Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent-Chapter 420: Mind

Li Pin returned to the Celestial Martial God Hall using the Void Ring. Before leaving, he had grabbed the remaining six Spirit-Essence Orb and a collection of Bodhi Seeds and Celestial Fruits from the Legendary Treasure Vault.

He had entrusted Yuan Zhenchuan with advancing the reformation of the Human Alliance and laying a strong foundation for him to become its first chairman.

Yuan Zhenchuan, Qiao Baishi, and even Fan Xiu and Tu Tan all understood that Li Pin's potential to transcend Legendary mattered far more than the Human Alliance's reformation.

If they pushed for the reform now and voted for Li Pin to become the chairman, they would face resistance from places like Solar Radiance and the Great Shang.

However, once Li Pin broke through to the realm beyond Legendary, no one would need to vouch for Li Pin. The Legends would automatically unite around him, spontaneously pushing him into the chairman's seat.

While Li Pin was strong, a push for chairman at this point would invite competition. However, if Li Pin made a breakthrough beyond Legendary, he would usher in a new era in which he would be at the forefront. No one would have the courage to resist him at that point.

It was like a small, backward country facing a superpower. If the superpower were willing to integrate the backward country into its own system and offer it proper treatment, everyone in that country would absolutely cheer, hoping for nothing more.

***

Li Pin looked at the ring in his hand. "The Frost Ring...."

Everyone on Gaia grew up hearing about the legend of the Six Divine Rings. If it weren't for the Six Divine Rings, humanity wouldn't have made it through the turbulent times, nor would it have maintained enough of an advantage.

Information on these Divine Rings flowed in Li Pin's mind. "The correct name for the Frost Ring should be the Inner Spirit Ring. It uses inner spirit power. The remaining five rings... the Rebirth Ring, Mental Spirit Ring, Void Ring, Destruction Ring, and Oblivion Ring...."

These rings represented the power of the inner spirit, rebirth, mental spirit, void space, destruction, and oblivion. These powers all originated from that majestic Astral God. Or rather, it could be said to be one of the characteristics of the Astral God's different aspects of power.

It was similar to how Li Pin possessed powerful recovery abilities. If he could separate this recovery power and infuse it into a treasure, and other martial artists could use it, that item could be named the Recovery Ring, and countless ordinary martial artists would revere it as a treasure.

People viewed these Divine Rings similarly to how ordinary martial artists viewed Li Pin's current powers.

In the end, this perception stemmed from the vast gap in strength between them.

Li Pin muttered, "According to my speculation, astral energy is like the energy emitted after the Astral God falls, and divine relics are manifestations of certain divine abilities and secret arts. If we can thoroughly study these divine relics, we can unlock divine abilities and secret arts at the Astral God level...."

He paused. "At the very least, they should be similar to the passive abilities like my Recovery and Thunder-Magnetic Elemental Body."

Li Pin had studied the Void Ring before, but he didn't find any clues back then. The power at play seemed completely out of his grasp at this point. However, the Frost Ring represented inner spirit power. For that, he had the Sitting in Oblivion Scripture cultivation legacy that seemed to pursue the inner spirit path.

Starting with the Mental Spirit Ring should be most appropriate. My main focus for the time being, apart from physical strength and magnetic field intensity, is mental spirit power, Li Pin thought.

However, the Mental Spirit Ring was in the hands of the Great Shang. Aside from the Forbidden Land within their borders, the Great Shang didn't have a single perilous region that could pose a threat.

Additionally, the Legendary Mage system they acquired from an alien civilization made them the strongest country of this era. Aside from Tianyuan, the other four Extremities were inferior by a small margin.

Borrowing the Mental Spirit Ring from them for research would be no easy task.

Li Pin extended a finger and put on the Frost Ring. "Inner spirit power...."

The next moment, he keenly sensed a peculiar change in his perception. The world appeared layered in front of him. However, it was not in the conventional sense. It was more like... a box contained another box, and that box contained another box. It was like a nesting doll, endlessly layered.

With the help of the Frost Ring's powers, he could pierce through the outer boxes and directly strike the innermost one.

Which was... the inner spirit.

Li Pin looked down at the ring on his finger.

He immediately activated Clairvoyance, wanting to discern how the current him differed from before.

He soon realized something—instability.

There was extreme instability. His inner spirit resembled unrestrained thoughts, constantly making incomprehensible leaps and changes, completely devoid of stability. This instability made them like a disorganized mob, easily swayed by the slightest disturbance.

Taking the Frost Ring's powers as an example, it could cause the primal elements of the mind to lose control through a startling blow, further separating the mind from the body.

It wasn't so much of a separation. Rather, the inner spirit would scatter like a frightened mob, causing the host to lose connection with it.

In more superstitious terms, it was like losing one's soul from fright.

"In the structure of life, the body is the most superficial manifestation, used for interactions in the physical world. The mental spirit is a form of energy condensed from the myriad wondrous reactions of the body, an abstract force not directly observable and hard to grasp without special training. The inner spirit... is the beginning, the source of everything."

It was like the Big Bang. If the body was the universe itself, then the mental spirit would be the laws governing the universe, while the inner spirit would be the singularity at the very beginning of the Big Bang.

