Chapter 178, Before absolute strength, all resistance is merely delay
Lin Yi looked at Long Tianyu for a moment, measuring his reaction, then spoke in a calm, deliberate tone.
"Senior Long, you’ve walked the hunter’s path longer than I have. You understand better than most that in this world, strength is never static. When the tide rises, all boats rise with it. But only those who choose the right current reach the shore."
Long Tianyu’s gaze sharpened slightly, but he did not interrupt.
"I’ve come across an opportunity," Lin Yi continued, "one that most would never even recognize, let alone grasp. The Seven Star Immortal Conversion Halo." He paused briefly, letting the name settle. "Its greatest prize is not the artifacts itself, nor the resources used to refine it. Its true value lies in what it can create... an Immortal Guardian."
He took a step closer, voice steady.
"A guardian forged not by chance, but by his own vitality. Strength condensed. Potential skyrocketing. A state where one no longer struggles against limits, but transcends them entirely." His eyes met Long Tianyu’s directly. "Senior, a carp that leaps over the dragon gate becomes a dragon. Opportunities like this don’t come twice."
Long Tianyu remained silent, but there was weight in his stillness now.
"I won’t speak in circles," Lin Yi said. "I intend to offer you that position."
A faint pause followed, just long enough to make the words land fully.
"To become an Immortal Guardian under the halo is not a loss. It is an ascension of a different kind. To take a step back today may be to advance ten steps tomorrow. The path changes, but the outcome... can be greater than what the current path allows."
His tone lowered slightly, more measured now.
"You’ve already reached a level most will never touch. You know how narrow the path forward becomes. Every step beyond this point demands more time, more risk, more uncertainty." He gestured lightly, as if indicating the vast expanse around them. "But this... this is a shortcut carved by something beyond ordinary rules."
Another followed, almost effortlessly.
"When a wise man sees an opportunity, he acts before others even understand it exists."
He let that hang for a moment before finishing.
"I would regret missing this chance, Senior. Not because it is rare, but because it is decisive. And I believe you understand what it means when a turning point appears in front of you."
Lin Yi’s expression remained calm, but his intent was clear.
"So I’ll ask directly," he said. "Will you take that step... and claim the greatest prize the halo has to offer?"
Long Tianyu did not answer immediately.
For a moment, he simply looked at Lin Yi, the silence stretching just long enough to make it clear that every word had been heard, weighed, and understood.
Then his expression changed.
Not confusion. Not hesitation.
Disgust.
"Enough."
The word cut through the air with a sharp finality.
"You take me for a fool?" Long Tianyu’s voice hardened, the calm authority from before turning cold. "An Immortal Guardian?" A short, humorless laugh escaped him. "You dress it up with pretty words, and talk of ascension... but strip it down, and what is it?"
His gaze locked onto Lin Yi, heavy with contempt.
"A mindless shell. A bound existence. A slave with no will of his own."
The air around him seemed to tighten.
"And you thought I would accept that?" he continued, each word more cutting than the last. "You thought I would thank you for offering to turn me into something less than human?"
A step forward. Slow. Deliberate.
"You’ve got nerve, I’ll give you that," Long Tianyu said. "To stand in front of me and suggest I abandon everything I’ve built... everything I am... for your so-called ’opportunity.’"
His expression darkened further.
"Arrogance doesn’t even begin to cover it."
For a brief moment, it seemed like the conversation might end there, in violence.
But then Long Tianyu exhaled once, steadying himself.
"When I first met you, I thought you had potential," he said, voice lower now, but no less dangerous. "Someone worth guiding. Maybe even someone worth bringing into my guild."
He looked at Lin Yi again, this time with a different kind of evaluation.
"Now I see something else."
A pause.
"Someone who doesn’t understand the weight of what he says."
The shift was subtle, but decisive.
"Still..." Long Tianyu continued, tone cooling slightly. "You’re fortunate."
Lin Yi didn’t move.
"I could kill you for that suggestion," he said plainly. "And I would be justified."
Another step closer.
"But I won’t."
A faint narrowing of his eyes.
"Because there’s still use in you."
The words settled with quiet implication.
"You spoke of Immortal Guardians as a prize," Long Tianyu said. "If that’s the case... then perhaps I should take that ’prize’ for myself."
A small pause.
"And you can be the one who demonstrates its value."
His voice dropped, final and unmistakable.
"I may yet forgive your arrogance," he said. "Instead of killing you outright... I might simply turn you into one."
Lin Yi did not respond immediately.
For a brief moment, he simply stood there, his expression unchanged, as if Long Tianyu’s words had not stirred even the slightest reaction.
Then—
The air shifted.
A vast, suffocating wave of spiritual pressure descended without warning, heavy and absolute. It did not spread outward violently. It settled, like a mountain pressing down from above.
Long Tianyu’s expression changed instantly.
His body trembled.
His knees buckled before he could stop it, striking the ground with a dull, controlled impact as the pressure forced him down. The force did not crush him outright, but it pinned him there, every movement suppressed under a weight he could neither resist nor disperse.
Lin Yi stepped forward, calm, measured, his presence now completely different from before.
"Senior Long," he said quietly, "you speak of arrogance."
He stopped a few steps away, looking down at him.
"But tell me... when the mountain presses down, can the river refuse to flow?"
The pressure increased, just enough to make the answer obvious.
"You call it slavery," Lin Yi continued, his tone even. "You call it the loss of will. But in this world, has will alone ever determined outcome?" A faint pause. "Before absolute strength, all resistance is merely delay."
Long Tianyu’s breathing grew heavier, his body straining under the invisible force.
Lin Yi’s gaze remained steady.
"You say I do not understand the weight of my words," he went on. "But what you fail to see is that the weight you speak of... is decided by power, not intention." His voice lowered slightly. "The strong define the path. The weak can only walk it."
He took another step forward.
"You believed you had a choice when you refused me," Lin Yi said. "That you could reject the offer and stand as you are." A faint shake of his head. "But that assumption only holds when the two sides are equal."
A brief silence followed.
Then—
"When the wind howls, the grass must bend. When the heavens shift, even dragons lower their heads."
The pressure pressed down again, firm, undeniable.
Lin Yi looked at him without hostility, without anger, only clarity.
"You ask whether I intend to turn you into an Immortal Guardian," he said. "But the truth is simpler than that."
Another pause.
"The weak do not decide what they become."
His voice remained calm, almost indifferent.
"They become what strength allows them to be."
The spiritual pressure stabilized, no longer increasing, but not easing either.
"And right now," Lin Yi finished, "you should understand exactly where you stand."