Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 148: Force Field

Seeing that Li Pin had sincerely accepted this secret art, Qin Guangming smiled and heaved a sigh of relief. "As long as you're satisfied."

The Qin Family had already seen Li Pin's potential lately. They believed that Li Pin had hopes of becoming a Martial Saint.

A Martial Saint enjoyed a status no less than that of any Astral Cultivator. A Martial Saint might even be a slight notch better than an Astral Cultivator.

However, that wasn't the key point. Most importantly, Li Pin had already displayed the bearing of a "great teacher."

In the future, even if Li Pin didn't manage to refine his qi into Spirit and step on the path of an Astral Cultivator, his prospects would also be above that of Ordinary Astral Cultivators. After he had become a great teacher, he'd be able to enjoy the same standing of High-Class Astral Cultivators.

Under such a possibility, since the Qin Family had the kinship advantage of being in-laws with Li Pin, they'd naturally hope to be on good terms with him.

However, when Li Yunyan first married into their family, even though Qin You didn't say anything openly, he had despised the Li Family a little.

Li Yunyan knew this too. That was why she had been forced to walk on eggshells around the Qin Family. For example, when Li Yunyan wanted to buy some things for her family, she could only do so secretly. She hadn't even dared to mention to the Qin Family about the matter where Li Pin had suffered from negative public opinions.

Qin Guangming felt guilty because of this, believing he had let down his wife.

Thankfully, Li Pin tided over the incident and then strived hard to improve himself thereafter, displaying astonishing martial arts aptitude.

In addition, Li Yunyan later got pregnant and the Qin Family's head gradually accepted this daughter-in-law. Both families then started to have more exchanges. This made Qin Guangming, who was caught in the middle and was in an awkward position, feel better.

Half a month ago, Li Pin had suddenly gone missing. The entire Qin Family had spent quite a lot of effort searching for him, fearing that something had happened to him. It was not until their search reached Lian Hongchen that they managed to get concrete details of Li Pin's situation.

Li Pin then gave them a call and they finally felt assured.

This secret art was a present that Qin You had prepared in advance for Qin Rouran's teacher acknowledgment ceremony. Half a month ago, they used the favor the Guardian Hall had owed to them and asked for their help to help search for this. Last night, the people from the Guardian Hall arrived at the Qin Manor and gave them this secret art manual.

Qin Guangming had quickly brought the manual over in a hurry after learning that Li Pin had returned home. He hadn't even had the chance to find professionals to inspect the quality of this secret art.

Thankfully, Li Pin seemed very satisfied with this secret art.

At this moment, a thought seemed to strike Qin Guangming, and he said, "Oh, right. The people from the Guardian Hall mentioned that this secret art was developed by an Astral Cultivator. Some sections of the secret art involve the ideologies of Astral Cultivators. You can ignore those. Doing so won't affect your cultivation of the secret art."

"Hmmm?"

Li Pin was a little surprised. Nevertheless, he still nodded.

Qin Guangming stated, "Other than that, Ah Pin, don't spread this secret art to outsiders...."

"I know."

There was no need to mention how precious such a top-notch secret art was. If it were to spread to others....

Li Pin took another look at it.

After a brief pause, Li Pin reevaluated; it actually didn't matter if this secret art was divulged to outsiders. Li Pin could tell that mastering this secret art wasn't any easier than attaining Martial Saint. On the contrary, it might be even harder.

Whether he could master this secret art would probably dictate whether he had the right to stand at the peak of martial arts or not. He'd be able to compete with Extreme Martial Saints, contending for the King of the Century title.

***

After lunch, Qin Guangming, Li Yunyan, and Mrs. Li left, with only Qin Rouran staying behind.

"I need to understand your cultivation progress in detail, sensing your qi and blood. I'll need to touch you to do so," replied Li Pin.

Qin Rouran nodded. "Mmhmm."

Having some body contact while receiving martial arts guidance was unavoidable.

"Alright. Go and lay down on the sofa."

Qin Rouran had learned about the bone-reading process during her recent conversations with Lin Xiaolu. Therefore, she wasn’t surprised and lay down.

Li Pin sat down next to her and pressed a hand on her body, sensing her qi and blood circulation.

Compared to ordinary people, or rather, weak ladies like Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu, Qin Rouran's qi and blood was a lot stronger and domineering.

Even though it had only been half a year since she had meditated on the Astral God, Li Pin sensed that her qi and blood level had reached forty-nine points. It was exactly the same as Wang Liancheng, whom countless martial artists had placed high hopes for to be able to bring the limits of the human body to a brand new height.

It was a number that any Martial Saint would fall short of by a large margin, yet she had achieved it in less than half a year!

In the first two months, she probably had to adapt to the various changes brought by meditating on the Astral God. The amount of time she had spent actually bathing in starlight to strengthen her body was slightly less than five months.

Li Pin couldn't help but recall a description he had come across in the past.

"What restricts Astral Cultivators' growth is never the speed of their evolution; rather, it's whether they can withstand the boost brought by bathing beneath the starlight."

Ordinary Astral Cultivators could strengthen their physical body to around 150 points if they were to grasp Force.

On the other hand, with the help of this unique "organ," High-Class Astral Cultivators who had formed their Astral Palace tended to reach three hundred points in their qi and blood levels.

Whilst this might seem to be only a twenty times increase compared to ordinary people, the strengthening effects it brought to all aspects couldn't be measured simply like that.

