Chapter 418 Breakthrough

After thrusting out the strongest ninth spear, Xu Jingming's subsequent moves inevitably weakened in momentum, and their power was definitely inferior to the ninth spear.

"Hmph." Liu Hai took a step forward, aggressively closing in. A nimble flash of his saber disrupted Xu Jingming's spear, affecting his backward retreat.

"Not good!" Xu Jingming immediately sensed something was wrong and wanted to retreat.

But Liu Hai's saber technique had already transformed.

Once his saber touched! Xu Jingming's strength was affected, and he couldn't retreat with full force at all.

Liu Hai continued to advance.

His left-hand shield blocked Xu Jingming's counterattacks, while his right-hand saber flickered, repeatedly sticking to Xu Jingming's blocking weapon. With each touch, an invisible fluctuation transmitted to Xu Jingming's body, affecting his speed.

"What kind of saber technique is this?" Xu Jingming felt uncomfortable and could only grit his teeth and forcibly display his spearmanship, trying to force Liu Hai back.

But in front of the transformed Liu Hai, he couldn't force him back.

Stuck! Close combat!

Even though Xu Jingming's spearmanship was extremely fast, with the combination of saber and shield, Liu Hai forced Xu Jingming into a flustered state in just over ten moves. A saber light slashed across Xu Jingming's chest. The light armor was cut open, and blood seeped out of his chest.

Liu Hai retreated after delivering the saber strike, looking at Xu Jingming with a smile.

Xu Jingming helplessly tapped his personal panel and restored his body.

"Master, I lost." Xu Jingming said helplessly, then couldn't help but say, "Master, your saber technique improved a lot at the end! Not only did you block my spearmanship, but you also prevented me from escaping, and even cleaved through my protective armor."

He also had a body at the super-tier 99%, and the light armor was heavier and had a better protective effect.

"I have to thank you."

Liu Hai smiled happily. "Those nine consecutive spear strikes of yours, especially the last ninth spear, almost made me lose. At the last moment, you forced out my potential. In a flash of inspiration, my saber technique made a breakthrough… just enough to block that spear."

"That saber technique is incredibly fast," Xu Jingming praised. "And it's good at sticking to weapons, affecting the opponent's body to some extent."

"My saber technique is based on the Taiji lineage," Liu Hai explained. "I have inheritances, and I've also possessed cosmic legends, gaining a lot. Just now, I comprehended a deeper saber technique mystery, dividing yin and yang with a single saber strike. It's incredibly fast and powerful. Moreover, the yin-yang fluctuations can disrupt the enemy's body strength."

Xu Jingming was thoughtful.

"Your spearmanship is powerful enough. If someone slightly weaker fought me, I could cleave his weapon with a saber, and the yin-yang fluctuations transmitted into his body would cause him to lose control," Liu Hai said.

Xu Jingming nodded slightly. "I understand. Taiji is first about controlling oneself, and then about controlling the enemy. But this saber strike… to make the enemy's body lose control, it's indeed outrageous."

"Like your Martial Arts Nine Lessons, this is actually a transmission of power," Liu Hai said. "When I cleave with my saber, the transmitted yin-yang force is a wave-like force. This force is beyond the enemy's control, so the enemy will naturally lose control of their body."

"Amazing," Xu Jingming exclaimed. "I am sincerely convinced of my loss."

His own Rainbow Transformation Spear Technique also borrowed strength, with each spear strike continuously borrowing strength, ultimately merging into the ninth spear.

But Liu Hai's saber technique's power control was clearly more profound.

Of course…

This was not something to envy. Liu Hai had devoted his life to martial arts, with Taiji as its foundation. The inheritances he received and the legends he possessed were all in line with himself, integrating into Taiji. Only then could he have such a saber technique.

And he also had his own path. His Rainbow Transformation Spear Technique 'Nine-Strike Combo' was also a very strong move. It was just that under the same circumstances of fourth-order 99%, in terms of actual combat, he was still slightly inferior to his master.

"I've practiced for several decades more than you, and winning was so thrilling. Next time we fight, I'm afraid I won't be your opponent. After all, you're improving quickly in terms of willpower, but my progress is slow." Liu Hai tapped the panel, and stone benches and a stone table appeared beside him, with fruit wine and food on the table.

"Sit," Liu Hai said.

"As long as there is progress, there will eventually be a breakthrough," Xu Jingming said as he sat down.

