Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 122: Method

With Fang Xiaoyu showing her the way, Qin Rouran quickly arrived at the Sixth Education Building.

"We're here!" said Fang Xiaoyu.

Compared to the sixty or so people in Li Pin's first class and over a hundred in the second, today's class had more than 130 attendees.

Nearly half of the Astral Hall students had gathered in the Sixth Education Building. Considering that not all students came to the Astral Hall every day, this number already exceeded half of the daily average attendees.

As soon as they arrived at the Sixth Education Building, Qin Rouran's eyes immediately focused on the figure sparring with a student.

Eyes widening in amazement and surprise, Qin Rouran mumbled, "It's really him!"

Yunyan's brother, Li Pin, is actually teaching at the Astral Hall? He's actually popular too! Even Xiaoyu's family has heard about him and is considering inviting him to be her private tutor?

At that moment, a student shouted excitedly, "I did it! I managed to manifest my Force!"

Though the student had been knocked down and looked quite disheveled, he was beaming with excitement as he eagerly described the experience, "I see now... Only in the most intense confrontations and by using my emotions as a trigger can I successfully channel my qi and blood and integrate them to manifest my Force!"

The other students didn't mind his scruffy appearance at all. They were filled with nothing but envy at the moment.

Although it wasn't as if they would never have a similar experience as him, as Astral Cultivators would adapt over time to their growing qi and blood and eventually manifest their Force, who wouldn't want to do it sooner and enjoy the glory of becoming an official Astral Cultivator?

"He's the fifth one to manifest his Force. Looks like Li Pin is really skilled at teaching."

"It doesn't matter if he's truly skilled or not, I plan to give it a try. Even if he was lucky and just so happened to train a few students talented at Force manifestation, I want to share in that luck. Manifesting Force can be a slow process, but if luck is on your side, you might suddenly understand it."

"That's right, I'm definitely taking Li Pin's class. Even if it's embarrassing to get beaten up, what's a bit of embarrassment and hardship compared to manifesting Force and becoming an official Astral Cultivator sooner? One must suffer before they can succeed."

Various discussions quickly spread through the crowd.

Some students who were not first-timers in Li Pin's classes immediately took action.

"You're done. It's my turn!" shouted a student named Gao Song as he seized the opportunity. "Mr. Li, I've recently had new insights into my leg techniques... I'll slide and tackle—"

Li Pin interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "No more slide and tackle. Class is over for today."

Li Pin had fought a total of twenty-two matches today. These Astral Cultivators were incredibly energetic. Moreover, since Li Pin couldn't use lethal force against them, these twenty-two matches had really left him exhausted.

"Come back tomorrow."

"Tomorrow...."

Gao Song, though somewhat disappointed, nodded in understanding. "Then, Mr. Li, remember; I want to be first tomorrow."

"Got it. Alright, class is over."

Li Pin waved his hand. Ignoring whether these hundred or so students were dissatisfied, he turned to leave through the instructor's passage.

As Li Pin turned into the back passage, Zhou Xiuyuan quickly came to greet him. "Grandmaster Li! Great job!"

"No need to mention it. I'm just doing my job."

"Hehe, I didn't expect you to attract so many students in less than ten days since you began teaching at the Astral Hall."

"There are too many," said Li Pin. "I recall that we can implement an appointment system? We can open up a sufficient number of slots, and once they are filled, no new students can be accepted, right?"

"Well... there is indeed an appointment system..." Zhou Xiuyuan responded.

However, only a few outstanding resident grandmasters and Martial Saints were eligible to use the appointment system for their classes. And Li Pin had achieved this in less than ten days....

This incredibly impressed Zhou Xiuyuan.

"Then please set it up for me," said Li Pin. After a moment of thought, he decided, "Let's start by opening twenty slots for the students."

Zhou Xiuyuan advised, "Grandmaster Li, I think you might want to hold off on the appointment system for now. It might be better to build up popularity this month.

"If you can maintain your current level of popularity... No, even half of it, staying at the Astral Hall will be easy. You can implement the appointment system later once you've secured your position."

"No need; let's start the appointment system," Li Pin responded.

Seeing this, Zhou Xiuyuan stopped pressing the matter further.

He had been observing Li Pin's teaching methods. It involved high-intensity battles that even Astral Cultivators might struggle to endure. Li Pin was just a martial artist. As long as Li Pin kept on using this intense combat method for teaching, there would always be the risk of an Astral Cultivator being careless and misjudging the amount of force they're using.

All it took was a single mistake for Li Pin to end up seriously injured or even incapacitated. In other words, Li Pin was essentially risking his own life to teach.

If it weren't for the number of Astral Cultivators graduating from Jiang Province's Astral Hall being too low this year, Zhou Xiuyuan would have suggested Li Pin reduce the intensity of his teaching. Otherwise, he might end up exhausting himself before the month was over.

Zhou Xiuyuan smiled and said, "Grandmaster Li, if you continue at this teaching pace, you're likely to develop one or two students who can successfully manifest their Force within a month.

"By then, not only will you have a good chance of staying on, but you'll also be able to gain insights into Martial Will through the top-tier astral equipment here. Winning the next national competition will almost be a certainty, and you might even compete in the World's Top Martial Competition and secure a notable ranking."

Li Pin responded, "I've been curious about the wonders of Astral Hall's top-tier astral equipment for a long time."

