-Training the spirit isn't easy, but I know you'll cheat with that power of yours, so let's get straight to the point.- Li said, the two of them sitting cross-legged, facing each other.
Ringo simply stared at him indifferently, still annoyed that the old man was taking advantage of the situation.
Li didn't mind as she continued. - I spent a lot of time meditating before I could feel my mind, to the point of remaining lucid even in dreams, after that it was an even slower progression, trying to shape the world around me, even remembering my past to the point of being able to see it perfectly in front of me, with that I can remember the taste of something I ate decades ago.
Ringo became serious, sensing that this slow and structured training style suited Li perfectly.
-After that, I reached a state I call emptiness, basically me measured within my dreams. It seems useless until you discover there are layers within layers, a dream within a dream, within another dream.- Li spoke as if he were talking about the weather, but Ringo froze immediately.
What the hell is this guy talking about? Layers of dreams?
Wait, the time he entered Li's dream, he was sitting, meditating inside the dream itself. That time, if what Li said was true, he had only entered the first layer of his dream?
Ringo's eyes widened, even in a nightmare, he hadn't understood anything!
Li smiled, clearly enjoying Ringo's surprised look, Ringo even felt that his nose was a little more upturned.
Ringo didn't mock him this time, instead, he looked at Li with genuine respect.
He thought Chi was the old man's greatest achievement, but Li's spiritual accomplishments were equally impressive.
His spiritual energy was weak, he couldn't use spiritual powers, but in terms of pure control, he had reached a level that even Psychics could be confused by.
Monster.
A fucking monster!
If Ringo hadn't met him, he would have remained completely hidden in the galactic context, a life of absurd practice that took an ordinary human further than anyone else had ever gone before.
Ringo's eyes grew serious, he sensed Li would refuse, but he couldn't let Li be wasted any longer. That old man, if he reached Grade S, would be an even more ridiculous monster.
-Li, I'm going to make you an offer, and I hope you won't refuse it outright.- Ringo said seriously, surprising Li.
-What is that?- Li asked.
-Become a Super.- Ringo summed it all up in a simple sentence, but that sentence made Li's pupils narrow and his smug smile give way to a face full of confusion.
-What?- He asked, bewildered.
-I can let you become a Super, any of the 5 classes, I can let you follow that path.- Ringo continued bluntly.
Li frowned sharply, if it were someone else, he would think he was joking, but it was Ringo who was speaking.
This led him to consider it a truth, not nonsense used to tease him, but it was precisely at this point that, although his eyes had shifted away from Ringo, his expression remained frowning.
He fell into a prolonged silence, his thoughts racing, but in the end he still sighed and shook his head negatively. He had once wished to be a Super more than anything, he wanted power, but it had been taken from him. However, instead of giving up like everyone else, Li trained, trained, and trained some more.
He only had his body, so he trained it to become as hard as steel, when he discovered the powers of the mind, he did the same thing.
During his mental training, at some point, he saw this side of himself, the side that still desired the power to grow, to be a Super. Li fought against this side for decades, until one day, he realized, he was not inferior to any Super.
He reached the top and with that, he finally managed to get rid of that regret, at that moment, Li achieved something that many would call inner peace.
A profound peace within himself, he no longer cared about dying, as long as he could live as he wished. He didn't care about the Supers, because every drop of sweat he shed was proof that he might not be the fastest, but he could go further even when a Super encountered a barrier and could no longer progress.
Li accepted who he is.
At that moment, when Ringo offered him the opportunity to become a Super, that mindset wavered slightly, but it was only a slight wavering, he knew who he was.
He is Li.
The one who will reach the top with his own body and spirit!
Ringo saw exactly that in Li's eyes, behind the lightness of the response, there was absolute certainty.
Li didn't refuse because he despised the Supers, but because, for him, accepting it was like spitting on everything he had done up to that point, choosing the easy way out because this one had become more difficult.
Ringo sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, he had expected this, even if he could force Li to accept a Super Gene, he knew Li would vehemently refuse to train.
If he were to parasitize man, he could change those ingrained values, but if he did that, would the result still be Li?
Ringo only thought about it for a moment before refusing, he would respect Li's decision.
Pursing his lips, Ringo could only resort to plan B.
-And what about race? Would you be willing to change your race?- Ringo asked.
Li became thoughtful again, he knew about it, Melissa herself had already undergone a race change thanks to Ringo.
This time he didn't refuse immediately, instead, he asked. -Am I still human?
Ringo finally breathed a sigh of relief, although the human races were no longer as powerful, it would be far better than Li's current state.
Furthermore, Ringo was already thinking about how to upgrade humanity, merging the powerful bodies of Pugilists while discarding the super gene, and fusing pure spiritual energy to enhance his spirit.
The biggest problem is that both Grade A and Grade S possess specific abilities that lead to a sharp increase in power, a gigantic increase. The change a Super undergoes when advancing to Grade A and Grade S wasn't a matter of quantity, but an energetic transformation. Without it, Li would have had to find his own solution to improve quality.
Before, Ringo thought it was impossible, but after seeing how much this guy progressed on his own, Ringo felt it wasn't impossible.
Li would have a tremendous difficulty reaching those guys alone, but with help... Ringo would take him that far!