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 surpassing 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 surpassing 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 surpass 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?”
Chapter 1092 - Blurry Tombstone
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Ah!” Ling Han’s body shuddered violently. Indeed, that was completely possible!
One could open the sky and re-enter the Immortal Realm, thereby gaining the last three stars of power and reaching a perfect state of humanity.
Ling Han couldn’t help but sigh. These people truly had good fathers.
Otherwise, they would have already lost at the starting line.
“I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to advance too greedily. If you want to become a king tier cultivator, you must reach a level of perfection for each cultivation level. Otherwise, others at the same cultivation level will have an inherent advantage over you should their power be stronger than yours.
“Moreover, in terms of God Tools and rare treasures, how can you compete against descendants of Eternal River Tier and Genesis Tier elites?”
Ling Han nodded in agreement. In terms of resources, he was definitely no match for the descendants of elites. That being the case, he could only strive to improve and aim to reach the true pinnacle for each of the cultivation levels.
“Thank you for your advice, Senior!” he said sincerely. If it weren’t for Old Man Xu’s advice, he would have definitely started to break through to the next major tier after reaching the consummate level. As such, he would only be a six-star genius. Even if he were to reach the pinnacle of the following major tier, he would still only be a nine-star genius at most—he would never have the chance to become a 10-star genius.
Old Man Xu nodded in acknowledgment, and said, “Farewell!”
It appeared as if he had said everything that he wanted to, and had no interest in speaking any longer.
“Then I’ll visit you again later.” Ling Han bowed respectfully before turning around to leave.
Although Old Man Xu had only told him some secrets, these secrets were hugely important to his future. The gulf between a six-star genius and a 10-star genius was tremendous.
To most prodigies, however, knowing or not knowing this secret was of no significance at all. This was because reaching the pinnacle of each cultivation level was far too difficult. Moreover, if one hadn’t reached the pinnacle of humanity, it would be impossible for them to reach 10 stars even if they formed five Mountains and Rivers and five Suns and Moons.
Reaching 10 stars required one to attain perfection in each and every cultivation level. Even a small step down from perfection would drop one to nine stars.
Ling Han believed that the Rain Emperor had the potential to become a nine-star genius. Feng Po Yun was slightly less talented, and could perhaps become an eight-star genius. Meanwhile, Murong Qing mightn’t even be able to form five Mountains and Rivers, nor five Suns and Moons. He had only reached a power of 17 Stars of the Shattering Void Tier anyway, so his potential was most likely limited to four stars.
The gap between prodigies hadn’t shrunk after they arrived in the Immortal Realm. Rather, it had grown.
Three days passed, and Ling Han and Shui Yanyu finally boarded their starship. They were about to depart at any moment.
The starship was huge, truly huge.
Warships could be built in a small size, much like the Cloud Piercing Shuttle, which could only seat two people. However, starships were at least as big as half of a city. Otherwise, it would be impossible to engrave the humongous formations that were necessary to travel through the galaxy. If such formations didn’t exist, how would they defend against meteoroids or other space dangers?
When these formations were activated, they could even block the attacks of great elites at the Heavenly Body Tier for a while. This would give the starship enough time to escape.
However, even though the starship was so gigantic, it was still brimming with people right now.
It wasn’t long before the starship soared into the air and flew into the galaxy.
Of course, starships also came in varying qualities. In terms of performance, this merchant starship was only so-so. The starship that had left before them had made a return trip in a mere five days. However, the starship that Ling Han was on still hadn’t neared the large tomb after five days of flight.
It took another two days before they finally arrived near the large tomb. Meanwhile, the nearby space was already fully docked with starships.
Ling Han and Shui Yanyu walked to the deck to observe their surroundings. There were defensive formations enveloping their starship, producing a light gravitational field to mimic the natural environment of their planets. The only difference was that there was no breathable air.
Fortunately, breathing wasn’t necessary after one reached the Immortal level.
If someone who wasn’t at the Immortal level came over, they would simply be seeking death.
A gigantic hemisphere lay before them.