The divine abilities nurtured from the Astral Palace aside, just the overwhelming prowess an Astral Cultivator's strong physique brought alone could make them akin to superhumans. Even if they couldn't cause modern weapons to malfunction, every one of them had more than enough ability to dictate the outcome of a small area within a battlefield.

It was the same for High-Class Astral Cultivators. Moreover, there were also Top-Tier Astral Cultivators, Master Astral Cultivators, as well as... the ultimate existences who represented the world's Six Extremities and the Astral Cultivator systems—Legendary Astral Cultivators.

To all martial artists, this was a despairing difference.

However, the most terrifying was the source of the Astral Cultivator systems—the Astral God, the existence from a higher dimension, filling the entire Milky Way with its glow, bathing all stars in its light.

Gaia human races had countless languages, yet none of them could describe the Astral God's majesty.

Li Pin's heart was filled with yearning.

The most terrifying thing in life wasn't an unattainable goal, but a goal that couldn't be seen clearly, of which its direction couldn't be perceived. However, the Astral God's existence had already pointed Li Pin to an evolution path. It made him realize that there was such an amazing existence that even the brilliant sun was a far cry from.

Li Pin would devote his life to achieving this goal. Even if he couldn't realize this goal in the future, failed in his attempt, or lost his life because of this, he had no regrets.

***

Before long, Li Pin was done sensing Qin Rouran's qi and blood. "Alright, I'll teach you a fist art. As you practice this fist art, supplement it with your qi and blood circulation."

Qin Rouran's face, which was fair as jade, was slightly flushed. "Okay...."

She tidied her clothing shyly and quickly got up.

When Li Pin saw this, he added, "You should change your clothes."

"Mmhmm."

Qin Rouran quickly ran into the mansion.

His mansion was quite big and had several guest rooms. There was no problem for Qin Rouran to move into one of the guest rooms.

Ten minutes later, Qin Rouran returned to the training room.

Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu watched curiously from the side.

They were also very curious about Qin Rouran, who was an Astral Cultivator. Astral Cultivators could be said to be legendary existences.

Li Pin started to teach Qin Rouran a fist art. During the process, he sensed Qin Rouran's qi and blood circulation carefully and repeatedly gave her guidance.

However, Qin Rouran's qi and blood was too majestic. This led to her failing to grasp the fist art accurately despite Li Pin trying to guide her on it several times. It was like the difference between piloting a civilian aircraft versus piloting a military aircraft. The same objective was shared between both instances: fly the aircraft into the air. However, the complexity involved in each one wasn't at the same level at all.

Due to this, Li Pin could only continue to guide her patiently and occasionally spar with her.

***

After helping Qin Youran for a day, Li Pin gained a deeper understanding of the difference between Astral Cultivators and martial artists.

It's no wonder it's much more difficult for Astral Cultivators to manifest Force compared to ordinary people. Take skipping for example. It may be very easy for ordinary people, especially children, to skip several tens of times. However, for a fatty who weighs over one hundred kilograms, he'd need to exert several times more effort and strength compared to ordinary people.

Take sedans and trucks as another example. When the former is driven at high speed, a step on the brakes would stop the car quickly. For the latter... things weren't so simple.

Li Pin felt that he'd have to put in more thought so that Qin Rouran would be able to manifest Force as soon as possible so that the favor for receiving Stars Overlord could be returned.

It all boils down to my sensing, it's still too weak, causing me to be unable to accurately sense the qi and blood changes in other people's bodies and help to change them. If I were sensing my own body... this wouldn't be something difficult.

Li Pin couldn't help but think of the top-tier astral equipment in the Astral Hall that could increase mental spirit by eleven. If he had that astral equipment, he could sense the changes in Qin Rouran's qi and blood a lot more clearly. From there, he'd be able to more effectively guide her on the qi and blood usage and circulation.

It was a pity, however; top-tier astral equipment was far too expensive.

Shaking his head, Li Pin focused his attention on Stars Overlord.

"I've once thought that the human body is a universe. I can use the human body as a small universe to resonate with the bigger universe, thereby completing the evolution and elevation of life forms. For this, I even created the Chaos Meditation Art. I didn't expect that... there'd be other people other than myself also treading the same path."

Li Pin flipped through this secret art manual.

However, the Stars Overlord wasn't as exaggerated as the Chaos Meditation Art, treating the human body as a universe. Rather, it viewed the body as the celestial body.

It raised the concept of a Lifeform Force Field based on the unique trait of an Astral Force Field. Moreover, multiple validations were made as proof of the existence of this force field: from the interference that the body temperature emitted from cultivators had toward the external world, to the astonishing effect that the mental spirit had toward lifeforms, as well as the unique but actual existence of disposition.

The creator had consolidated all these powers into the Lifeform Force Field concept.

"Killing intent, Fist Intent, disposition, pernicious aura, and other mystical powers were all consolidated by the creator of the Stars Overlord Secret Art and integrated into the qi and blood concept, forming a force field. This force field would be the consolidation of all these powers, including qi and blood, and later named as Lifeform Force Field by the creator..."

Li Pin paused thoughtfully.

"After completing the fusion of the Lifeform Force Field, he used the Lifeform Force Field as a level to meditate on the celestial body, allowing himself to turn into a celestial body himself and integrate into the Astral Force Field. He would then move the celestial body's force field... Eventually, becoming the true Stars Overlord!"