Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 117: Ending

Chi Xingyu's vital signs completely ceased.

Li Pin stood in front of him for a few seconds.

During this time, the few Core Formation martial artists at the side had the urge to make a move. They wanted to see if Li Pin had sustained heavy injuries, hoping that he might be at the end of his rope after defeating Chi Xingyu.

However, recalling the domineering power Li Pin had displayed during his clash with them, they hesitated. In the end, they didn't dare to make any reckless moves.

Li Pin had bled a little, staining his arm, but they could tell that he was still capable of fighting. If their subsequent attack were to enrage Li Pin and he ended up killing them, there would be no justice for them even in death.

The glory of getting into the top ten was integral as it could bring them tremendous fame and benefits. However, no matter how great the fame and benefits it brought were, they weren't worth a cent compared to their life.

Several seconds later, Li Pin withdrew his gaze from Chi Xingyu and slowly walked over to Gu Haoran.

After seeing Li Pin's world-annihilating hand of death, Gu Haoran was utterly horrified, so much so that it felt as if his soul was leaving him. As he watched Li Pin walk toward him, he fidgeted unconsciously, instinctively wanting to pull away from Li Pin.

"So, do you think that Zhou Chaoguang and Han Li have the right to deal me injuries that are so serious that I won't be able to continue in the competition?" Li Pin asked.

"N-no..." stammered Gu Haoran.

Li Pin continued to push him. "Then tell me right now. Who is Jiang Province's number one?"

The moment he asked this, the whole place was rendered silent. Gu Haoran aside, even Zhou Yuanfei, Gao Liushui, Jiang Qushan, and the others couldn't raise any objections. Jiang Zhenhai was trembling slightly. He didn't even dare to look at Li Pin anymore.

Seeing this, everyone knew that there was no need for any answer. The performance of those in the top ten, as well as their silence, was the best answer to Li Pin's question.

Despite feeling humiliated, what Gu Haoran felt more was the fear of death. "You... It's you...."

His fear of death overpowered any other emotion, be it rage, humiliation, or his unacceptance of the outcome.

Hearing that, Li Pin didn't say anything else. He turned and left.

As Li Pin approached, all the Core Formation martial artists made way for him. No one dared to stop him. They didn't even have the courage to look up at him. They feared that their gazes might provoke this horrifying existence and cause him to misunderstand that they still held hostility toward him, bringing calamity upon themselves.

After leaving the stage, Li Pin called out to Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu, who were waiting with expressions of admiration. "Let's go."

Li Yunyao nodded vigorously. "Mmm, mmm!"

After Li Pin and the others left via the contestants' passage and the award ceremony was over, Shu Shaoyan—Cloud Crest Martial Hall's hall master, who had been invited to present the awards—returned to his seat.

Shu Shaoyan slapped the table. "This is atrocious! Li Pin doesn't care for the honor of the Jiang Province Martial Society!"

Liu Tiandao was very gloomy. "Does he have any regard for the law? The regulations!?"

Xiao Yunfeng didn't say a word.

Having attained the status of Martial Saint, he felt he was a bit stronger than Chi Xingyu. If he had personally made a move, he believed he'd have been able to stop Li Pin.

However, there was no need for him to do so. For one, they wouldn't be the ones who'd suffer this humiliation. Lin Yuzhi was the one who had forcibly taken the first place position for them.

Furthermore, there were signs of internal political conflict within the martial society over this matter. If Xiao Yunfeng were to jump into this matter and side with Lin Yuzhi only for Lian Hongchen to win, he would have to pay a high price for that choice.

Most importantly, Li Pin was too young. Unless they could kill him outright, it wouldn't be prudent to offend an expert who had limitless prospects and would be likely to attain the Martial Saint status in the future. Therefore, Xiao Yunfeng chose not to make a move.

He wasn't the only one, too. Zhao Shenyan and the others had the same thought as well. When it got down to it, they wouldn't be the greatest beneficiaries anyway. Moreover, the risk that they'd have to bear for making a move was too big. It wasn't worth it.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the spectators' stand.

"My phone has lost signal?"

"Hmmm? You too? I also can't connect to the Internet."

"I realized this long ago. I thought the high traffic affected the signal. Could it be that... the signal is being blocked?"

Lian Hongchen quickly realized something from the discussions around him.

He took a look at Lian Xiyue.

Lian Xiyue quickly understood and raised a question through the earpiece he had on.

After a while, Lian Xiyue said gravely, "It's true that the signals have been cut off. The live broadcast was stopped when Gu Haoran was pushed back and Li Pin defeated the ten people who had joined hands."

After a pause, Lian Xiyue added, "But the signal is recovering now."

Lian Hongchen took a deep breath. "To think that... Lin Yuzhi would dare to do this!"

It might have seemed as though defeating the top ten experts in the intermediate category had taken Li Pin quite a while, but it all actually happened very quickly. Furthermore, he had also defeated and killed Chi Xingyu. From then till his departure from the place, everything took less than one to two minutes.

"With everyone watching, there wouldn't be much meaning even if he were to cut off the signals. Would he be able to seal everyone's mouths? He has made the wrong move," Lian Xiyue remarked solemnly.

"You don't understand. As long as news doesn't spread to the capital, it'd be far too difficult to pull him off his position. So what if several ten thousand people have witnessed it? He can mislead the public with deliberate falsehoods by filling the Internet with ambiguous news. If all the news were to contradict each other, who'd be able to discern the truth from the lies?"

