# A Challenge Thrown!

A gauntlet cast down! To dare challenge a Third Step Ascendant! Since time immemorial, such beings have been as gods to those of the Second Step. They are nigh invincible. Only amongst themselves might a Third Step Ascendant fall. Never have they been defeated by a Second Step cultivator.

This truth, as immutable as the heavens and earth, is branded upon the very souls of all cultivators: Third Step Ascendants are unbeatable! Mortals are but ants before them! Though Sima Mozi suffered the scorn of the Old Vermillion Bird, in any other realm, his footfall could trigger cataclysmic events. Despite being merely at the first stage of Empty Nirvana, Sima Mozi was considered divine by all Second Step cultivators. Yet now, before tens of thousands of souls, words that defied belief, words like thunder, reverberated across the Emperor Star. “He… he dares to challenge a Third Step Ascendant?!”

“This Third Young Emperor, though his cultivation is unfathomable, is far removed from the might of a Third Step Ascendant. This challenge is folly!”

“Especially since he has just emerged from his trial, wounded, no doubt. To boast of battling a Third Step Ascendant is utterly laughable!”

“Perhaps not. While his power may not match a Third Step Ascendant, the trials he endured have amplified his spirit to its zenith. To squander this moment would be a grievous loss!”

“Hmph! No one of our stature can challenge a Third Step Ascendant! With a single divine art, Sima Mozi will demonstrate the consequences of such arrogance!”

“Yet, I find myself respecting the Third Young Emperor. Whether he succeeds or fails, he spoke the words, he took the step. Who amongst us would dare such a feat? You sneer, but would you face Sima Mozi as he does?”

The tens of thousands of cultivators who initially opposed Wang Lin found their ranks fracturing after his challenge. A portion began to regard him with a grudging respect. His final word, “Come!”, radiated boundless confidence. Yun Luo Da Si herself was shaken, her mind torn between the image of Wang Lin and the terrifying visage from the trials, struggling to discern where one began and the other ended.

The Old Vermillion Bird grinned, for this was the outcome he desired. He wished for his junior to accomplish something deemed impossible by all. “The Third Step may be strong, but my earlier slaps were not in vain!” His gaze sharpened as he turned towards Sima Mozi.

Sima Mozi’s eyes cleared instantly, his face becoming serene, yet a chilling apathy enveloped him. He was no longer the same being as before. An immense aura of authority emanated from him, twisting the very fabric of reality. Within that distortion, countless spectral souls appeared, their faces contorted in silent, agonizing screams that echoed across the Emperor Star.

“Did you believe that defeating my avatar entitled you to challenge a Third Step Ascendant? Since you desire death, I shall grant it!” Sima Mozi spoke calmly, taking a single step forward. His form blurred, becoming a streak of light hurtling towards Wang Lin.

The gathered cultivators were transfixed, their breaths held captive, their eyes glued to the unfolding scene. Unspeakable excitement pulsed through their hearts. The unleashing of a Third Step Ascendant’s power, such a battle, was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

“Nine Annihilations of the Heavens!” Sima Mozi’s voice resounded, filling the world. He closed the distance to Wang Lin, his eyes devoid of malice, yet filled with grim purpose. He raised his right hand and unleashed a devastating blow.

“First Annihilation: Heaven!” At his command, the sky shuddered, and countless rifts tore through the heavens, forming jagged scars that descended upon Wang Lin.

The sky twisted, the rifts multiplying.

“Second Annihilation: Earth!” Sima Mozi’s voice echoed, the ground quaking, causing all those watching to flee in terror. Mountains erupted from the ground, reaching towards the sky. They crumbled from their foundations, falling in fragments towards Wang Lin.

Wang Lin found himself assailed from above by the twisted sky, and from below by the mountains.

“Third Annihilation: Life!” Sima Mozi’s gaze sharpened. With a wave of his hand, a freezing wind materialized, extinguishing all life.

In a split second, Sima Mozi unleashed these cataclysmic strikes, intending to kill Wang Lin. Wang Lin’s eyes flashed, and the tempest of illusory fire around him began to churn and spiral with furious speed.

“Illusory Fire of Nine Colors, by my name, I command you: Manifest as Fiery Spirits!” Wang Lin shouted, with a flurry of hand seals. Within the firestorm, a thunderous roar erupted, followed by the shrieks of dragons.

A dragon’s head materialized from the firestorm with impossible speed. The dragon burst free, a scarlet behemoth lunging towards the sky.

Crimson fire engulfed the rifts, creating a horrifying spectacle. Even as this occurred, another dragon was birthed from the firestorm, an orange dragon roaring forth to meet the mountains rising to meet it. It coiled, engulfing the mountains in flame.

Then, from Wang Lin’s firestorm, came more, fourth, fifth, sixth… until a ninth, black dragon was formed from the chaos and released! Wang Lin stood in the center of it all with the nine dragons circling him. His left eye pulsed with the nine colors of the flames.

Thousands of miles away, the gathered cultivators were in awe.

“Fourth Annihilation: The Burial of Heaven! Fifth Annihilation: The Passage of Time! Sixth Annihilation: The Erasure of Nihility! Seventh Annihilation: The Destruction of Prehistoric Ages! Eighth Annihilation: The Grinding of Reincarnation… Ninth Annihilation… Break the Heavens!” Sima Mozi spoke without emotion, his mind in perfect balance. With each annihilation, he took a step forward towards Wang Lin, and shadows appeared behind him.

First came the ghostly graves and tombs that spread across the sky. Then time began to swirl about Sima Mozi’s feet. Finally, an obscuring mist covered everything.

As he approached, the distance shrunk to 30ft. Sima Mozi extended a hand toward Wang Lin as he shouted, “Nine-Stepped Annihilation!” The phantasms that were following Sima Mozi exploded and flowed into his open hand.

Wang Lin’s eyes flashed and he channeled all of his power into two fingers. The Nine Dragons swirled to meet Sima Mozi’s attack,

They were met with the force to break heaven, and the collision was earth shattering. The onlookers were rocked by the shockwave, and thousands of them spewed blood as they staggered back.

Wang Lin slid back to the tune of 300ft and the redness was wiped from his face as he revealed his icy stare.

“As expected, the 3rd Step is astounding!”

Sima Mozi’s hands shook. “The fires of destruction and my attack to rend the heavens could not extinguish them!” He revealed the briefest flash of shock.

At that moment, Wang Lin, with a flash of intelligence in his eyes, brought his hand forward and pointed.

“Illusory Fires, rise!”