CHAPTER 42 — FATE AGAINST FATE
The colossal sword fell like a divine judgment.
Jason Wu leapt sideways at the last possible moment, feeling the blade's pressure alone flatten the air around him. The impact behind him was apocalyptic—stone burst into dust, cracks spread like a spiderweb across the white marble floor, and shockwaves rippled through the entire arena.
Jason rolled across the ground, coughed, then sprang up again.
"Okay… okay… that thing hits harder than Pavilion Master Xueyin's slap when I called her old!"
Longwu Sword vibrated angrily.
["You WHAT?"]
"Long story! NOT IMPORTANT NOW!"
The colossal fate-reflection rose back to full height. It was monstrous—ten meters tall, yet moving with unnatural precision. Its golden eyes locked onto Jason with terrifying focus, like a predator fixated on prey that had no right to resist.
Wu Zhaotian stood at the edge of the arena, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
**"Your battle begins now. Show the Fourth Echo that your path is worthy."**
Jason grimaced. "Define worthy!"
Zhaotian didn't answer.
The giant reflection stepped forward.
Each footstep shook the arena.
*BOOM.*
*BOOM.*
*BOOM.*
Jason exhaled sharply.
"Longwu… any strategy?"
["Yes. Don't get hit."]
"…You're so helpful."
["And you're about to die. So together we make a great team!"]
Jason steadied himself, gripping Longwu Sword with both hands.
The giant raised its massive blade overhead.
Jason narrowed his eyes.
"Come on."
---
### **THE FIRST CLASH**
The colossal sword dropped.
Jason dashed forward.
Not away—*toward* the attack.
Longwu screamed in his mind.
["BOOOY WHAT—"]
Jason slid beneath the descending blade, sparks erupting as the massive weapon scraped the marble. Jason launched upward, slashing toward the giant's ankle.
*CLANG!*
His sword bounced off harmlessly.
Jason's hands went numb.
"What is it made of?!"
Longwu Sword clicked disdainfully.
["Condensed destiny. Very durable. Very annoying. The usual."]
The fate-reflection swung horizontally.
Jason bent backward—almost folding in half—as the blade sliced above him, cutting off a few strands of his hair.
He sprang back up, panting.
"Okay. New plan. Cutting is useless."
["Yes. And also: you cannot kill destiny by simply stabbing it. You must defy it."]
Jason scowled. "Meaning?"
["You must weaken it. Break its certainty. Make it hesitate."]
Jason blinked. "…Destiny hesitates?"
["Only if you terrify it."]
"That's helpful and horrifying."
But before Jason could think more, the giant stabbed downward.
Jason darted left.
The ground exploded.
Jason used the momentum to leap onto the giant's arm, sprinting up its massive limb. Golden veins of energy pulsed beneath its transparent skin, lighting up each muscle fiber.
Jason reached its shoulder.
The giant turned its head.
Its voice was a thunderous echo of Jason's own.
**"…You cannot escape what you are destined to become."**
Jason glared. "I don't plan to escape. I plan to choose."
The giant swung its hand.
Jason jumped, but the massive palm hit him midair like a collapsing mountain.
*WHAM!*
Jason flew across the arena like a meteor, smashing into a pillar. The impact broke the pillar—and probably three of his ribs.
Jason slid to his knees, coughing violently.
"Okay… that hurt."
Longwu muttered.
["Correct. I estimate three ribs broken, one bruised lung, and your pride shattered forever."]
"Shut up…"
Jason forced himself to stand.
The giant fate-reflection approached slowly, each step cracking the arena further.
---
### **THE GIANT'S DOMINANCE**
Jason charged again.
He ran in zigzags, dodging the colossal blade that repeatedly smashed the ground. He reached the giant's leg again and leapt—
The giant simply kicked him.
*THUD!*
Jason's body skidded across marble for nearly ten meters.
Jason groaned. "I think… it just used martial arts on me…"
Longwu sounded amazed.
["Of course it did. It is YOU—minus bad decisions, plus divine destiny."]
"HEY!"
The giant's golden eyes pulsed.
**"You resist evolution. You deny ascension."**
Jason spat blood. "I deny YOU telling me who to be."
The reflection didn't respond. It simply swung again.
Jason dodged narrowly—but the shockwave alone blasted him off his feet. Dust and debris rose like a raging storm.
Wu Zhaotian's voice thundered through the arena.
**"Jason Wu! If you fight like the child you were, you will die here!"**
Jason snarled. "Then I'll fight like the person I want to become!"
