Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Senior, there are preconditions regarding how many stars one can surpa.s.s.” Ling Han thought for a moment, before continuing, “Take me, for example. If I meet someone who’s nine stars above me… let’s call them Person A. Person A hasn’t practiced any techniques to defend against divine sense attacks. Thus, if I use the Seven Kill Subduing Soul Technique to attack Person A and suppress their battle prowess, my chance of defeating them is at least 50%.
“In such a case, I would have the ability to surpa.s.s nine stars.
“However, if I meet another person—let’s call them Person B—and their battle prowess is only eight stars above mine, it’s still extremely likely that I’ll lose if they’re someone who has practiced techniques to defend against divine sense attacks.
“In such a case, I wouldn’t even have the ability to surpa.s.s eight stars.
“However, if Person B hasn’t practiced divine sense attacks, they’ll naturally be unable to defeat Person A. This leads to a strange cycle—I can defeat Person A, Person A can defeat Person B, and Person B can defeat me. As such, I really don’t know how to rate my battle prowess.”
Old Man Xu laughed heartily, and said, “Very well, very well indeed! You’re already able to consider such kinds of scenarios. Just like how the Shattering Void Tier is determined by power, the battle prowess of the Immortal levels is also built upon power. After all, power is the absolute fundamental.
“When talking about star surpa.s.sing geniuses, power is the measurement that’s used, not battle prowess.
“Of course, having more power doesn’t necessarily guarantee victory. There’s nothing surprising about this. Thus, when talking about star surpa.s.sing geniuses, we’re simply measuring one’s battle prowess from the perspective of their power. In any case, power is the most important attribute.
“Without power, everything else is useless.”
Ling Han nodded in agreement. If two people possessed the same power, yet they practiced different secret techniques of varying might, it was only natural that there would be significant differences in their strength.
This had nothing to do with whether one was a genius or not, nor did it have anything to do with how much effort one exerted. Rather, it had everything to do with the secret techniques and cultivation techniques that one practiced.
By this measure, Ling Han was a five-star genius. However, this wasn’t his limit. He noticed that his power was still growing at a rate that exceeded his cultivation level, and there was a possibility that it had reached six stars.
“When you were at the Shattering Void Tier, you attained a power of 20 stars,” Old Man Xu said. “This means that you reached a level of perfection in the previous tier. Otherwise, there’s no way you could have reached 20 Stars of the Shattering Void Tier. However, if you cultivate to the peak stage of the consummate level of the Mountain River Tier just like this, your power will only be able to surpa.s.s six stars at most.”
Six stars—was this not impressive enough?
Five-star geniuses only existed in legends. In fact, there was a possibility that such legendary geniuses relied on secret techniques, and were unable to reach such a height with their own abilities.
“Heh, lad, the vast nature of the universe is beyond your wildest imaginations! In the Immortal Realm, prodigies are nothing rare!” Old Man Xu shook his head, and continued, “When I was young, I once traveled far and wide, and witnessed countless prodigies. Only then did I realize that I had been watching the sky from a well.”
Ling Han nodded, and said, “Please enlighten me, Senior!”
A satisfied smile appeared on Old Man Xu’s face. This young man was neither arrogant nor impatient. It was no wonder that his cultivation was so fast and outstanding. A look of reminiscence flashed across his face, and it was a long time before he said, “The limit of cultivation should be 10 stars!”
Pu!
Ling Han almost choked. Five-star geniuses were already the things of legends, yet he was being told that the limit was actually 10 stars? Moreover, the 10 stars that Old Man Xu spoke of was definitely in terms of power alone, and not the result of practicing secret techniques.
Was this possible? 10 stars?
He was already freakish enough, having cultivated each of his cultivation levels to a perfect state. However, just as Old Man Xu had said, he could only reach six stars at most. This was only a tad more than halfway to 10 stars.
“If you want to challenge cultivators a major tier above you, then you must become a 10-star genius!” Old Man Xu spoke unhurriedly, and continued, “This is a gulf that even nine-star geniuses can only look up to. Even if you’re a nine-star genius at the peak stage of the consummate level of the Mountain River Tier, you can only lower your head before those at the early stage of the low extreme of the Sun Moon Tier.”
