Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 343: Escape

"I've always believed that no one in this world can live forever."

Li Pin turned around and looked at the two of them with a calm expression. "If once isn't enough, then twice. If twice doesn't work, then three times, four, ten, twenty..."

Lightning flashed.

Li Pin soared like a great roc spreading its wings, riding the wind. Amidst the roaring thunder, he charged forward again.

"I only hope..."

A flash of sword light cut through the air!

"...that you can last a little longer."

Amidst the terrifying surge of the Celestial Force Field, Li Pin hurtled toward the two. With a sharp turn, his speed spiked.

His swiftness defied description. It was faster than thunder and lightning.

Before Hong Zhenshan could swing his blazing Arbiter Spirit Weapon to block, Li Pin had already merged with his sword, fiercely colliding with Ying Zhao's newly formed body.

Celestial Assassination Technique.

Even with the three-headed and six-armed demon god phantom Ying Zhao had manifested, all he could do was watch helplessly as the Sword of Destiny pierced through him.

In the next instant, the sword aura exploded....

Ying Zhao's pupils dilated in shock. "How is he so fast?!"

Nevertheless, as a Master Astral Cultivator, he was able to react swiftly. Just as the Sword of Destiny was about to tear him apart with its explosive aura, he transformed into starlight at the fastest speed. The sword qi sliced through his starlight form like cutting through flame or light, unable to inflict any real harm.

Ying Zhao quickly took advantage of his form and darted away in an attempt to escape the storm of sword aura.

"Let's see just how strong a Master becomes after merging their will with the Atomic Will," said Li Pin.

He took a deep breath, and dazzling electric sparks erupted wildly around him.

At that moment, what surrounded him wasn't the vast shadow of a celestial body, but the Celestial Magnetic Field. Though weaker in power compared to the Celestial Force Field from before, its density was on a completely different level.

The magnetic field spun!

In an instant, Li Pin became a vortex, pulling Ying Zhao, still in starlight form, toward him.

The scattered starlight which had been shooting toward the distance began to reconverge and swept toward Li Pin as if captured by a black hole. It seemed as though the Celestial Magnetic Field emanating from him was about to bind all of them.

Hong Zhenshan's heart sank. "A higher realm than Martial God!? He's mimicking celestial bodies—turning his Lifeform Force Field into a Celestial Magnetic Field!?"

As expected! The Dragonfist Sect Master had reached this level!

For years, experts from the Six Extremities, as well as Master Astral Cultivators and many Legendary figures, had researched the theory of Martial Gods. Among them, the Stars Overlord Secret Art, the foundational secret art of the Martial God path, had been studied extensively.

They predicted that the next step beyond becoming a Martial God would be the third stage of the Stars Overlord—mimicking celestial bodies and forming one's own Celestial Force Field.

When news arrived that Li Pin had slain three Top-Tier Astral Cultivators, the Martial God Hall researchers had already speculated that he might have reached this stage. They theorized that it would be possible for him to rely on this power to suppress Astral Cultivators' Starlight Bodies.

Now, watching how he dealt with Ying Zhao... the news was undeniably true.

"It's only been a year since Li Pin pioneered the Martial God path. Yet one of the people walking his path has already made such breakthroughs in so little time, taking another step forward in the realm."

Hong Zhenshan had never met Li Pin. At most, he'd only have seen data and images about him. However, looking at the Dragonfist Sect Master before him now, he was confident that his talent might not be any less than that of the founder of the Martial God path!

His mind raced, but his hands didn't slow.

Based on the research from the Martial God Hall, a human imitating celestial bodies would never be able to release a Celestial Force Field comparable to a true Celestial Magnetic Field.

Therefore, Hong Zhenshan steeled himself and decided to brute force his way through, delivering a strike with all his might.

As Hong Zhenshan's Arbiter Spirit Weapon flared to its limit, he roared, "Break!"

The brilliance unleashed in that instant resembled the blazing sun, as if the weapon contained the power of a solar flare.

Yet just as his strike, burning with intense heat, was about to land, a colossal force surged forth.

A vast, overwhelming power surged around Li Pin's Celestial Force Field, or perhaps from a deeper dimension or the fabric of the heavens and earths themselves.

That power, as boundless as a world-ending millstone, revealed only a fraction of its might, yet the sky and earth trembled violently as if an earthquake had erupted.

The moment this power reached Hong Zhenshan, he felt like it was about to grind him to dust.

"Not good!"

Without hesitation, Hong Zhenshan shifted into his starlight form.

