Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent-Chapter 303: Mines

At Tianyuan.

Although the Special United Squad had been formed, their first operation wasn't going as smoothly as they had expected.

The core issue was Yuan Zhenchuan's combat strength, which was only comparable to a Top-Tier Legend. This sort of strength wasn't enough to command the respect of everyone in the team.

Under these circumstances, despite their firm decision to make the Degenerate Temple the first target for eradication, they still hadn't come to any concrete conclusions on the number of personnel to deploy or how to coordinate their tactics.

Nevertheless, this didn't hinder Tianyuan's internal research on the Martial God path.

At this moment, Astral Cultivators like Xiang Tianxing, Chong Guang, Xuan Yang, and Kai Ming—each a pioneer of the Stars Overlord system—were gathered in a virtual meeting room.

This room wasn't a product of technology but an exchange space constructed by a Legendary figure using special astral equipment. The dozens of attendees exuded either the powerful aura of Legendary Astral Cultivators or a presence that rivaled them.

Among them were kings and presidents from the Tianyuan Dynasty, Central Dynasty, Blackbird Kingdom, and Xiya Republic.

Chong Guang, a Master Astral Cultivator, began, "With the selfless assistance of several Legends, we've made initial progress in tracing Li Pin's Martial God path and have identified its core features."

Unable to help himself, the Xiya Republic president asked, "So, we can nurture Martial Gods now? Strong enough to kill a Legend in one full-power strike?"

"Lord Ya Dong, while we can indeed nurture Martial Gods, the results may differ from what we initially expected," Chong Guang replied.

"Different?" repeated Emperor Wan Xinghua of the Tianyuan Dynasty. Although he wasn't a legend himself, his position commanded the respect of legends from all nations. "How so?"

"Allow me to share our findings about the Martial God stage," said Chong Guang.

He waved his hand, projecting a tree-like diagram that resembled a progression chart.

"The core of the Martial God stage lies in two key aspects, the Lifeform Force Field and the Celestial Force Field. Thanks to Li Pin's breakthroughs, we've found a way to form the Lifeform Force Field through the use of legendary astral equipment.

"When one refines their mental spirit to its limit, supports it with the legendary astral equipment, and cultivates a secret art that condenses Vitality, Qi, and Spirit, there is a chance to form the Lifeform Force Field. We've conducted thirty rounds of experiments, and twelve individuals succeeded."

"Wait, why twelve? What happened to the other eighteen?" someone interjected.

Chong Guang paused. "As His Excellency Fu Qingtian once said, a living Martial Saint cannot form a Lifeform Force Field. The moment it forms, the Martial Saint's Vitality, Qi, and Spirit are stripped away.

"It's a transition from life to death and then back to life. Even with the help of legendary astral equipment, we couldn't reduce the risk to zero. Out of the thirty trials, twelve succeeded, but the other eighteen... their Vitality, Qi, and Spirit were completely exhausted... and they unfortunately passed away."

He quickly added, "However, of the twelve who succeeded, nine reported that they had touched upon the power of the Astral God. In other words, had they chosen to switch to the path of an Astral Cultivator at that moment, they would have succeeded."

A legend commented, "Twelve out of thirty... that's still within an acceptable range, much higher than the rate of ultimate transcendence to Astral Cultivators. But we're not after Astral Cultivators. We need Martial Gods—beings powerful enough to kill Legends. Even if they could only drag a Legend down with them, it would be worth it."

"When I said the Martial Gods we create aren't what we expected, I meant this exact issue. My lord, Legends and Legendary Mages are not the same," Chong Guang clarified.

Many quickly caught on, "Is it the Starlight Body?"

Chong Guang confirmed, "Yes, a Starlight Body that can gather and dissipate at will is able to withstand the crushing power of the Celestial Force Field. Even if a Martial God were to self-destruct and trigger the Celestial Force Field, the duration would be extremely brief.

"In contrast, any Top-Tier Astral Cultivator can dissipate and reassemble their Starlight Body multiple times, each time for about ten seconds—let alone Master or Legendary Astral Cultivators.

"Though the power of a Martial God may seem vast, it only poses a threat to those without a Starlight Body from the Astral Palace system."

Several people frowned at his words.

Chong Guang continued, "There's also the issue of understanding the Celestial Force Field. Even after mastering the Lifeform Force Field, grasping the Celestial Force Field is incredibly difficult. Among our twelve successful test subjects, nine spent nearly a month without making any progress.

"As for the other three, we had to use an Astral Technique to trigger the Atomic Will and celestial movements, allowing them to grasp the concept. Even then... their mastery was weak.

"While the combination of the Lifeform and Celestial Force Fields technically make them Martial Gods, they're still weaker than High-Class Astral Cultivators and might only dominate at the Ordinary Astral Cultivator stage."

The influential figures present at the Martial God Research Findings Announcement Conference exchanged glances.

Finally, Yuan Zhenchuan spoke up. "So, your conclusion is...?"

Chong Guang shared, "There are six conclusions. First, it's exceedingly difficult for a Martial God to comprehend the Celestial Force Field on their own, making mass production nearly impossible. And for some reason, using Astral Technique to simulate the celestial movements weakens them significantly.

"The second conclusion is that Martial Gods aren't as powerful as we imagined. Their magnetic fields pose little threat to Top-Tier Astral Cultivators with Starlight Bodies. The overwhelming impact we felt at the volcano archipelago was partly due to our unfamiliarity with the power... and partly due to the individual wielding it."

