At the Hundred Great's Interdimensional Battlefield base, more than half of the people were drawn out by the magnificent phenomenon, gathering to watch it in awe.
Around the huge purplish-red light cocoon at the center of the silver light point ocean, dozens of dazzling silver rivers—Rules manifesting as miniature galaxies—floated slowly like silver ribbons.
"One, two, three..."
Someone stared at the silver ribbons, counting softly, and the final result was... there were exactly thirty-eight silver ribbons, representing thirty-eight different rules.
Everyone was deeply shocked. An ordinary level 11 martial artist who could hone a martial art to the peak of the Fifth Realm and materialize one Rule Galaxy could be considered level 12. The vast majority of newly promoted level 12 martial artists only hovered within the range of comprehending one or two Rules. To comprehend three to five, one had to possess exceptionally outstanding talent, astonishing comprehension, and an extraordinary natural perception of the rules of the cosmos—only a true martial arts genius could achieve it.
It's not that there were no level 12 powerhouses who had comprehended seven or eight, or even ten or more rules, but such existences were almost all old monsters who had been at level 12 for over ten thousand years. Without a long period of precipitation and refinement, how could they have mastered so many?
To put it plainly, the comprehension of the power of the rules was actually a gradual process. Of course, the universe was vast, and it's not that there were no innate knowers. There were also extremely young, yet highly skilled Starry Sky geniuses who mastered many rules. The recognized number one genius of the Hundred Great's base, Anon of the Turing Family, was the best example.
Possessing Immortal-level Blood, he had only been promoted to level 12 for less than a thousand years, yet he had already mastered nearly twenty rules, almost standing at the peak of level 12, with the potential to be promoted to level 13 at any time, becoming the youngest level 13 powerhouse in the history of the Hundred Great Star District! And he was also hailed as the most likely candidate in the Star District for becoming level 15 master in the future.
But what about the person inside this huge purplish-red light cocoon? Good heavens, he just started with a full thirty-eight rules. That was already twice as many as Anon! And this was when he was just preparing to be promoted to level 12; he hadn't completely become level 12 yet.
What did this mean? This meant that the mysterious person in the light cocoon, who was currently attempting to break through to level 12, had already cultivated thirty-eight different martial art skills to at least the Fifth Realm while still at level 11.
Goodness gracious, did this guy start practicing martial arts from the womb? Even if he had started practicing martial arts from the womb and practiced until death at level 11, until his lifespan was exhausted, it would be impossible to comprehend thirty eight fifth realm martial arts, right?! All the surrounding powerhouses were stunned, filled with shock that could not be expressed in words.
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Among the crowd, a handsome young man with long ice-blue hair was also looking at this scene with a shocked expression. Beside him, someone he knew sighed and said, "The starry sky is vast, and there are simply too many monsters. Anon Turing, this one in front of us, and the evildoer you mentioned before, who possessed an Immortal-level Blood and defeated you at level 10... You agree, right, Monroe?"
The ice-blue haired young man did not speak; his companion's words reminded him of someone's existence. He stared intently at the purplish-red light cocoon in the distance, seemingly comparing the two in his mind.
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"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I really wouldn't believe that the starry sky could nurture such a supremely talented individual..."
This exclamation came from a tall, blonde woman standing at the closest position to the purplish-red light cocoon, right beside Commander Mokodo, Haiji Dao, and a fourth powerful individual.
Haiji Dao and the other person remained silent, but their chins subtly moved up and down, as if unconsciously agreeing with the woman's words.
Mokodo, Commander of the Hundred Great's battlefieled, remained calm, her six arms naturally hanging, and her six eyes unperturbed. Suddenly, she said unexpectedly, "This child's starting point is already most people's end point."
Haiji Dao and the other two were stunned when they heard this, then their faces showed extremely complex expressions.
Yes. Commander Mokodo was absolutely right. Lu Sheng's starting point at level 12 would already be an end point that most people could never reach in their entire lives.
Just like Haiji Dao and the other two. They still clearly remembered the number of rules they had comprehended when they were at level 12. Roughly... they didn't even have a third of Lu Sheng's.
The Rule Powers are the source of strength for level 12 martial artists and also the bridge to level 13. There is no strict requirement for how many Rules must be comprehended before a level 12 martial artist can be promoted to level 13. However, only by comprehending enough Rules can one trace and deduce the outline of a cosmic Law from them, thereby being promoted to level 13.
Moreover, the more Rules a martial artist comprehends, the more powerful the Laws they will be able to build when promoted to level 13. Rules have no hierarchy, but Laws do. The understanding of a person who has practiced all kinds of martial arts is always much more profound than that of a person who has only practiced two or three martial arts. And now Lu Sheng has just been promoted to level 12, and he has already mastered thirty-eight rules. Then when he is promoted to level 13 and comprehends a Law... How terrifying will that be?
"No!"
Haiji Dao and the other two suddenly realized something. Lu Sheng had clearly already comprehended a Law. And it was the Thunder Law, which could be considered one of the most powerful among the many known laws.
"If he is promoted to level 13, won't he possess the power of more than one Law?"
This thought suddenly popped into the minds of Haiji Dao and the other two. In an instant, a deep shock from the depths of their souls swept through their entire bodies. Just then, the silver light point ocean nearby suddenly surged violently. Immediately after, two new, dazzling silver rivers maaterialized, representing new Rule Powers.
"Hiss, hiss—"
Sounds of gasps suddenly rose and fell in the void. Everyone was shocked to the point of numbness, even their souls vibrating incessantly.
"Is this... Is this really human?"
This thought emerged in the minds of countless people in the arena.