Block? Brute force his way through?

There was no blocking that! This was a power that could crush even a Legendary Mage's astral energy shield with ease. It was like a sliver of Gaia's mass crashing down—how could anyone stand against it?

Hong Zhenshan's only option was to activate his Starlight Body and let the force, which could level mountains and obliterate all things, sweep over his energy form.

Since his starlight form barely had any physical properties, the overwhelming attack, powerful beyond anything material, did not cause him any real harm.

However, now in his starlight form, he no longer had the chance to rush to Ying Zhao's aid.

Ying Zhao could only watch helplessly as his Starlight Body was torn apart and distorted by Li Pin's Celestial Magnetic Field, almost unable to reform.

Unleashing the full force of his immense mental spirit, Ying Zhao let out a low roar, "Damn it!"

It's as though he had entered a state similar to transcendence, with his spiritual strength burning at full force. In this boiling state, his once elusive spiritual power resonated to its peak with the Atomic Will. Through this resonance, reality itself was directly affected.

Even in its dispersed form, his Starlight Body still radiated brilliantly. The starlight overlapped and merged, eventually forming a storm where spirit and starlight fused into one. This storm erupted directly from the material plane.

Buzz! Buzz!

A shockwave made entirely of dazzling starlight burst from Li Pin's Celestial Magnetic Field. The intense mental impact almost froze his thoughts.

Seizing the moment, the fluctuating starlight violently shook his Celestial Magnetic Field, causing its operation to stall.

The instant the magnetic field stopped, the bound starlight shot into the sky. It reappeared a hundred meters away, reforming Ying Zhao's body.

He panted heavily. The starlight within him dimmed noticeably, and his mind was showing signs of fatigue. His gaze toward Li Pin grew increasingly cautious.

The Starlight Body could gather and disperse freely, shifting between physical and energy forms. However, if it failed to reform after transforming into energy—and if each strand of starlight was drained of energy—the only fate awaiting a Master Astral Cultivator was death.

It was no different from having his body shattered into countless pieces. There was no way he was surviving that.

He had truly felt death encroaching on him when Li Pin had bound his Starlight Body. If his spiritual strength hadn't surpassed Li Pin's, and if the Celestial Magnetic Field hadn't been limited in its destructive effect against the Starlight Body, he would have... been trapped in the Celestial Magnetic Field until his eventual demise.

"How could this be?" Ying Zhao muttered in disbelief.

Hong Zhenshan appeared at his side, his gaze equally solemn as he looked at Li Pin.

Li Pin steadied the tremors in his Celestial Magnetic Field. "Evidently, you're not truly immortal."

He glanced at the two. "You should be thankful it was two of you against me. Without the other's distraction, you'd already be near death."

Ying Zhao and Hong Zhenshan exchanged a look but said nothing. They knew Li Pin spoke the truth.

"Now that you've tasted the threat of death, show me the true power of Master Astral Cultivators! Let me witness the ultimate strength you've hidden away! Use that power... to defeat me!"

Li Pin raised the Sword of Destiny with both hands. "If you don't defeat me... when I defeat you, there will be only one fate awaiting yo—"

Whoosh!

Before Li Pin could even finish his sentence, Ying Zhao and Hong Zhenshan took on their starlight forms almost simultaneously.

However... they didn't launch a thunderous strike. Instead, they fled!

They instantly accelerated to supersonic speeds and flew off into the distance.

The only thing that remained where they once stood was the fading sound of thunder.

Li Pin was flabbergasted.

They ran?! Just like that?! These powerful Master Astral Cultivators came all the way from Great Shang to avenge a minister, yet they just took off at the first sight of a real fight! They didn't even shed a single drop of blood!

Where is your honor as Master Astral Cultivators? Where is your pride?

"Stop right there!" Li Pin shouted.

His Celestial Magnetic Field flared to life as he quickly chased after them.

However, as hard as he tried to catch up, the duo were too fast! Their speed accelerated to terrifying degrees as they fled for their lives!

They might not have been able to sustain traveling for thousands of miles, but covering a hundred or two hundred miles was enough for them to easily lose Li Pin, given that he didn’t know the exact direction they'd taken.

Just like now... less than fifty miles into the chase, Li Pin had already lost track of the two Master Astral Cultivators.

He went on for another twenty miles, but there wasn't a single trace of them left to be found.

Hong Zhenshan and Yingzhao had pushed their starlight forms to the maximum speed they could muster and disappeared without a trace.