He slammed Longwu Sword into the ground and steadied himself.
He inhaled.
Exhaled.
And the world slowed.
---
### **THE HEARTBEAT MOMENT**
Jason's heartbeat echoed softly.
*Thump.*
Time shifted.
The giant's movements became clearer—no longer a blur of unstoppable power, but a series of motions Jason could predict. Each swing came from its shoulder with a two-second windup. Each step had a three-point balance shift.
Jason's mind sharpened.
His breath steadied.
His aura aligned.
Longwu whispered.
["Ah. You entered the Wu Heart State. Your ancestor perfected this. About time you caught up."]
Jason cracked a small smile.
The giant swung down.
Jason sidestepped effortlessly.
The blade smashed marble and stuck for one fraction of a second.
Jason used that moment to sprint up the blade.
The giant looked up too late.
Jason leapt toward its face—
and slammed Longwu Sword into its glowing eye.
*BOOOOM!*
Energy burst. The giant staggered, roaring in pain and fury.
Jason landed behind it, panting hard.
One of its eyes dimmed.
Longwu hummed.
["Good. You broke a point of certainty. Destiny can falter. Strike again."]
Jason didn't hesitate.
He dashed forward.
---
### **A CHANCE — AND A TRAP**
Jason sliced the giant's wrist.
Then stabbed its knee.
Then leapt and slashed across its jaw.
Each strike forced golden cracks to appear across the giant's body.
The fate-reflection retaliated with wild swings, but Jason—now inside the Wu Heart State—dodged with precision bordering on divine.
He carved a path up the giant's arm, ready to stab its remaining eye—
But the giant anticipated this.
Its body suddenly shifted—
and it GRABBED Jason mid-air.
*CRUNCH.*
The giant's enormous hand closed around him.
Jason screamed as his ribs compressed.
His vision blurred.
Longwu Sword shook violently.
["JASON! You must break free NOW!"]
Jason gasped. "H-How?"
["Use what the Second Echo taught you! CONTROL! Direct your spiritual energy inward! Expand it!"]
Jason tried.
Pain exploded through his chest.
His breath rattled.
The giant squeezed harder.
The world darkened around the edges of his vision.
Wu Zhaotian's voice boomed.
**"Jason Wu, if you cannot break a grip—YOU CANNOT BREAK DESTINY!"**
Jason choked.
The giant raised him toward its mouth—
as if about to devour him.
Jason's heart screamed.
"No… NO!"
And then—
Jason's spiritual energy detonated outward.
*BOOOOOM!*
The giant's hand exploded in a burst of golden fragments.
Jason fell, landing hard but alive.
Longwu Sword shouted happily.
["YES! That's my boy! Detonate your organs later, CELEBRATE NOW!"]
Jason coughed blood. "Not helping!"
He got up—wobbling, but standing.
The giant roared, shaking the arena.
Jason stared at it with fire in his eyes.
"You think you're my destiny? Then listen carefully. I decide who I become."
The giant charged.
Jason charged back.
---
### **FINAL EXCHANGE**
They collided in the center of the arena.
The giant swung downward.
Jason leapt upward.
The giant stabbed forward.
Jason twisted around the blade.
The giant grabbed with its remaining hand.
Jason somersaulted over it.
They moved like mirrored storms—one immense and divine, one small and furious, yet both burning with the same fire.
Longwu Sword blazed with radiant energy.
Jason's aura ignited around him in a swirling golden stream.
Jason roared.
"LONGWU—NOW!"
Longwu Sword erupted with a blinding burst of resonance.
Jason's body spun.
And in one singular, perfect, impossible strike—
Jason's sword pierced the giant's heart.
The fate-reflection froze.
Jason landed in front of it, breathing hard.
Golden cracks spread across the giant's body.
It slowly knelt.
Its voice—Jason's own voice—echoed deeply.
**"…You have defied fate."**
Jason whispered:
"I chose myself."
The giant shattered into pure light.
Light exploded across the arena like a sunrise.
Jason fell to his knees.
Exhausted.
Bruised.
Broken.
Triumphant.
Wu Zhaotian approached him.
For the first time—
the legendary ancestor smiled.
**"Jason Wu… you have earned the Fourth Echo."**
Light enveloped Jason.
Warm.
Weightless.
Empowering.
Longwu Sword whispered proudly.
["You did it… boy. You really did it."]
Jason closed his eyes.
And let the Fourth Echo embrace him.