

In the distant future, the Immortal God Emperor would betray Baili Zhu while she was imprisoned by the Void Emperor.

His escape would come at a heavy cost, leaving him weakened as he fled to the Mara World.

There, he would shatter the seal of the Supreme Divine Sword, reclaiming his freedom.

Without his presence as the sword spirit, the evil gods within would lose control, and the sword would transform into the Supreme Demonic Sword. The sword would then lure the first Heavenly Demon God Monarch, turning him into the Heavenly Demon God Emperor.

As such, a catastrophic war erupted between the Heavenly Demon God Emperor, the Moon Demon Clan, the Kirin Clan, and the Immortal God Emperor.

In the end, the Kirin Clan's God Emperor fell. The Immortal God Emperor vanished without a trace. The Moon Demon Clan's God Emperor perished. Even the Heavenly Demon God Emperor likely lost his life, unable to withstand the Supreme Demonic Sword's power.

After countless twists and turns, the sword eventually ended up in the hands of the Netherlord, marking the beginning of the Mara World's tale.

Of course, this was only Li Pin's speculation. As for the truth... no one knew.

***

"He's back?"

Li Pin sensed Baili Qingfeng the moment he returned to the Celestial Barren Domain.

By now, he should have fully adapted to Transcendent power and completed his transformation into a new Transcendent Being.

Even if Baili Zhu had only perceived him through the limited lens of a Cosmic Radiance, he was still, without question, a Transcendent Being.

With a single thought, Li Pin crossed the void, heading straight for the spatial gate linking the Twin Moon and Celestial Barren Domain.

However, he halted before leaving Xiaya City.

Suspended above the sea of clouds, he gazed into the distance.

Six thousand miles away, a lone figure walked steadily toward Xiaya City, step by step.

"Just a little more..." muttered Li Pin.

Li Pin watched as Baili Qingfeng traversed mountains, rivers, forests, and grasslands. He watched him take in the presence of the mountains, water, wind, leaves, soil, and animals.

No, he wasn't collecting data. He was sensing. In these final moments before his complete transformation, he was racing against time, clinging to his last moments as a human to experience the world.

He picked up a handful of soil, bringing it close to take in its scent. He stepped into a stream, feeling the cool water rush against him. He stood beneath a torrential downpour, letting the rain and mist surround him. He stood in the vast wilderness, listening to the wind sweep through the grass and trees, carrying the song of nature.

***

Li Pin watched in silence.

He couldn't make sense of Baili Qingfeng's actions, but he understood his feelings.

Perhaps for Li Pin... it was like him waking up one day and realizing he was just an ordinary man, that martial arts and evolution had never truly existed. Retracing the places where he once trained and struggled, he would let go of everything that had once been within reach, piece by piece.

In the end... he would come to terms with it and accept that he was merely a mortal.

***

Li Pin watched Baili Qingfeng take step after step toward Xiaya City.

Six thousand miles was far too short for the present Baili Qingfeng.

He saw Baili Qingfeng speaking with Shi Yiyi, saw reason take over, saw everything that made him human fade, replaced by godhood.

The gentle breeze, the cool flow of water, the final stirrings of emotion. One by one, they turned into nothing more than cold, lifeless data.

From the world around him to his own senses, from thoughts to emotions, everything drifted away.

Inside his residence, Baili Qengfeng stood beneath the shower, letting the water run over him. He pressed a hand against his chest, as if searching for the beat of his own heart, or perhaps... something far more precious, something buried deep within.

In the end... he found it.

"Thank you," he murmured.

Thank you... for giving me life.

Suddenly, it felt as though his soul had been ripped away, as if something else had taken hold of him, another set of memories, another awareness, another worldview.

One after another, they overwrote his own, consuming the memories, beliefs, and identity that had once defined him.

A cold, creeping dread took hold. He could feel it with terrifying clarity. He was dying, piece by piece, being erased from existence.

This was a horror that would've chilled anyone to the bone.

But not Baili Qingfeng.

He didn't feel fear. He couldn't. Not anymore. The body remained, but not the person.

Baili Qingfeng had ceased to exist.

"Void Emperor," Li Pin whispered.

A strange sense of melancholy washed over him.

He should have been pleased. Baili Qingfeng had become the Void Emperor. Now, they could finally fight without restraint.

Yet... watching someone like him, someone who could have walked his own path to the end, forced to let go, forced to abandon everything he had spent his life guarding... he couldn't bring himself to feel joy.

He understood. "Half a step ahead, and you're a genius. A full step ahead, and you're a madman. But for those of us blessed by the miracles of this world..."

How many steps ahead are we?

***

Baili Qingfeng stepped outside. Like a newborn, he observed the world with fresh eyes, learning and understanding.

Baili Qingfeng even removed his shoes, walking barefoot along the streets, retracing the paths "he" had once taken.

The newly renovated old district, the university he had attended, the Wu River, and the bridge that crossed it.

Li Pin could sense Baili Qingfeng’s every step. He was like an artificial intelligence that had just gained sentience and connected to the internet, rapidly copying and learning the world's data at an incredible pace.

He moved in the form of Baili Qingfeng, yet his gaze belonged to the Void Emperor. Through the eyes of the Void Emperor, he sought to understand, to grasp, to learn this world.

At some point, his steps led him into a narrow alley.

Li Pin knew that Baili Qingfeng's childhood home had been in this very area.

Baili Qingfeng stopped. For a moment, he seemed dazed.

His presence grew unfathomably deep.

In that instant, Li Pin faintly sensed the radiance of his True Spirit. The light pierced through time, glimpsing the past and future.

Li Pin looked around. "This place..."

He saw nothing unusual. None of the pioneers had ever mentioned it.

But he knew it mattered.

Baili Qingfeng... or rather, the Void Emperor, stood motionless at the alley's entrance.

His actions defied reason, yet Li Pin simply observed, making no move to intervene. freёnovelkiss-com

After a long silence, Baili Qingfeng spoke. It was a murmur that seemed full of anticipation, yet heavy with parting.

Perhaps it was remembrance... or perhaps a severing of the past.

"May you weather the storms and return, still the youth you once were."

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on free(w)ebnov(e)l.𝒄𝒐𝙢