Chapter 88: Apologize

Li Pin meticulously reflected on his own personality.

The paths and the choices he had to make seemed challenging. He personally felt he was a calm person who couldn't easily fall into extreme emotions. Moreover, he was adaptable. Though he sometimes held firm in his stance, he did not consider himself purely ideological.

As for a clear mind... It was said to involve the study of Buddhism and Daoism. This notion seemed somewhat mystical, and he had not explored it in depth.

It seems I might be stuck at this step for quite some time. Many grandmasters find themselves stalled here, wasting years without making progress. If I think I can easily overcome this stage, it would be disrespectful to the grandmasters.

Li Pin thought, shaking his head.

He decided to devote more effort to his Blood-Seething Secret Art and Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique. The former would provide him with a powerful boost, while the latter would allow him to tap into his potential more effectively in the foundation building chapter. This could help him achieve a level of strength similar to Wang Liancheng, who had innate divine strength and a qi and blood level reaching forty-nine or even fifty points.

Suddenly, Li Pin seemed to have thought of something. "Wait!"

Emotions originate from the soul, and willpower can be seen as an embodiment of the soul. A clear mind represents a special state of the soul, fundamentally pointing toward that ethereal pursuit of uniting the soul and body! Since ancient times, this concept has been recognized as one's spirit!

Core Formation involves refining all the body's strength into a single force. Aura Cultivation is about harmonizing one's physical strength with the power of the internal organs.

As for Martial Saints... it essentially involves the resonance between spirit and body. The body has its limits, but the spirit does not. Hence, Spirit Force transcends the concept of "self," breaking free from its constraints to achieve a form of spiritual control.

"I had already understood this concept before. The state it describes is... the spirit as the pilot and the body as the vessel, using limitless spirit to control the finite power of flesh and blood, thereby transcending the ordinary and reaching the realm of the saints!"

Li Pin's heart quickly settled down.

It's like a mech pilot and his mech! The spirit was the pilot! The body was the mech! A skilled pilot operating a mech could fully unleash a synergy greater than the sum of its parts.

This unique state was Spirit Force!

Everything became clear to Li Pin. Anger, pure will, and a clear mind all involved breaking free from the constraints of the body, transcending the concept of "self," and using the infinite to control the finite. However, entering this state is difficult for most people, and even if achieved, it would only be temporary. That's why individuals need a marker to help them access this state consistently.

This marker was known as Martial Will.

Li Pin's gaze lingered on the "mental spirit" attribute. "Controlling the finite body with the infinite spirit...."

He began to reflect, "People often find it difficult to grasp Martial Will because their mental spirit attribute is generally much weaker than their qi and blood attribute. Unless there are intense fluctuations in the mental spirit, it's hard to dominate qi and blood. However, if someone's mental spirit attribute surpasses their qi and blood, dominating the qi and blood becomes significantly easier. In other words, their ability to comprehend Martial Will also becomes much easier."

Recalling his earlier assumptions, the minimum requirement for forging Martial Will was a mental spirit attribute of twenty points. Aura Cultivation grandmasters typically had qi and blood levels around thirty-nine points. This meant that the mental spirit attribute should ideally exceed half of the total value of the qi and blood level to forge the Martial Will.

Applying this to himself, who had a qi and blood level of thirty-four points, his mental spirit attribute should ideally be around seventeen or eighteen points.

"When my mental spirit attribute reaches seventeen or eighteen points, and I get the chance to experience the power of controlling qi and blood with my mental spirit, I can grasp the essence of the Spirit Qi Unity..."

Li Pin was ninety percent confident that he could fully grasp the intricacies of Spirit Force.

This could be achieved either by confronting an expert who has mastered Spirit Qi Unity, which would significantly enhance his chances of understanding Spirit Force, or by further refining his practice of the Great Sun Astral God Meditation Art, which was designed for contemplating the Chaos universe. Once his mental spirit attribute surpassed thirty-four, he would inevitably grasp Martial Will and advance to Martial Saint.

"Spirit Force, Spirit Force," Li Pin murmured to himself.

Having exhausted much of his primordial qi practicing the Samadhi-Heart Training Art, he decided to ignite a stick of Concentration Incense and focus on meditating upon the Chaos universe to further hone his mind.

***

The following day, Li Pin woke, got ready, and headed out to grab breakfast. However, on his way out, he found Cao Tianyou and three others already waiting for him.

This surprised him a bit. He quickly got down the stairs and greeted them, "Sect Master Cao, why didn't you inform me of your arrival earlier? Please come in and have a seat."

"I have come here with Hall Master Yun," Cao Tianyou replied. "Hall Master Yun mentioned that you must have been exhausted from yesterday's match and likely wouldn't be up early today. He advised me not to disturb your rest."

He added with a hint of frustration, "We have been waiting for half an hour."

Li Pin glanced at Yun Kaitai, the Hall Master of Four Pillars Martial Hall. Being a grandmaster himself and having a good rapport with Cao Tianyou, it seemed odd that he hadn't even knocked on the door before entering.

"Master Li, I deeply apologize for the incident two days ago," Yun Kaitai said sincerely without even the slightest hint of arrogance usually found in a grandmaster.

This was understandable. Yun Kaitai was someone who could no longer maintain his peak strength, so he felt he couldn't adopt a grandmaster's demeanor in the presence of a young grandmaster on the rise, especially considering that Li Pin had recently defeated Zhou Chaoguang.

"My judgment was clouded, and I foolishly thought I could win you over with money. Thankfully, you remained resolute... or else...." said Yun Kaitai.

His face was filled with remorse.

He would never tell Li Pin that the real reason he attempted to bribe him was to report him for match-fixing after and get him banned for life from participating in competitions. This was a secret he'd probably take to his grave.

After Yun Kaitai spoke, he quickly received a document from a man behind him and sincerely said, "I truly don't know how to make amends. I only hope that these humble tokens can convey my regret."

Li Pin glanced at the document and quickly noted the heading "Star Palace Entertainment Ownership Transfer Agreement."

"Master Li, Hall Master Yun and I have known each other for nearly ten years," Cao Tianyou explained. "He can be quite materialistic, so offering nine percent of his shares in Star Palace Entertainment as an apology is already a significant sacrifice on his part. Look it over. If you're willing to forgive him, accept it. If not, I'll send him away immediately."

"Nine percent of Star Palace Entertainment shares..." Li Pin mused aloud.

That was worth nearly two billion.

He was astonished that Yun would make such a substantial gesture just to apologize.

Li Pin turned to Cao Tianyou, carefully considering his options.

Cao Tianyou probably agreed to mediate because Yun Kaitai had offered too much and because they had some personal connection.

After a moment of consideration, Li Pin decided to extend courtesy to Cao Tianyou and accepted the Ownership Transfer Agreement.

Seeing this, Yun Kaitai sighed with relief, as if he had been relieved of a heavy burden.

"Thank you, Master Li, for your generosity," Yun Kaitai expressed gratefully.

"Let's put this matter behind us," Li Pin replied calmly.

At that moment, Li Pin noticed there seemed to be more documents. As he flipped through them, he quickly discovered two contracts. One was for An Youran, and the other, surprisingly, was for An Wanyi.

An Wanyi's contract was particularly stringent, even including some borderline demands. Most importantly, it was set for twenty years, with a staggering penalty of 300 million yuan for any breach.