Ling Han couldn’t help but feel fervent with excitement. He had never heard of a Mountain River Tier cultivator defeating a Sun Moon Tier cultivator before. However, if he could become a 10-star genius, he would be able to make the impossible possible.
Of course, this came with a condition—one had to be at the peak stage of the consummate level of the Mountain River Tier, and their opponent had to be at the low extreme of the Sun Moon Tier. Otherwise, it would be futile even if one were a 10-star genius.
Ling Han was slightly confused, and he said, “But Senior, you said that I’ve already reached a level of perfection in each of my cultivation levels. Even so, I can only reach a power of six stars.”
Wasn’t this an impossible task?
Old Man Xu laughed heartily, and said, “Young lad, have a little more patience.” He stood up, and said, “Follow this old man for a walk.”
The two of them entered the dense forests by the lake again, and Old Man Xu said, “The so-called consummate level of the Mountain River Tier… is not actually the consummate level!”
Ling Han was instantly startled. “Not the consummate level?”
“The true pinnacle of the Mountain River Tier is five Mountains and Rivers, not four!” Old Man Xu finally revealed an astounding secret.
Ling Han’s mouth gaped open in shock.
It was a publicly acknowledged fact that the Mountain River Tier had four minor tiers. Everyone cultivated according to this paradigm, and they would start to form their Sun and Moon after cultivating four Mountains and Rivers. In other words, they would begin their breakthrough to the next cultivation level.
Just then, however, he had been told that one could actually form five Mountains and Rivers!
Then was it possible to form six, or even seven, Mountains and Rivers?
“Heh, five is the genuine pinnacle of the Mountain River Tier. It’s impossible to form any more Mountains and Rivers!” Old Man Xu shook his head, and continued, “This is equivalent to advancing an extra minor tier, and it’s the only way to become a 10-star genius!”
Ling Han was puzzled again, and he asked, “Then isn’t there a void between six stars and 10 stars?”
Where did all the seven, eight, and nine-star geniuses go?
Old Man Xu laughed loudly, and said, “Did you think that one would have certainly reached the pinnacle after forming five Mountains and Rivers? Some are only able to form the Mountain, while others are able to form both Mountain and River, yet cannot cultivate them to perfection. Thus, these people become seven, eight, and nine-star geniuses.”
‘So that’s how it is.’
Ling Han faltered for a moment before asking, “So, based on what you said, Senior, can Sun Moon Tier cultivators also form five Suns and Moons? Can Heavenly Body Tier cultivators also form five Heavenly Bodies? Then shouldn’t there be 11 and 12-star geniuses?”
“Brilliant question!” Old Man Xu chuckled, and said, “However, you’ve gotten one thing wrong.”
He raised a finger, and said, “One can only maintain a power of 10 stars if they reach the true pinnacle of each cultivation level. Otherwise, one’s power will fall if they fail to reach the pinnacle for any one cultivation level. In such cases, they’ll become nine, eight, or seven-star geniuses.”
Ling Han nodded in understanding. So, maintaining a power of 10 stars was actually this difficult! One had to reach the true pinnacle of each major tier.
“Senior, have you ever seen a 10-star genius before?” Ling Han asked.
A ferocious glint flashed past Old Man Xu’s eyes, and even his face shuddered a little. He only regained his composure after a long while, saying, “I’ve never seen one with my own eyes. However, I’ve heard about a few supreme prodigies who are genuinely invincible in their own cultivation level. These supreme prodigies are called young king tier cultivators.”
Ling Han was astonished. Not only did such cultivators exist, but there were even a few of them?
How was this possible? One had to realize that it was necessary to receive the blessing of heaven and earth should one want to attain a power of 20 Stars of the Shattering Void Tier. Otherwise, one would only be able to reach 17 stars. The remaining three stars were on another level altogether.
Old Man Xu noticed his confusion. With a smile, he said, “Do you think it’s hard for great elites in the Immortal Realm to send their clan members into small worlds to open the sky?”