Chapter 132: Question

Chapter 132: Question

Zhang Hengqiu was completely bewildered. "Grandmaster Li... are you... are you serious?"

What was this about?

Li Pin patted his shoulder. "Even without his position as the martial society chairman, he is still a top great grandmaster. I'm not afraid of him, but as a traitor, you might not be so easily forgiven. So..."

Zhang Hengqiu flinched but forced himself to suppress his instinctive fear. He didn’t know if this was a test or a habitual gesture from Li Pin, but he knew that if he dodged now, whether he could leave Riverscape Marvel alive tonight would remain uncertain.

"Deliver this evidence to him," Li Pin instructed. "If he fights, this evidence will disappear with my death and will never be seen at the martial association Headquarters. If he refuses to fight... he will lose all his rights and honors as the martial society chairman, and he could even face accountability and be sent to the front lines."

Li Pin paused briefly before continuing, "I believe he will make the right choice."

Zhang Hengqiu listened to Li Pin's words. Recalling Lin Yuzhi's notorious vindictive nature, he clenched his teeth. "I understand."

Zhang Hengqiu nodded firmly and added, "I will pass on this evidence and message to Lin Yuzhi."

As he spoke, he took out his phone, which contained a video recorded with special equipment. The footage was very high quality.

Li Pin was a bit surprised. "How did you manage that?"

It was unlikely Lin Yuzhi would have made it easy for him to record the video.

"One of my friends likes to tinker with gadgets," Zhang Hengqiu replied awkwardly. "Grandmaster Li...I really never wanted to become your enemy. I've had this idea since then."

Li Pin nodded, took the video, and waved him off. "Go."

Li Pin knew Zhang Hengqiu might be at risk of being killed on the spot by an enraged Lin Yuzhi. However, this was only a possibility.

Li Pin was already magnanimous enough to offer him a chance to redeem himself. Zhang Hengqiu couldn’t possibly expect to walk off unscathed without showing any response or effort.

"By the way, take the two bodies with you," Li Pin added.

"Understood."

With the strength of a grandmaster, carrying the two bodies was easy.

Zhang Hengqiu carried one on his left shoulder and the other on his right shoulder. After a few quick movements, he disappeared into the night.

***

Spirit Force! Li Pin reflected on the profound feeling of achieving Spirit Qi Unity.

Using an infinite mental spirit to control a finite physical body... it was a truly mystical experience.

No wonder many grandmasters spent their entire lives stuck at this step, unable to progress.

Finally, Li Yunyao came to her senses, and she said, "I'll practice too. Without the talent to become Astral Cultivators, martial arts is the only way we can imagine protecting our family. In times of danger, even if we can’t fight against ferocious beasts and demonic creatures, practicing martial arts will still enhance our survival skills in chaotic situations."

Lin Xiaolu added with a nod. "And it also makes others more patient when they listen to us."

Li Pin smiled slightly and said, "I was just joking. You don’t need to take it so seriously."

"Brother... I know you’re not joking, right?" Li Yunyao responded.

Li Pin waved his hand dismissively and said calmly, "I just had a question cross my mind."

"What question?" Li Yunyao inquired.

"If I continue on the path of martial arts, I will inevitably offend people. The martial arts world has strict laws to protect family members, but when someone is willing to disregard their own life, they won’t be swayed by legal constraints," Li Pin said lightly. "If one day you two are captured and your captors set a trap to lure me in for your rescue, should I attempt to save you or not?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunyao and Lin Xiaolu’s eyes widened in shock.

Li Pin did not provide an answer. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked back into the mansion, leaving the two of them in a state of turmoil and distress.

If... if that day ever came, what should they do!? Should they choose to end their own lives to avoid being a burden? But... was that really the best choice?

Having witnessed the fierce battles of three top experts and realized the immense power of great grandmasters, Li Pin's question struck deeply at their hearts.

For them, it was bound to be a sleepless night.

***

In the training room, Li Pin quietly sensed the changes in his condition while reflecting on the profound and almost mystical experience of using Spirit Force. After a moment, he seemed to realize something.

"Core Force consumes the body's qi and blood, Aura Force draws upon the power of the internal organs, while Spirit Force depletes mental spirit and spiritual energy...."

Calming himself, Li Pin could feel how mentally exhausted he was. Even though his mental spirit attribute was now at nineteen, approaching the minimum standard for Martial Saints to condense their Martial Will, using Spirit Force still left him feeling mentally drained.

This wasn’t physical fatigue or a depletion of stamina. It was a profound mental and emotional weakness! It was like a person who, after sustaining intense anger all day, finds it hard to feel any anger even when provoked further.

Li Pin pondered. Is this why Spirit Force becomes so difficult to sustain after a few uses unless one has condensed their Martial Will and can maintain that unique state?

With each use of Spirit Force, the threshold became higher, making it more challenging to maintain the spiritual energy and achieve Spirit Qi Unity. Even Martial Saints, having condensed their Martial Will still experience significant exhaustion from repeated uses of Spirit Force.

This exhaustion affected not just the body but also the mind. Moreover, Li Pin sensed his condition and discovered that, unlike when physically exhausted, mental spirit recovery was much slower.

After using Spirit Force, full recovery might take one or two days. Using it twice or thrice in a row would lengthen the recovery time exponentially. A careless mistake could even lead to the risk of mental exhaustion or death.

It must be due to my mental spirit attribute being too low. Li Pin pondered.

He collected his thoughts, focusing on restoring his depleted Mental Spirit while also processing the gains from the battle.