"Haha, rest assured Grandmaster Li, it won't disappoint," Zhou Xiuyuan replied, though he didn't elaborate further.

At this moment, several students were greeting each other and seemed to be heading in a certain direction.

Amidst the commotion, conversations about "Martial Saint Ran Jinghua and Grandmaster Yu Chijie have also started practical classes" could be heard.

Zhou Xiuyuan's expression changed slightly. He glanced at Li Pin.

Li Pin seemed to sense his thoughts and smiled. "Practical experience reveals true knowledge. Since everyone understands this, they can do it as well. You needn't worry about how I feel, Grandmaster Zhou."

"Grandmaster Li, your open-mindedness is truly admirable. No wonder you've achieved so much at such a young age," Zhou Xiuyuan marveled with a smile.

"You're too kind. Well, I'll be heading back now," Li Pin replied.

He indeed paid little attention to the fact that others were also training these Astral Cultivator students using practical methods.

On one hand, while those grandmasters and Martial Saints might possess their own unique "nurturing" methods, their effectiveness might not match his. Not to mention that when it came to such high-intensity battles, even enduring three to five sessions could be exhausting, and excessive training could lead to hidden injuries.

On the other, while it might seem as though he was harsh on the students, Li Pin was always careful that his strikes were non-lethal, attacking only their vulnerabilities. This was why he could injure but not kill them. This level of precision was no easy feat.

Even though these students had poor control over their qi and blood, with their circulation visibly exposed, precisely identifying and attacking the critical points of their qi flow remained a demanding task.

Given his exceptional innate talent, it was easy for him to do this. However, he was uncertain whether other grandmasters or Martial Saints could do the same.

However, while they might not be able to do as he did, the Martial Saints the Taibai Kingdom selected could certainly build up valuable combat experience by having actual battles with Astral Cultivators. Li Pin thought that once their skills improved, he would seek to exchange pointers with them.

Astral Cultivator students might have exceptionally tough bodies, but for them to have a deeper understanding of the intricacies of Force, the expertise of Aura Cultivation Grandmasters or Spirit Force Martial Saints would be invaluable.

Not to mention that for Spirit Force Martial Saints, intense battles were likely to push them to their peak state quickly.

If luck was on his side, Li Pin might even get a chance to test the mysteries of Spirit Force under their guidance.

***

With anticipation for the coming month, Li Pin returned to his residence.

As soon as he arrived, Li Yunyao handed him a file folder. "Someone sent this to you."

"Hmm?"

Li Pin opened the folder with a hint of confusion. Inside, he found an invitation and a letter.

He glanced at the invitation....

A celebration banquet for the successful conclusion of the Jiang Province Martial Competition?

He tossed it aside.

Then, he looked at the letter. After a brief glance, he threw it into the trash along with the invitation.

***

The next day.

Li Pin finished his cultivation of the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique.

"My primordial qi is rapidly growing. I am guessing it will reach forty points in about ten days to half a month. But just like the initial breakthrough phases where growth is very quick, once it hits forty, it will slow down.

"And it might slow down to the point where it becomes as difficult as practicing the Foundation Building Chapter... It could take more time to go from forty to forty-one than it did to go from ten to forty."

Li Pin realized he was nearing the human body's limits.

While martial arts flourished in this world, there were limits to the human body. It was no easy feat to surpass these limits. At best, a martial artist would progress from a grandmaster to a great grandmaster, and from there, they would condense their Martial Will and advance to become a Martial Saint.

Yet, be it a great grandmaster organizing and refining their cultivation system or a Martial Saint mobilizing their finite qi and blood with their infinite Mental Spirit, their physical strength was the same as that of a grandmaster who had completed Blood Renewal.

Despite Li Pin's rapid progress over the past year, he could foresee that he would probably be stumped with overcoming the challenge of the human body's limit for a long time.

Ring, ring!

At this moment, Li Pin's phone rang. As he answered it, Lian Hongchen's voice quickly came through.

—Grandmaster Li, are you at home?

"Yes."

—My nephew and I will be visiting shortly. I hope we won't be bothering you.

"You won't," Li Pin responded.

Hanging up the phone, Li Pin took some medicinal herbs to restore his primordial qi.

In less than twenty minutes, a car pulled up at Li Pin's driveway.

At the door, Li Pin saw Lian Hongchen directing Lian Xiyue to unload several boxes.

"What is this?" Li Pin asked.

"Grandmaster Li, let's talk inside," Lian Hongchen said with a smile.

Li Pin nodded.

The group entered the living room.

Following a gesture from Lian Hongchen, Lian Xiyue quickly opened the boxes.

Inside each box were more boxes. Despite the nesting effect, each box was exquisitely crafted. He could even feel a hint of aura similar to astral equipment from it.

Lian Hongchen stepped forward, opened each box, and introduced the items within with a smile, "The Heart Essence Fruit, a miraculous item for organs-tempering and Blood Renewal. One Heart Essence Fruit can save a grandmaster several years of arduous cultivation.

"The Immortal Golden Pill, with the power of a hundred revolutions of Force, greatly enhances the success rate of breaking through the cultivation realms.

"The Pill of Rebirth, made from the finest medicinal materials and personally refined by a skilled Astral Cultivator. It's an excellent pill for nourishing primordial qi!"

"Grandmaster Li, please have a look and see if these cultivation resources meet your satisfaction."