I Finally Get It

Wang Zhan’s solitary, resolute figure finally vanished into the twilight, deep within the wasteland!

Yet the shock he had left behind—and that profound final bow—was branded into everyone’s hearts.

However, when everyone turned their attention back to Ling Xi, the awe they had only just managed to suppress—their terror in the face of absolute power—surged back with even greater force!

“How can this Cyan Rakshasa be so strong?!”

At last, someone could no longer hold back. His dry voice, filled with lingering disbelief, shattered the silence.

“Is the gap between the Monarch Realm and the Saint Realm really nonexistent in front of her?!”

That question was like a stone tossed into a tranquil lake, instantly stirring countless echoes that had been suppressed for far too long.

“Battle Asura was already a miracle that shook the Eastern Region when he challenged and defeated a peak Monarch Realm expert while only at the Heavenly Human Realm!

“Sword in White is just as astonishingly gifted! We thought that was the limit of what a heaven-defying genius could achieve…”

“But now there’s also a Cyan Rakshasa! A Monarch Realm cultivator defeated a Saint with a single finger!”

“This isn’t merely stronger. This is absurdly powerful—so powerful that it defies all reason!”

Gasps, cries of amazement, and voices of doubt rose one after another. Every sound was filled with a sense of absurdity and profound awe.

Ling Xi’s strength had already exceeded the limits of their understanding.

“What kind of terrifying sect could possibly produce one monstrous genius after another?!”

At that thought, countless gazes involuntarily turned toward the mountaintop where Xiao Ruobai, Fang Hanyu, and the others stood. Those eyes carried curiosity, reverence, and even a trace of indescribable fear.

Their gazes first swept over Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu, who appeared calm, as though they had expected this from the beginning. The two were already publicly acknowledged as peerless prodigies.

Then their eyes naturally landed on Fatty Wang, who was standing on tiptoe with his neck stretched out, watching the spectacle with great enthusiasm. His face was flushed with excitement, as if he were shouting, “My Third Senior Sister is so cool!”

This fellow was apparently Battle Asura’s junior brother. So then…?

Suddenly finding himself the focus of hundreds or even thousands of complicated gazes, Fatty Wang, who had been completely immersed in the excitement of “My senior sister is invincible,” shuddered violently.

He looked left, then right, and realized that those gazes really were fixed on him. His voice immediately took on a note of caution.

“W-Wait, why are all of you looking at me?”

“My Third Senior Sister is over there! Look over there!”

“I-I’m warning you, I’m very powerful too! Don’t even think about trying anything funny!”

His reaction, his declaration that he was “very powerful,” and the instinctive way he kept dodging their eyes formed a stark contrast.

Amid the deathly silent and stunned atmosphere, it was especially jarring—and rather amusing.

Watching his cowardly-yet-defiant, defiant-yet-cowardly appearance, many people were rendered speechless for a moment. It even diluted some of the shock and dread weighing on their hearts.

Thank goodness. Thank goodness this one didn’t look all that strong!

Yet just as the atmosphere had become strange and awkward because of Fatty Wang’s reaction—

“I get it!”

A trembling voice filled with a peculiar excitement suddenly rang out from within the crowd!

Everyone followed the sound and saw a prodigy no older than forty, already at the Heavenly Human Realm. His face was flushed, and his eyes shone with a mixture of enlightenment, excitement, and grim determination.

He stared fixedly in the direction Wang Zhan had left, as though he were seeing something more fundamental through Wang Zhan himself. His voice was hoarse with excitement.

“We’ve spent all this time pursuing invincibility among our peers, fearing failure and avoiding every risk!”

“But today, we finally realize how mistaken we were!”

“Wang Zhan suffered defeat after defeat, yet perhaps that was how he found the true path!”

“What about us, then? If we don’t even dare face defeat, if we don’t dare acknowledge our own shortcomings, if we remain trapped day after day by empty reputations and fear, how could we ever glimpse the true Dao?!”

“True strength may begin with the courage to face failure!”

His words exploded in the hearts of many like thunder!

Especially among those cultivators whose talents were not exceptional and who had struggled forward on the path of cultivation, complicated lights began to shine in their eyes.

That was right. They had desperately pursued the illusory goal of being invincible among their peers, yet they did not even possess the courage to accept defeat. Wasn’t that putting the cart before the horse?

For a time, an entirely new philosophy—somewhat mad, yet seemingly containing profound truth—quietly began to take root across the wasteland.

“Exactly!”

Elsewhere, a middle-aged cultivator with a weathered face and a steady aura slowly exhaled. His eyes gleamed.

“I’ve been stuck at the peak of the Heavenly Human Realm for ten years. Today, after witnessing Wang Zhan temper his heart through defeat, I finally understand that what I may have lacked was precisely the courage to advance without hesitation—to shatter myself and rebuild from the ruins!

“This battle was no less than a thunderous blow to the head for me!”

“Could defeat also be a form of cultivation?”

Someone else muttered to himself. His Dao heart, which had nearly collapsed after witnessing Ling Xi’s terrifying strength, strangely steadied. In fact, a trace of sudden enlightenment even arose within him.

“We cultivators struggle against Heaven for our lives. This path was destined to be an arduous journey from the start. If we lose heart merely because a mountain too high to climb stands before us, how could our path ever stretch far?

“Wang Zhan dares to be defeated. The Cyan Rakshasa dares to fight. What, then, do I have to fear about facing my own weaknesses?”

An agitated yet solemn atmosphere spread across the wasteland.

The expressions in many people’s eyes changed. They no longer looked only upon those dazzling figures on the mountaintop with shock and envy. Now there was also more self-reflection and resolve.

A peculiar movement of thought—using defeat as a lesson and tempering one’s heart in pursuit of the Dao—quietly surged among the outstanding young cultivators of the Eastern Region.

“Li the Third! Come, come, fight me! Please, I beg you—grant me a defeat and help me break through!”

A cultivator who had been stuck at a bottleneck for years suddenly hammered his fist into his palm as if he had achieved enlightenment. He then turned his burning gaze toward a longtime rival beside him.

“Senior Brother Zhang! You’ve always had me beneath your heel. Today, your junior brother wants to taste the feeling of defeat! Please, grant me this favor!”

“Junior Sister Zhao! I know I can’t beat you, but please grant me a defeat! I need the pressure!”

In an instant, the atmosphere across the wasteland underwent a complete transformation!

Calls of “Please grant me a defeat!” rose one after another. The solemn, murderous mood from earlier vanished without a trace, replaced by something chaotic and ridiculous.

Many cultivators whose cultivation was clearly inferior—or who had no connection to the people they challenged whatsoever—summoned their courage and began issuing requests for defeat to prodigies and opponents they would normally never dare provoke. Their eyes were filled with sincere longing.

Even the elders of some major sects could only twitch at the corners of their eyes. They wanted to scold everyone, yet somehow felt that something about this wasn’t entirely wrong.

How had the atmosphere suddenly gone so far astray, turning into a world where everyone sought defeat and took pride in losing?

Had these people perhaps misunderstood something?

Sigh. The younger generation these days really did have some peculiar ways of thinking.

After taking a look at the gifts just now, I suppose, maybe, I really do owe everyone another chapter…

Let’s put it on the tab for now. I’ll make it up next week. I’ve been updating rather aggressively this week, and I need to properly sort out some of the plot ideas.

Everyone, take a breather as well. We’ll move the story forward step by step!

Thank you all for your gifts and support!