Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 147: Secret Art

Lian Hongchen was briefly stunned. "Limitless Sword Technique?"

After a moment, he said, "Alright. The Limitless Sword Technique indeed is one of Taibai's top-notch sword art. Moreover, I've also obtained some written insights about the Limitless Sword Technique in Lin Yuzhi's office. These insights might not be very useful, but at the very least, they should be able to help you quickly pick up this sword art and learn how to put it to use in actual combat."

Li Pin nodded.

Firstly, he had picked the Limitless Sword Technique because he felt that this sword art wasn't weak.

Secondly, and most importantly, Lin Yuzhi had used the Limitless Sword Technique to fight against Li Pin in a life-or-death battle. Therefore, Li Pin had witnessed this sword art at its zenith. With his talent, if he put effort into studying it, it probably wouldn't be long before he reached a level close to Lin Yuzhi's.

Of course, it'd just be close to it.

He was on the verge of becoming a great grandmaster and was going to organize his martial arts system soon. Even if he were to cultivate the Limitless Sword Technique, it wouldn't be possible for him to reach the exact same level as Lin Yuzhi.

Lian Hongchen smiled. "You previously had not been officially invited to participate in the World's Top Martial Competition yet, Grandmaster Li, so it wasn't convenient for us to openly announce that you're the indisputable champion of Jiang Province's intermediate category. This isn't a concern anymore.

"Now that you have obtained your invitation, you won't lose out to the Taibai national competition's top three in terms of weight. In the past ten or more seasons, very few martial artists from Jiang Province have managed to get into the national competition's top three positions. Now, you are undoubtedly Jiang Province's number one martial artist!"

Li Pin wasn't opposed to Lian Hongchen using him for publicity. Firstly, Lian Hongchen had just become the interim martial society's chairman and needed Li Pin's reputation to boost his performance. Secondly.... reputation came in handy sometimes.

At the very least, when he wished to spar with top-notch experts in the future, they wouldn't outright reject him just because they hadn't heard of him before.

***

The next day, Li Pin returned home.

Having been away from his house for half a month, he returned to find the renovations finally done. Lian Hongchen seemed to have hired a reputable interior designer, as the courtyard looked a lot more pleasing to the eye than before.

Even though Li Pin had dropped a call to let them know he'd be away, both Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu were still visibly relieved when they saw Li Pin arrive home safely.

"Brother.... where have you been? We haven't seen you for so long. I thought that someone got jealous of you getting first place in Jiang Province and came to look for your trouble," Li Yunyao said.

Li Pin smiled. "You can think of it that way."

"Huh?"

“But it's all over now."

He pointed out, "Only mediocre people won't be the target of jealousy. When you're capable but willing to remain stagnant where you are, you can lead an easy life. However, when you're capable and want to find meaning in life, you'd definitely encroach on others' interests.

"Those people will try to suppress you. If there ever comes a time when this happens to you, and you want to have the right to say 'no' and for rules to bend for you, then you can only strive to get stronger."

Li Yunyao was stunned. "Get stronger?"

Li Pin nodded. He put out his hand and then clenched it into a fist. "Get stronger."

Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu thought of the events that had taken place on the night half a month ago. Both of them knew that Li Pin was teaching them the way of life in the martial arts world.

Li Pin didn't intend to influence their thoughts with just words alone. He was only imparting them the principles. When they encountered similar events in their life, they would naturally recall his words and have their own personal comprehension. Forcibly instilling certain ideals into them would only bring about an adverse effect.

After giving them some time to digest what they heard, Li Pin smiled and asked, "Do you guys want to go to Tianyuan Dynasty's capital to check it out?"

"Tianyuan Dynasty's capital?" Li Yunyao's attention was immediately diverted and her eyes gleamed. "Brother, you're going to bring us?"

She then seemed to have thought of something and asked in surprise, "Are we going to watch the World's Top Martial Competition?"

Li Pin nodded.

To avoid being led into a blind alley, dwelling in foolish conceits, and to broaden one's horizons, traveling outside to see more of the world was the best solution. This liberated a person's views and thoughts.

"You won't just be going to watch the World's Top Martial Competition...." Li Pin took out his invitation. "You guys will have to cheer me on as well."

Looking at the red invitation with gold rims, Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu's eyes widened. "This is...."

Li Yunyao screamed, "The invitation to the World's Top Martial Competition? This is really an invitation to the World's Top Martial Competition!? I saw it on the Internet before! It looks exactly the same as this one!"

She jumped over to Li Pin's side. "Brother, I-I thought you didn't participate in the national competition!? How can you have an invitation to the World's Top Martial Competition?"

"The national competition isn't the only way to obtain the invitation," replied Li Pin.

Li Yunyao's face was beaming with excitement. "That's right! That's right! That's right! Brother, you're so outstanding! The Organizing Committee must have seen how amazing you are and thought you have the bearing of a champion! That's why they extended the invitation to you! That's great!

"With this, who would dare say you didn't come in first in Jiang Province? Not many people who were first in place in Jiang Province in previous seasons could get into the World's Top Martial Competition!"

Li Pin smiled.

To the Jiang Province martial world, making it into the top ten of the national competition was something to be very proud of. When it came to the World's Top Martial Competition, on the other hand, that was something everyone in the Jiang Province would share the glory of.

