Chapter 179, Long Tianyu’s thoughts
Long Tianyu’s knees pressed into the ground, the impact long since faded, yet the force that held him there had not lessened in the slightest. It was not pain that defined the moment, nor was it injury. It was something far worse.
Weight.
A presence so absolute that it did not need to announce itself to be understood.
It simply existed, pressing down on him, denying him the simple right to stand.
How... did it come to this?
The thought did not come in panic. It came slowly, deliberately, as if even his mind refused to rush toward a conclusion it did not want to accept. His breathing remained steady, controlled through years of discipline, but each inhale felt heavier than the last, as though even the air acknowledged the one standing above him.
I am Long Tianyu.
The name carried history. Weight. Authority.
Dragon Knight. National Guardian of Jianghe.
Titles earned not through inheritance, not through chance, but through years of blood and battle. He had stood at the edge of death more times than he could count, had carved his way upward through a world where the weak were erased without notice.
Level 192.
A number that countless hunters will work for, but won’t even reach a fraction of it.
A number that had meant he stood near the peak.
And yet, his gaze lifted, just slightly, just enough to see the figure ahead of him.
Lin Yi stood there, unmoving, unaffected, as if the force pressing him down was nothing more than a natural extension of his existence.
An academy student.
The thought should have been absurd.
It wasn’t.
When did the distance reverse?
He replayed it, piece by piece, forcing his mind to remain clear even as the pressure bore down on him.
Their first exchange.
He had not been careless. He had not treated Lin Yi as insignificant. He had recognized strength, recognized potential. Enough to take him seriously.
But not this.
Never this.
He repelled my attacks.
Not barely. Not through narrow margins.
Cleanly.
Effortlessly.
Every strike he had delivered had been calculated, backed by years of experience, refined through countless real battles. And yet each one had been met... and dismissed.
And then...
His jaw tightened slightly, the memory sharp and undeniable.
He put me on the ground.
And now
This.
This weight that held him in place, that stripped away the illusion of parity, that reduced everything he had built to something that could not even rise.
This is not a difference in skill.
The realization settled deeper with every passing second.
This is a difference in existence.
His fingers pressed into the ground beneath him, the surface fracturing slightly under the pressure he exerted, but his body did not rise.
When did I become the one beneath someone else?
There was no self-pity in the question.
Only clarity.
Because something had changed.
And he had not seen it happen.
His mind moved, sharp and disciplined even now, analyzing, reconstructing, searching for the point where everything had shifted beyond his reach.
Lin Yi’s level.
His presence.
The weapon at his side.
The way he stood, the way he moved, the absence of hesitation in every action.
There was no uncertainty in him.
No testing.
No reaching.
This was not sudden strength.
This was established dominance.
How long...?
How long had Lin Yi been like this?
How long had he already stepped beyond the level Long Tianyu believed to be the threshold?
And more importantly—
How did I fail to see it?
A faint, bitter understanding began to take shape.
The young...
His gaze steadied, even as the pressure refused to yield.
...has already surpassed the old.
The river flows forward.
The thought came quietly.
The mountain remains still.
Another followed.
And one day... the river carves through the mountain.
His breath slowed, deepened, the weight of the realization settling into him not as shock, but as truth.
When the new wave rises... the old tide recedes.
A proverb he had once spoken to others.
Now turned inward.
When the phoenix takes flight... even the eagle must yield the sky.
His fingers curled slightly against the ground.
So this is what it feels like.
To be left behind.
To stand on the other side of the distance he once controlled.
To look up... and realize the gap is no longer one he can cross.
For years, he had been the measure.
The one others compared themselves against.
Now, he was the one being measured. And found lacking.
A quiet stillness settled over him, deeper than the pressure itself.
Because beneath all the analysis, beneath all the recognition, there was something else.
Something he could not ignore.
My fate...
The thought lingered.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
He had seen this before.
Not for himself.
For others.
Hunters who had stood where he stood now.
Hunters who had faced something they could not overcome.
Hunters who had realized, too late, that the outcome had already been decided.
So this is how it ends.
Not with glory. Not with a final victory.
But here.
On his knees.
Looking up at someone who had already surpassed him.
Then, a faint tightening in his chest followed, subtle, almost imperceptible.
Not fear.
Something closer to regret.
Not for dying. But for not seeing it sooner.
If I had known...
The thought faded before it could complete.
Because it did not matter. Nothing would have changed.
This gap? It had already existed.
He had simply been unaware of it.
A slow breath left him.
Then, something shifted.
Not in the pressure.
Not in the environment.
In him.
"No."
The word came quietly, But it carried weight.
"Not like this."
His fingers pressed harder into the ground, the cracks beneath them spreading further.
"Even if the outcome is decided..."
His gaze sharpened, locking onto Lin Yi.
"I will not accept it on my knees."
Strength decided everything.
That truth had not changed.
"Then I will face it directly."
Not as the one beneath.
But as the one who still chose to stand.
His muscles tensed, gathering what strength remained, not to break the pressure entirely, but to move within it.
A single moment.
A single decision.
"Whether I fall... or rise..."
His teeth clenched.
"I will not remain here."
Then,
With a sharp exhale, Long Tianyu forced his body forward, pushing against the crushing weight as he surged up from his knees and lunged toward Lin Yi, the ground beneath him fracturing as the motion carried through.