Black Myth: Starting from the Destined One
Chapter 199 - 170 The Soon-to-Fall Genius!_3

Chapter 199: Chapter 170 The Soon-to-Fall Genius!_3

He waved the Immortal Slaying Sword toward the Four Red Suns Formation at his feet. Like a meteor from beyond the sky striking a volcano, the flames within the Four Red Suns Formation immediately sprayed toward the approaching Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound, leaving everyone around them gasping in amazement!

"Originally, what Li Ping’an had said wasn’t wrong; this great monk was indeed letting me win. Otherwise, I would have been defeated by Mahaparinirvana, the Defrocked Monk, and his Buddhist cultivation long ago!"

Xie Wenren, who was watching the battle from a hidden spot, had turned evil, but he felt even more sincerely convinced by the Defrocked Monk Mahaparinirvana!

While Pei Yuanjing was fighting the Defrocked Monk Mahaparinirvana, he suddenly felt his spirit tremble, and his Spirit Platform became clear. This feeling was very familiar:

"Am I about to..."

Suddenly, Pei Yuanjing closed his eyes and had an epiphany. Suspended in midair amidst the Four Red Suns Formation, his whole body emitted a radiance intertwining purple and blue.

"How did he suddenly become like this? And it looks so familiar!"

Li Ping’an squinted his eyes and couldn’t figure out what was happening, and fearing that Pei Yuanjing was about to play some trick, he immediately employed Divine Power: Insight into the Hidden to check and was instantly dumbfounded:

Pei Yuanjing, Taoist cultivator: Mysterious Heart Realm 15%, Strength: 600, Mana: 600, Defense: 1000 (Immortal Slaying Sword bonus)

Critical hit rate: 20%, Critical hit combo: 50%, Damage bonus: 20%, Damage reduction: 20% (Immortal Slaying Sword bonus)

Four disasters resistance:

Cold Immunity: 0%, Fire Immunity: 30%, Poison Immunity: 0%, Lightning Immunity: 10% (Immortal Slaying Sword bonus)

"This kid actually broke through his realm in the midst of battle! This is too unbelievable!"

Li Ping’an was completely astounded, not only by the fact that Pei Yuanjing’s cultivation had reached the same Mysterious Heart Realm as his but also by the shock of Pei Yuanjing’s comprehension and talent!

"The second greatest talent in the world! Indeed, he doesn’t have his reputation for nothing!"

After marveling, Li Ping’an grew increasingly uneasy, knowing that if his Great Sage Life-Protecting Talisman didn’t trigger, Pei Yuanjing, with his current cultivation and the Immortal Slaying Sword, could surely kill him and Mahaparinirvana, the Defrocked Monk.

Even if he finished absorbing the Spiritual Essence and replenished his Mana, he would be no match for Pei Yuanjing!

What to do now?

Li Ping’an panicked in an instant!

"Playing tricks!"

Mahaparinirvana, unaware that Pei Yuanjing had just made a breakthrough in realm, cursed before launching his technique:

"Great Thunderous Buddha Hand!"

Mahaparinirvana spread his arms wide, crossing them, as a burst of golden light erupted from his forearms, transforming into two massive Buddha hands. Only then did he charge forward, engaging in battle with Pei Yuanjing!

When they clashed again, Pei Yuanjing, even with only one arm, seemed all the more adept.

The two gigantic Buddha hands shimmered with golden light, their might boundless; the Immortal Slaying Sword, wreathed in fierce flames, was overwhelmingly fiery.

What a tremendous battle, each displaying their abilities. In just this short exchange, countless moves had been made!

"Heavens! Heavens! Heavens!"

Li Ping’an, who had been using Divine Power: Insight into the Hidden to observe Pei Yuanjing, witnessed an even more eerie and horrifying scene: Pei Yuanjing’s cultivation was actually continuously rising during the battle. In just this short time, it had increased from 15% of the Mysterious Heart Realm all the way to 35%, then from 35% to 40%, and was still visibly increasing!

"So this is what a genius is?"

Before encountering Pei Yuanjing, Li Ping’an had always believed he was a one-in-a-million cultivation genius. But after today’s battle, he was forced to confront a highly unwelcome truth: it was Pei Yuanjing who was the true genius, while he himself was nothing but a poser.

"If the second greatest talent in the world is already so terrifying, what level of prowess must King Tianran, the World’s Number One Talent, possess?"

No longer daring to imagine it, Li Ping’an felt resigned as he compared himself to the genius Pei Yuanjing before him:

"I am still too weak..."

"What? Do you still have the face to say that you’re weak? Which eighteen-year-old is an Earth Immortal? Li Ping’an, you bragger and pretender!"

Xie Wenren, hiding in the dark, felt angry, then envious, then furious, and finally overwhelmed with boundless pain after hearing Li Ping’an’s words.

What’s the greatest pain for them cultivators or even ordinary people?

For someone like Xie Wenren, who happens to have a bit of talent – enough to covet the palace of the geniuses but without the qualifications to enter – it’s heartbreaking.

He lingers indecisively at the palace gates, glimpsing the light that leaks out but unable to knock open the door.

He sits in despair, believing this to be the ultimate regret of the human world, only to faintly hear a sigh from the geniuses within the palace:

I am so weak!

There are far too many people like Xie Wenren, as ordinary as ordinary can be – the very epitome of the common people, every Jack and Jill, including you!

Struck by Li Ping’an’s thoughtless remark, Xie Wenren couldn’t help but cry bitter tears:

This world is fair; effort yields results.

But this world is also unfair; effort doesn’t compare to talent!

Thus, effort is the least valuable thing!

For an ordinary person to achieve success, fame, or even ascendancy to godhood, immortality, or sainthood, it takes one’s fate, second, fortune, third, geomancy, fourth, accumulation of moral deeds, fifth, education, sixth, recognition, seventh, appearance, eighth, reverence for the gods, ninth, association with the influential, and tenth, health preservation – all indispensable, each as important as fate, talent, and the right people, supplemented by the right time, place, and harmony!

So, for an ordinary person to achieve greatness, it’s more difficult than ascending to the heavens!

In fact, our ancestors had long seen through the word "effort" – break it down, and it’s "slave" plus "force," meaning a slave working tirelessly.