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"Boom--"
The massive planetary remnant completely turned into dust in the explosive flames. A vast amount of black mist and smoke surged into Lu Sheng's body like rivers flowing into the sea. He closed his eyes and savored it for a while. Only after fully absorbing this immense memory did he open his eyes again.
"That's about right. The memory inheritance from five planets has brought me more peak Fifth Realm skills. Now, there are a total of twenty-five martial arts for which I have reached the peak of the Fifth Realm. My Mental Energy has also successfully reached the peak of level 12. There's no great meaning in dragging this out any longer; it's time to officially take that step." Lu Sheng thought, then casually reached into the surging thunder-lava flames around him and grabbed something.
He directly pulled out a turbid, reddish crystal the size of a human head. On this crystal, there seemed to be some distorted, strange symbols and patterns; ordinary people would go mad with pain just by looking at it. This was the Crystal Core of the level 13 General-level Alien Beast that he had killed. He had specifically saved it for this moment, to use as nourishment for his mental energy to break through to level 13.
Sheng squeezed his palm slightly, and the strange crystal immediately burst open with a bang. In an instant, countless streams of reddish, turbid air emerged from within. Before these air currents could dissipate, Lu Sheng took a deep breath, inhaling all of them through his nose and mouth.
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Translation notes by dhoo
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The Realms
Realms corresponds to different levels of martial daos or martial artists. Well, Lu Sheng doesn't really fit in the "normal" understanding of cultivation (more on that below), as shown in this chapter by everyone's shock and disbelief, but the Realms are still the same for everyone.
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The Fourth Realm corresponds to level 10.
The Fifth Realm aka realm of Rules corresponds to levels 11 and 12.
The Sixth Realm aka realm of Laws corresponds to level 13 and 14.
Before that, around levels 8-9, there was the grandmaster Realm (third realm?). I shall update it later if I gather more information. I haven't read these old arcs in years, and I read them in Spanish haha.
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So... martial artists have levels and martial daos have level too
In this novel, a martial dao (dao is way or path) is a concept which is wider than the more common martial art. For example, a martial dao could be "sword dao" but also "thunder dao". A martial artist typically "follows" or "cultivates" more than one dao in parallel throughout their training and learning. Each of your daos has its own level of cultivation, typically ranging from 1 to 13 so far. For example, your "sword dao" could be at level 11 (lower Fifth Realm) while your "stellar dao" is at level 12 (higher Fifth Realm) and your "thunder dao" is at level 13 (lower Sixth Realm). A martial artist's level is given by the level of their strongest dao. And when your dao has a solid, strong level 12, it is said that it's at the peak of the Fifth Realm, ready to enter the Sixth Realm.
Example: If a martial artist mastered the sword dao at level 11 and the thunder dao at level 12, and their other daos at level 10 and below, and they have no dao at level 13 or more, then their "best" dao is at level 12 hence they are a level 12 martial artist. In other words, if you're level 11 and while training/learning/cultivating you master one dao at level 12 you become level 12; mastering at least one dao at level 12 makes you a martial artist of at least level 12.
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Why realm of the Rules and realm of the Laws?
When one of the daos that you cultivate reaches level 11, it enters the Fifth Realm aka the realm of Rules. You start understanding the Rule(s) of this dao, you can follow these Rules and you get immense power, and as your control of that Rule improves, people start seeing your dao as a Rule Galaxy (a dazzling silver stream/ribbon like aa miniature galaxy) hovering around your body. As a martial artist, the next step is then to absorb that Rule Galaxy into your body (this dao becomes peak level 12) in order to strengthen your body and prepare it for the next level. With your strengthened body, you can try to improve that dao and reach level 13. The Rule would become a Law.
At level 13, you enter the realm of Laws aka sixth realm. That's gonna be described later on. But we know that at that stage you get a much more formidable power, and you can bend or break the earlier Rules, you can alter reality itself.
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Martial artists and Rule Galaxies
Saya is a martial artist of level 11, he doesn't have any visible rule yet; his friend the rock man is a martial artist of level 12, he has at least one dao at level 12, though the Galaxy Rule might not be visible yet, or might be integrated into his body already. Sarl has several Rule Galaxies (2 to 3 at first, 5 at the end), he is a very strong level 12 martial artist. Lu Sheng... is an anomaly. He can collect Rules and Laws that he harvested in the dream universe when he sucked in all the memories and experience of the martial artists he beats, but collecting and understanding isn't mastering, he still needs to practice, his body is not ready yet for 40 Laws.
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Martial artist Realms
The Fourth Realm corresponds to level 10ish - people respect you
You have at least one dao at level 10. Good job, keep working!
The Fifth Realm aka realm of Rules corresponds to levels 11 and 12 - people admire you
level 11: you comprehended at least one rule which will more or less vividly manifests itself as a Rule Galaxy (depending on your level of comprehension of that rule)
level 12: you mastered one or more rules and you're in the process of absorbing one or more Rule Galaxies into your body, once you have absorbed one, you're peak level 12, ready for the next Realm
The Sixth Realm aka realm of Laws corresponds to level 13 and 14 - people fear you
level 13, you mastered and absorbed rules, you comprehended at least one law power and you can yield it, it's a different realm, level 12s are scared (or they should be).
level 14, you master at least one law, awesome. Your power defies logics. There is still a long way to saving the universe though.
The Seventh Realm probably corresponds to level 15 and 16 - I guess people worship you
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Rule variations
I wrote earlier that rule is 規則 and rule power is 規則之力. There is variations here:
規則側之力 has the additional character 側 (side). Rule-side-power. It seems that level 11 martial artists who start grasping a rule only have a part of it at first, one side of a rule.
道規則 has the additional character 道 (dao, path). Dao-rule-power. Well, indeed Rules and Laws each correspond to a given martial dao/path. A Rule in this story is a dao Rule, and a Law is a dao Law.