Great stars were all spherical, yet the gigantic body before them looked like a star that had been sliced apart, with only half of its body remaining. As such, it looked much like a tomb. Moreover, the city-sized starship was only like a mere ant before this ginormous tomb. There was absolutely no comparison.
“It’s not light that’s being emitted; it’s life essence!” someone shouted in astonishment.
The people on the starship were all astounded. How valuable was life essence? It was life essence that determined how long one could live! However, life essence could only be produced by oneself. Even if one were to snatch another being’s life essence, they would only be able to benefit their own cultivation. It would be impossible to raise the amount of their own life essence.
When one’s life essence ran out, they would die. This was nature itself.
Right now, however, this large tomb was spitting out a limitless amount of life essence. How could they not be stunned?
If it were possible to cultivate atop this large tomb, the effects would definitely be jaw-dropping.
However, this was a tomb, so shouldn’t it have been lifeless and spiritless? Why was it exuding such astonishing amounts of life essence? This made absolutely no sense.
“Heh, a large tomb mysteriously appeared in the galaxy—does this make any sense?”
This was genuinely a large tomb—there was even a tombstone on top of it.
The tomb was already ginormous, so the tombstone was naturally of a shockingly large size as well.
Stone slabs were a common sight, but since when had there been such a gigantic singular piece of stone? This tombstone was taller and larger than any mountain that they had seen.
No one could see any cut marks on the stone. Meanwhile, there were only two extremely blurry words engraved into the tombstone. No one could read them, however.
Who was mighty enough to build such a large tomb in the galaxy 1 ? This had probably been a planet before, right? It had been forcefully refined into a large tomb to bury someone.
“Hang on, why can’t I remember those two words?” someone yelped in surprise.
They had clearly seen the two words on the tombstone before, even though they were blurry and incomprehensible. However, the person had instantly forgotten the image of the two words after turning around. This was far too uncanny.
“I can’t remember them, either!”
“It seems like there’s some mysterious force erasing these words from our memory!”
Everyone was astonished and excited. Just the tombstone alone was already so mysterious—that being the case, how many treasures did the tomb contain?
The large tomb was mighty and magnificent, exuding an aura of life essence from its body. Meanwhile, there was an entrance that was enveloped in a fog of chaos on its front side. It was as if heaven and earth 1 had just come into being there. No one was able to see through the fog.
‘No wonder the empress and even the Majestic Heaven Sect were startl
ed into action. This large tomb is far too mysterious and surprising.’
Some people tried to ascend the large tomb, yet apart from the entrance on the front side, descending toward other places would only lead to one fate—exploding into bits.
Some Heavenly Body Tier elite activated their treasure and attempted to near the tomb, yet their treasure was directly blown into smithereens. That elite also had half of their body blown off, yet they luckily managed to survive. This rendered the other elites speechless. By the looks of it, forcing their way in would be impossible.
Perhaps Venerable Trinity could try, but he was always in the Majestic Heaven Sect. In fact, he had never left the sect before.
However, it wasn’t easy to enter via the main entrance, either. The fog of chaos enveloping it was as heavy as a star, and one’s bones would instantly creak and groan upon coming under its pressure. If one took a few more steps, they would definitely be flattened into a pancake.
What could they do?
Everyone knew that this large tomb was filled with opportunities. Perhaps it was the tomb of an Eternal River Tier elite, or perhaps it was the tomb of a Genesis Tier elite. If they could obtain the treasures of this supreme being, hehe…
However, no one could enter the tomb right now. Thus, what did it matter that the tomb was filled with treasures?
“That fog of chaos is dissipating,” a powerful figure said.
It was a Heavenly Body Tier elite of the older generation. He had come from the Domineering Sun Planet, and was already more than 30 million years old. His life was nearing its end, and thus he had come here prepared to die at any moment. If he couldn’t find an opportunity to break through to the Eternal River Tier, he would be halfway through death’s door.
Meanwhile, the fog of chaos was slowly dissipating, just as he had said. The large tomb was about to open.
Chapter 1093 - Entering the Large Tomb
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It was almost impossible to cultivate in space, as no Spiritual Qi existed there. One could only replenish their power through True Origin Stones. Alchemical pills would also work, though this was much more luxurious.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 561