Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 48: Astral Equipment

Liu Yingying gladly prepared the medicine for Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu.

Li Pin munched on his bread as he watched the three girls busy themselves in the kitchen, chatting happily.

Taking another bite of his bread, Li Pin turned his focus to his phone.

As the Jiang Province Martial Competition was about to commence, the martial society shared the competition rules. It was the same set of rules from the previous seasons.

One of the most important rules of the competition was that participants weren't allowed to go overboard in a fight. Meaning, If a person were to continue to attack his opponent even though the opponent had lost the ability to fight back, they'd be stripped of the eligibility to continue in the competition and a reasonable punishment would be meted out.

However, for the cases where the fights were too intense and the martial artists were too engrossed to stop their attacks in time, the organizers prepared a piece of high-grade astral equipment. With this astral equipment, as long as the injured martial artist didn't die on the spot, the astral equipment could basically pull them back to life even if they were on the verge of death.

As soon as Li Pin finished going through the documents, his phone rang.

Li Pin glanced at the caller and picked up the phone. Fang Lingjue's voice sounded.

—You're at home?

"Yes."

—Your astral equipment is ready. I'll bring it over to you.

"It's ready?" Li Pin became a bit more invigorated. "I'll make a trip to the martial hall later."

—That's fine too.

Fang Lingjue gave a simple reply and hung up.

Li Pin instructed the two girls to take the medicine and brought them to Changfeng Martial Hall.

He wanted to borrow Changfeng Martial Hall's space to maximize the medicine's effects.

***

Li Pin brought the two up the lift.

As he arrived at Changfeng Martial Hall, those who knew him greeted him.

"You're here, Master Li!"

"You've already achieved Core Formation, Master Li, but you're still so hardworking in your training."

"Well of course, it's because of Master Li's persistence that succeeded in Core Formation at the age of twenty-two. Changfeng Martial Hall now has two Core Formation martial artists. There aren't many martial halls in Zanglong City that can compete with us on this.

Everyone's faces were full of smiles, including the students who frequented Changfeng Martial Hall to practice.

Li Pin greeted each one of them with a nod.

Li Yunyao, tailing behind Li Pin, was stunned. "Core Formation?"

Now that she had been practicing martial arts for half a year, she was no longer the newbie who had just come into contact with martial arts. She knew what the two words "Core Formation" meant. It was a status whereby one could easily get the Associate Senior professional title without needing to rely on any connections.

One could easily be the professor of the martial arts faculty in any of the universities, solely focusing on leading elite students as they take part in competitions, winning glory for the school.

The provincial level martial competitions, national martial competitions, and the World's Top Martial Competition were competitions that the whole nation, and even the whole of Tianyuan Federation, placed great emphasis on. However, these competitions took place only once every three years. There were also competitions that took place yearly or once every two years. These competitions also held significant importance.

The grading for many people and schools was dependent on these competitions.

What these people in the martial hall said....

"Brother, you ... have you achieved Core Formation?"

"Well, I was able to slay a demonic cat months ago. Isn't it natural for me to have reached Core Formation by now?" Li Pin responded.

"Well...."'

Li Yunyao didn't know how to respond to that.

Moments later, she threw that question to the back of her mind and didn't think about it any longer. She looked at Li Pin, face full of admiration, and said, "Brother, you are so strong! You're the best! I like you!"

Seeing how adorable she was, Li Pin couldn't help reaching for her black, silky hair and giving her head a rub. Laughing, he said, "This is nothing. In the future, I'll show you something even more amazing."

"Aaah, I just washed and groomed my hair before I came out but you've messed it up," Li Yunyao screamed.

Chuckling, Li Pin withdrew his hand in satisfaction. He pointed at the training area and said, "You two can go on with your practice first. I need to look for Hall Master Fang."

At this moment, Li Pin saw Shan Hu walking toward them, and he called out, "You came at the right time. Help me watch after the two of them."

Shan Hu nodded. "Sure."

Li Pin had brought Li Yunyan and Lin Xiaolu to Changfeng Martial Hall to apply for memberships previously, so it wasn't their first time practicing at Changfeng Martial Hall. Shan Hu wasn't unfamiliar with the two girls.

"You're here?" Fang Lingjue, who was in the office, pushed a box forward as he saw Li Pin come through the door. "Take a look."

Li Pin opened the box and saw the bronze-colored ring inside.

"It's made out of copper from Mount Shouyang. The Astral Crystal's astral energy was extracted and channeled into the ring. As for its effect...." Fang Lingjue paused for a moment, then said, "Astral equipment of this grade is considered mediocre. Whether it is good or not is all dependent on luck."

Li Pin nodded. "I recall I saw online that astral equipment made from inferior Astral Crystal has about two to ten percent effectiveness."

When a piece of astral equipment came in contact with another piece of astral equipment, disruptions would be created, so one could carry at max three or four of them. Hence, the quality of each individual piece of astral equipment was important.

"This kind of data has no value," Fang Lingjue said. "After all, when faced with a pistol, there are only two possible outcomes—either the astral equipment works or it doesn't. If it works, then its defense effectiveness is at one hundred percent. If it doesn't, the effectiveness would be zero."

Fang Ling paused for a moment, then added, "That is unless you have third-grade astral equipment on you."

Li Pin looked at the bronze-colored ring.

Astral equipment made with inferior Astral Crystals was usually known as zero-grade astral equipment. These are normally given to important figures by Astral Cultivators to offer some mental comfort.

On the other hand, third-grade astral equipment was another story altogether. Even a third-class Astral Cultivator might not be able to get their hand on many pieces of them.

Such treasures usually affected an Astral Cultivator's overall capability. Every transaction affected the influences between two Astral Cultivators' and could determine their prosperity or their downfall. Ordinary people didn't have the means to purchase them. If one only had money to offer, then they'd best be prepared to fork out a billion yuan.

"Thanks," Li Pin replied.

"You prepared the material and paid for the processing fee. Why'd you have to thank me?" Fang Lingjue smiled. "Oh, there's only less than half a month to the Jiang Province Martial Competition. I intend to head to Jiang Province City next week.... Although Zanglong City is less than a hundred kilometers from Jiang Province City, it's good to arrive earlier to get familiar with the area."

After a moment, Fang Lingjue sighed. "This upcoming Jiang Province Martial Competition will be challenging with the Solar Vermilion Sect's participation. We have to remain in our optimal condition to stand a chance at shining."

"Let's go together then," Li Pin suggested.

He was filled with anticipation for the Jiang Province Martial Competition. Over twenty Core Formation martial artists signed up!

In addition to the level-three martial artists who had attained Core Force, There were close to one hundred strong competitors.

Such a grand event! Such a sight would be unimaginable back on the Blue Planet. He wouldn't want to miss it.

"Sure, I'll pick you up then." Fang Lingjue seemed to realize something and added, "By the time the Jiang Province Martial Competition begins, your mansion should be more or less ready to move into."

Fang Lingjue laughed, "They used the best of the best materials. You have also paid more than enough money, so their efficiency will be impeccable. "

Li Pin nodded. "That's perfect."

He could move in while competing in the Jiang Province Martial Competition.

At this time a scream came from outside, and it belonged to....

"Shan Hu?"

Fang Lingjue and Li Pin exchanged a glance and stepped out of the office quickly.

They had only just stepped out when Li Yunyao shouted eagerly, "Force! Xiaolu manifested Force!"