It was like what Lian Hongchen had said. When they officially announced his upcoming participation in the World's Top Martial Competition, his name would be on everyone's lips in Jiang Province.

In the coming one to two months, he would become the most brilliant star in the Jiang Province martial world. As long as no wars were happening in Taibai, Li Pin's reputation could even exceed that of uprising Astral Cultivators.

Li Pin said, "All talented martial artists from various countries in Tianyuan will gather at the World's Top Martial Competition. If you guys watch the battles in person, you will be able to understand the gap between yourself and the greatest experts in the martial world. Then.... you can face that gap head-on and strive to improve and excel."

Both Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu nodded vigorously.

It was unclear whether the two girls were simply thrilled they could go to the Tianyuan Dynasty's capital or excited to watch the fights between so many martial artists at the World's Top Martial Competition.

***

An hour later, Qin Guangming, Li Yunyan, Mrs. Li, and Qin Rouran arrived in a hurry.

They hadn't been able to get a hold of Li Pin for over a week, so when they saw that he was safe and sound, they all heaved sighs of relief.

Even though he had called them after a week, everyone was sharp enough to notice that something had to have happened.

However, aside from the fact that the Qin Family's status wasn't very distinguished, Astral Cultivators and martial artists belonged to two different systems. In addition, the higher-ups had deliberately concealed the news regarding Li Pin and Lin Yuzhi's life-and-death duel. Therefore, they didn't know the truth of what had happened.

Because of this, they hadn't been able to ascertain Li Pin's safety until they saw him with their own eyes.

After some simple exchanges, Qin Guangming took out a box. "You're a martial artist and probably have more money than the entire Starlight Corporation. You can probably also rely on your own capabilities to get your hands on ordinary medicine as well. Furthermore, considering your achievements... you probably have the support of a Martial Saint?"

After saying that, Qin Guangming paused for a moment.

This was what they truly thought. How else would Li Pin have been able to become Jiang Province's number one in such a short period if he didn't have a Martial Saint backing him? This was also why the Qin Family hadn't taken out their martial arts manuals all this time for Li Pin.

"Given your martial arts cultivation, we don't really know what you'd consider good. We can only try to find a secret art through our connections. We hope that it'll be helpful to you."

Qin Guangming opened the box to reveal an exquisitely bound book.

"Hmmm?" Li Pin was a little surprised. "A secret art?"

Secret arts were extremely precious to cultivators. On one note, secret art cultivation tended to require secret medicine and they weren't easy to cultivate.

On another note, ordinary people found it quite difficult to get their hands on them. After all, as their name entailed, secret arts were meant to be secrets.

Even Lin Yuzhi would have found it difficult to get his hands on a secret art with good prowess.

In a martial society, there would only be two secret arts. Moreover, both secret arts would have extreme side effects. The side effects may cause the user to die upon usage. Additionally, without secret medicine, the difficulty of successfully cultivating a secret art would skyrocket to untold degrees.

In theory, no one would gift such secret arts to others. To think that the Qin Family, a non-martial arts influence, could gift him with a secret art.

Could it be that....

Li Pin flipped open the book and glanced through it.

Secret Art: Stars Overlord.

This name.... sounds quite over the top. It was probably an unpopular secret art that had very serious side effects.

Li Pin flipped through the manual.

However, it didn't take long for Li Pin to realize he had wronged the Qin Family. This technique was simply impeccable!

Although the cultivation difficulty was extremely high and the secret medicine required for the cultivation was extremely pricey, the prowess was incredible. Amongst all the secret arts he knew, this could be seen as top-notch.

Li Pin instantly put down the manual and looked at Qin Guangming. "Where did you guys get this secret art from?"

"We got it through our connections with the Guardian Hall," answered Qin Guangming, pausing slightly. "Our family has some connections with the Guardian.... but this connection.... it's more like a favor. You should know that important characters like the Guardian who stand at the peak level in the Astral Cultivators domain are on a completely different level from our family...."

Li Pin looked at the manual and murmured, "Favor...."

This favor had to be very heavy.

When Qin Guangming heard this, he smiled and asked, "It seems that this secret art is not bad?"

"It's very good," Li Pin replied sincerely. "It allowed me to take a peak into a brand new world. This is the first time I've realized that.... martial arts can develop in this direction."

He paused for a moment. "You mentioned this secret art was obtained through connections with that Top-Tier Astral Cultivator... I can understand why. If I'm not mistaken, this secret art should be a brand new art that was developed by some Martial Saint who had become an Astral Cultivator."

When Qin Guangming heard this, he was visibly surprised. "Ah Pin, you're right. The Jiang Province's Guardian Hall Warden Xiang Tianxing was previously Sword Saint Donghua. He is the pride of all martial arts cultivators in Taibai!"

Li Pin nodded.

For that Warden Xiang Tianxing to give this secret art to Qin Guangming... meant that this favor wasn't simple.

However, Qin Guangming had given him the secret art. Moreover, this secret art wasn't just very powerful; it had also opened up a brand new train of thought for Li Pin. It was very helpful for him.

Li Pin took another look at the manual. "I'll be accepting the secret art. Thank you."

This secret art was clearly an excellent top-notch art. It simulated, within the human body, the changes that occur in celestial bodies, thereby allowing oneself to evolve into a celestial body.