He was implying that the power shown belonged to the person mastering it, not the system itself.

Fu Qingtian interjected, "No! We can't deny the destructive power of the Martial God path. We can only claim that the Starlight Bodies of Top-Tier Astral Cultivators counter their Celestial Magnetic Fields. Against other foes, such as ferocious beasts, their power would still be useful"

Chong Guang nodded. "His Excellency Fu Qingtian is right."

He then went on to elaborate on the remaining four conclusions.

After his presentation, he spoke in a serious tone. "Therefore, my recommendation is to establish the Divine Martial Sect. But as His Excellency Fu Qingtian said, Martial Gods shouldn't become the new mainstream.

"Once Martial Saints form their Lifeform Force Field, they should immediately transition to the Astral Cultivator path. Thanks to the Lifeform Field, their success rate in this transition has risen from ten percent to thirty percent. That is the true contribution of the Martial God path."

Finishing his speech, Chong Guang said nothing more and waited silently for the prominent figures to decide.

Yuan Zhenchuan announced, "Just as you said, the strengths and weaknesses of the Martial God path will be made public. Those with talent in understanding the Celestial Force Field after forming their Lifeform Force Field can be recommended to join the Divine Martial Sect. The others should immediately switch to the Astral Cultivator path."

Thus, the storm surrounding Li Pin's creation of the Martial God realm was finally settled.

***

Li Pin had never seen modern warfare like this before, but he found it somewhat intriguing.

Although there were only a dozen or so modified pickup trucks and none of them were equipped with artillery, with the main weapons of war being rifles and submachines... he wouldn't mind going with modern warfare just for the sake of it.

At the same time, Li Pin found that he had underestimated Wen Yusheng's decisiveness. This lord appeared easy to push around, but once he made a decision, he acted swiftly.

That very night, Wen Yusheng sent the three Martial Saints—Wen Ruxiu, Wen Xingchen, and Qiao Yuanshan—to infiltrate Xiangshi Territory and leave a mark directly in Cui Sheng's bedroom.

The next morning, Cui Sheng woke up enraged. As he prepared to mobilize his army, he discovered that Xiangye City had already set up layers of defenses along the main routes, under the pretense of guarding against demonic creatures after the Ginkgo Village massacre. It was clear they were ready for a real war.

Though Xiangshi had three thousand troops, they were positioned to defend against an invasion from Kangyun Country. Cui Sheng's personal ambitions could result in heavy casualties among these three thousand soldiers. That would open up the possibility of leaving the territory vulnerable to an invasion and subsequent loss.

At that point, even his status as the king's uncle wouldn't save him from blame.

Therefore, Xiangshi immediately quieted down, and they dropped their demands for a million in funds three days later.

Wen Yusheng and his companions knew the fallout was complete. The next time Cui Sheng acted, it wouldn't be as simple as extortion or intimidation. If they couldn't hold their ground, what awaited them would be utter ruin.

Naturally, this wasn't of any concern to Li Pin. While he regretted not witnessing what a modern war looked like, when he thought about the impoverished people of Xiangye Territory, he concluded that this was for the better.

If war could be avoided, it certainly should be.

By now, Li Pin had reached the Black Gold Mine. This time, his guide wasn't Qiao Yuanshan, but Wen Yusheng's eldest son, Wen Xingchen.

***

"After becoming a Martial Saint six years ago, I tried several times to infiltrate the Black Gold Mine to gather some Adamantium and Mithril to improve life in the territory. But... the paths are narrow, and there are too many Ghouls and Majin, leaving almost no room to sneak through," said Wen Xingchen in a hush.

"Also, some Ghouls like to bury themselves underground, leaving no signs on the surface. They suddenly spring up to attack when we pass by. Sometimes, a single patch of land hides ten or more Ghouls. More than half of the Martial Saints who attempted to infiltrate died to these creatures."

Li Pin nodded.

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Soon, a Ghoul appeared at the edge of his vision.

Wen Xingchen quickly made a gesture to conceal their presence.

They circled around the Ghoul from several dozen meters away.

Throughout the entire process, the Ghoul barely reacted.

"Ghouls and Majin are most sensitive to astral energy, followed by qi and blood. As long as we don't fully unleash our qi and blood, it's hard to attract large numbers of them," Wen Xingchen explained.

"I heard demonic creatures can sense Astral Cultivators from over ten kilometers away?" Li Pin asked.

"Ten kilometers is an exaggeration. Only those Top-Tier Astral Cultivators who have reached the Starlight Body level can be detected from that distance. For ordinary and High-Class Astral Cultivators, it's hard for Ghouls or Majin to sense them beyond five or six kilometers," Wen Xingchen said.

"So beyond five or six kilometers is difficult, but three to four kilometers is still within range?" Li Pin whispered as he looked at one of the mine tunnels ahead.

Black Gold Mine was the largest mining area during the Great Moon period. The tunnels, while extensive, were relatively narrow. Most passages were only about a dozen meters wide. Some sections were even narrower, measuring only a few meters across.

Active Ghouls and Majin within a three to four-kilometer range... maybe not dozens, but ten or so was almost a certainty.

Could Ordinary or even High-Class Astral Cultivators survive being surrounded by ten or more Ghouls or Majin in such a cramped space?

At that moment, he finally understood why no powerful organization had ever attempted to clear out this perilous region.