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Li Pin's mind flowed with the teachings of the Sitting in Oblivion Scripture, which he had contemplated countless times over the years. He then instinctively began cultivating according to its methods.

Observing oneself inwardly, perceive the true self, and comprehend the inner spirit, and in the end... seeking a form of inner spirit tranquility.

With a heart as serene as ice, even the collapse of the heavens would bring no alarm.

No obsession, no anger, no desire, no demands, no clinging, no abandonment, no action, no self.

Li Pin quietly immersed himself in this state.

He even found himself unconsciously falling deeper into it.

In this process, his inner spirit, which had been like a flock of startled birds, scattered sand, or a disorganized crowd, gradually calmed down. It was no longer alarmed by the slightest external disturbance, no longer prone to chaos and scattering. It no longer gave rise to that frozen sense of stagnation as if the connection between the inner spirit and body was severed.

***

While Li Pin secluded himself in the Celestial Martial God Hall to comprehend the mysteries of the Frost Ring, Yuan Zhenchuan promptly informed all the world's experts—Master Astral Cultivators or higher—of what had transpired.

He also distributed a dossier meticulously compiled by Qiao Baishi, detailing Li Pin's battles against supreme-level demonic creatures and his destruction of the Tenfold Heavenly Domains.

The moment this material reached the hands of the Master Astral Cultivators, it immediately caused a great uproar.

The Star Alliance and the East Sea's Thirty-Six Countries were somewhat composed. However, within the Great Shang faction, which had originally intended to fully mobilize its resources to campaign for the position of the Human Alliance's first chairman, the reaction from the Legends was one of visible alarm.

***

"A Supreme Expert defeating a Supreme demonic creature head-on!? How could Li Pin be this powerful?! This must be fake! This definitely has to be fake!"

The Great Shang's Legends and Supremes who were outside the Forbidden Land were thrown into an uproar.

Zhao Kunwu, Ji Xuanyuan, Zhu Zhao, Ying Huo, and Jin Taibai shared the same reactions.

There were also several individuals who, while not Legends themselves, were Legendary Mages who could unleash attacks at the same magnitude as Legends.

"That wasn't just a head-on battle with a supreme-level demonic creature! He clearly killed two supreme-level demonic creatures while fighting two-on-one!"

Ji Xuanyuan couldn't help but exclaim, "Is Li Pin actually this strong?! Didn't the latest news that we had received not long ago say that he was merely at Legendary level? And it was purely because of his unparalleled concealment techniques that Ge Lin even considered him a Supreme Expert?"

Jin Taibai dismissed this idea without hesitation. "I don't believe it! Why did we acknowledge Li Pin as a Supreme? Wasn't it just because he pioneered the Martial God path and contributed to the cultivation scene that we gave him this recognition?

"Just like Yuan Zhenchuan! If it really came down to a life-and-death fight, who could he actually defeat? And yet Yuan Zhenchuan has the nerve to push it further, spreading this kind of nonsense to deceive us."

"Deceive?" Zhao Kunwu calmly shook his head and said, "Yuan Zhenchuan would never joke about something like this, no matter what. Moreover, I've already investigated it. This scene was witnessed firsthand by multiple Legends, including Wu De. It's likely true."

"If it isn't a joke... then... how is this possible..."

Zhao Kunwu exhaled lightly and said, "There's nothing impossible about it. Don't forget, Martial God Li is someone who excels at creating miracles! Just like how things were three years ago. Could you have imagined him rising as a Legend and standing at the pinnacle of the world?

"In just three years, he reached the same level as us. Then, with the full support and abundant resources from the Human Alliance, he achieved yet another breakthrough.... We should have anticipated this."

Zhu Zhao, Ying Huo, and Jin Taibai recalled the string of miracles Li Pin had created throughout his journey. They found themselves unable to voice any objections.

"What... kind of monster is this!?"

"Why wasn't someone like him born in Great Shang? It'd be great if he were one of us."

"How can there be such an unreasonable existence in this world?"

The observing Legendary Mages exchanged looks, their hearts filled with sorrow.

"So... this is true?" asked Ji Xuanyuan, his tone dry.

He seemed unwilling to fact the truth.

Zhao Kunwu was silent for a moment before saying, "Do you remember when that man from the Divine Dragon Empire mentioned the world-crisis theory?"

"The world-crisis theory?" Ji Xuanyuan froze, and then his pupils dilated sharply. "You mean..."

"At the most perilous moment for any world, one or even a group of peerless prodigies will be born to face the calamity. They possess extraordinary talent and comprehension, capable of creating miracles that ordinary people cannot fathom. I suspect..."

Zhao Kunwu paused slightly, then continued, "Li Pin is exactly that—a prodigy of Gaia's civilization, a child of destiny, a child of the world... In other words, he is what the man from the Divine Dragon Empire described as that legendary existence. Translated into our terms, it means..."

Ji Xuanyuan knew what Zhao Kunwu was going to say next. He continued his sentence with a solemn expression. "Super Gaian![1]"

1. Not too sure if it's intentional, but the naming does strike a potential reference to the raws for Super Saiyan from Dragon Ball. ☜