Liu Hai looked at his disciple with a smile. "This fight today was very helpful to me. My saber technique has made a breakthrough! My mental will has also become much stronger."

"Me too, I've made some breakthroughs." Xu Jingming also smiled, in a good mood. Being able to perform the Nine-Strike Combo… was partly due to the improvement of his spearmanship, and partly due to the strength of his mental will.

Only with a strong enough mental will could he unleash that strike.

Now he had an increasingly clear perception of all the cells in his body, and felt that he should be able to 'sense all the cells'. Even if he wasn't quite there yet, the difference couldn't be much.

"A breakthrough is naturally a good thing," Liu Hai said. "After all, what lies before us is the biggest difficulty in the cultivation of planetary lifeforms—breaking through to the fifth order."

Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

To break through to the fifth order, the first step was to 'clearly sense all the cells in the body'. He had almost completed this step! Even if he wasn't quite there yet, three to five days of consolidation would be enough. Now was the second step—

Start consciously controlling every cell!

This control was also very difficult. After all, there were too many cells in the body, and it was impossible to divide one's mind into 'billions' to separately control each cell. That was unrealistic.

One must uniformly mobilize every cell, and only when the degree of mobilization reached a certain limit could one be considered a fifth-order.

If one could perfectly mobilize every cell, that would be fifth-order 99%.

"Cell-level body control." Xu Jingming knew what he had to do next.

"As long as you successfully break through to the fifth order, becoming a cosmic lifeform won't be difficult," Liu Hai said with emotion. "Jingming, your inheritance should also record information about cosmic lifeforms, right?"

Xu Jingming nodded. "Yes, we, including countless people on Blue Star, can only be considered planetary lifeforms."

"Long lifespans, able to fly, able to walk the cosmos with their physical bodies, not eating or drinking, able to absorb the light of stars, and the energy of various rays…" Liu Hai said with emotion, "Indeed, they are much stronger than us. Only at this level can one be considered a cosmic citizen. We, these weak planetary lifeforms, are not even considered cosmic citizens, and we can't even get the protection of the Cosmic Human Alliance's laws in the universe."

"The laws of the Cosmic Human Alliance?" Xu Jingming asked in surprise.

"This is information I came into contact with when I possessed the cosmic legend," Liu Hai said. "The hometown people of that cosmic legend still have many who are only planetary lifeforms. If they are not cosmic citizens, they will not be protected by the Cosmic Human Alliance's laws! They can only rely on their home civilization for protection!"

Xu Jingming nodded. "When I possessed the cosmic legend, I learned that that cosmic legend was a member of the Cosmic Human Alliance at the tenth order."

Although many secrets were forbidden from being spread, including the exchange list and so on.

But those of them who had received inheritances and seen the exchange list, who knew the secrets, could talk about it.

"Jingming."

Liu Hai said with emotion, "From the information I've come into contact with now, our Blue Star civilization only controls one human-inhabited planet, 'Blue Star'. The other planets in the solar system are uninhabitable and can only be used as mineral planets. With only one life planet and several mineral planets, such a civilization is indeed very weak."

"It is very weak," Xu Jingming agreed. "A tenth-order expert I possessed, when a large force wooed him at the ninth order, was willing to pay ten administrative stars and the accompanying star system. In other words… the strength of the Blue Star civilization is not even as good as one ninth-order existence."

"The Blue Star civilization's strength is very weak, and we are even weaker," Liu Hai said. "You and I are now considered the top strength on Blue Star, but we are not even cosmic citizens. A cosmic citizen is the most basic threshold for venturing into the universe and dealing with other civilizations, and we have not yet reached it!"

"So the Blue Star Alliance is sparing no expense to allow everyone to enter the virtual world and learn evolutionary methods," Xu Jingming said. "Only by becoming cosmic lifeforms can we be qualified to truly contact the outside world."

Liu Hai nodded. "In my life, I have seen a lot and experienced a lot. I understand one truth! One's own strength is the most important thing. Relying on the outside world for survival is not a long-term solution."

Xu Jingming agreed: "Backwardness invites aggression."

"Blue Star is very weak, and we are considered talented, so we must work harder," Liu Hai said. "If you and I can become ninth-order… it is estimated that we can greatly improve the strength of the Blue Star civilization."

"Yes," Xu Jingming nodded. "Let's work hard, work hard to become ninth-order."