Lian Xiyue was a little surprised. "This..."

Lian Hongchen shook his head.

For people like Lin Yuzhi, who were provincial officials, such public opinions would have almost no influence on them. As long as the people at the top were not negatively affected and forced to make a move, they'd have plenty of ways to suppress matters that might be extremely impactful.

This was also why Lian Hongchen had been hesitating on whether he should carry out Plan Four. In a time when everyone revered authority and acted in collusion with those in power, the allure of power far exceeded what ordinary people could imagine.

So, Lian Hongchen chose to teach this to his nephew, whom he had high expectations for.

"You have to know that influential people like Lin Yuzhi aren’t just people or the roles they hold. It's an entire rank of influence!

"If anyone who is not included in the rank were to challenge him, it'd be equivalent to challenging the entire rank. It'd definitely incite a backlash from the entire rank!

"Therefore, the only ones who can deal with him would be people from within the rank!"

After that, he said, "It's time to reel things in."

Lian Xiyue wasn't convinced. "We're reeling things in just like that? Even though we can't pull him down, we can at least bring him a lot of trouble. Maybe then—"

"We can fight, but we have to choose the way to put up the fight. We have to leave a good impression on the higher-ups, making appropriate moves and managing the degree of impact. Otherwise, even if we were to bring Lin Yuzhi down, I might not be the one to replace his position. As for the trouble you mentioned..." Lian Hongchen smiled. "The higher-ups aren't fools. They'll see everything. It doesn't matter if we do anything."

"This..."

"I've more or less guessed how Lin Yuzhi plans to wrap up things. The end results won't be bad." Lian Hongchen chuckled. "The public opinion won't affect him much, but he can't disregard regulations completely. This is because, in this exchange, we've won slightly.

"Therefore, he won't dare act against Li Pin in the short term. Li Pin's safety is assured. Furthermore, if Lin Yuzhi ends up trying to feign compliance but continues to act the contrary, I'll make him feel the pain of doing so."

Lian Hongchen grinned and looked in the direction Li Pin disappeared. "From now on, it will all depend on Li Pin's performance in the World's Top Martial Competition. He just needs to make a name for himself on the stage organized by the Tianyuan Federation, even if it’s just by winning a round or two. If he can do that, he will definitely cause the higher-ups to make a decision given how young he is."

Lian Xiyue got emotional. "The World's Top Martial Competition!"

That was a stage beyond the Jiang Province and even the entire Taibai Kingdom. It was intended for the Tianyuan Federation or even the world.

It was a pity... martial artists like Lian Xiyue would probably never have the qualifications to set foot onto that stage in their lifetime.

As the two of them were immersed in their discussion, several staff members wearing the martial society's uniforms quickly went up the stage. The person in the lead was Deputy Chairman Xue Manshan, who had joined Lin Yuzhi's side.

He immediately made arrangements for Chi Xingyu to be taken away. Then he took the microphone from the host, who was scared shitless, and spoke to calm the audience.

"This was definitely an extremely exciting performance! The battle between Master Li and Chairman Chi truly did wonders to show Master Li's true capabilities!"

Xue Manshan clearly understood that it'd be futile to continue to try to suppress Li Pin and immediately changed the story.

"Now that things have come down to this, we can't continue to hide things anymore. Master Li is Jiang Province's secret weapon. The martial society had wanted to hide his true skills and avoid the upcoming national competition!"

After Xue Manshan said this, a commotion immediately broke out.

Xue Manshan continued, "The people who are well informed about the martial world should already know that the sixth princess has decided to participate in the national competition. Moreover, she is out to get first place in the World's Top Martial Competition.

"The sixth princess is undoubtedly a top-notch existence that can match a Martial Saint. Although Master Li is extremely gifted, he's still a notch weaker when compared to the sixth princess.

"To prevent Master Li from acting as a foil for the sixth princess and discourage him from pursuing martial arts, we intended for him to avoid fighting the sixth princess, who is at the peak of her martial arts pursuit. We wanted Li Pin to be able to snatch first place in his first attempt at the national competition, thereby achieving the greatest glory for Jiang Province and even the entire nation!"

The spectators' commotion finally died down after hearing Xue Manshan's explanation.

The competition in the capital took place concurrently with the provincial martial competitions. The top ten would be decided for each competition, including the one held in the capital. And everyone knew well that the sixth princess was as strong as a Martial Saint.

It made sense for the martial society to withdraw Li Pin from the competition so he didn't end up as cannon fodder when the national competition rolled around and he came face to face with the sixth princess. A setback like that would negatively affect Li Pin's martial arts heart.

Xue Manshan explained, "There were some misunderstandings in our communication with Master Li. Additionally, some short-sighted people only care about immediate benefits. They don't care about the ramifications that losing at the hands of the sixth princess would have on Master Li's martial arts heart.

"These people instigated Master Li to raise complaints, resulting in today's misunderstandings. We apologize to everyone and the martial society will reflect upon its flaws too."

Xue Manshan said loudly, "However, everyone can rest assured that we will explain things to Master Li and resolve the misunderstanding. Furthermore, the martial society will focus all of our resources on nurturing Master Li. In the next national competition, everyone in the country will cheer for our genius from Jiang Province!"

When the crowd heard this, the bustling sounds gradually became softer, and the chaos-filled award ceremony slowly came to an end.