Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1136 – Dynasties’ Grades, Sects’ Grades, State Master

“Myriad dynasties? Myriad sects?” Qing Shui asked, in doubt. Everything here was brand new and he needed to rapidly absorb all the knowledge here. Otherwise, it would be very hard for him to sustain himself.

“Myriad dynasties refers to many dynasties, while myriad sects refers to many sects. This place is one where dynasties, sects and clans co-exist,” Qiu Feng smiled and said.

“Mmm, right, which continent in the four continents is this?” Until now, Qing Shui realized that he was still unaware of which continent he had landed on.

“This is the multifarious Western Oxhe Continent. It’s located in the west and the land here is more vast. The land area of the Western Oxhe Continent is comparable even to the land size of all five continents combined,” Qiu Feng smiled and said.

When Qing Shui heard this, he was stunned. This was too astonishing. Just the Western Oxhe Continent alone was so big?

He had experienced it for himself how big the land of the five continents was. He had been to each of the five continents and had a taste of it.

“Then are the dynasties stronger or are the sects stronger?” Qiu Feng looked at Qiu Feng and asked.

“I don’t know. Some sects are weaker than dynasties but some sects are stronger than dynasties,” Qiu Feng smiled and said.

Qing Shui was struck by a feeling of depression. Saying this was as good as not saying anything at all. He looked around and then smiled and asked, “Where is this place? Does it belong to a dynasty or a sect?”

“Western Oxhe Continent is a dynasty institution. Dynasties are segregated into various grades. The same goes for sects. This is the Great Yu Dynasty and is considered the top of the Grade Two Dynasties. Dynasties are segregated into Grade One, Two, Three and Four, with Grade One being the weakest. The higher the grade, the more powerful they were. Those above Grade Four Dynasties are considered legendary.”

“How many dynasties are there in Western Oxhe Continent? Which dynasties are Grade One, which are in Grade Two and Three? Do you know?” Qing Shui smiled and asked.

“The greatest number are Grade One Dynasties and it’s said that there are Grade One to Four Dynasties. There are over ten Grade One Dynasties. However, these are just rumors and I’m not sure how accurate they are,” Qiu Feng gave it some thought and said.

“Oh, right. Brother, how are the grades for the dynasties decided?” Qing Shui was very curious about this question.

“It’s said to be based on the royalty’s abilities, the National Protector State Masters’ ability, as well as the abilities of the clans under the dynasties. The dynasties here are basically a similar system as one with clans. The clan with the royal family would be the members of royalty and control a dynasty. There are also several tens of clans under the royalty who are ranked and would each control the resources in an area,” Qiu Feng smiled and said.

Back in the five continents, Qing Shui had already understood how powerful sects were. The City Lords were all from the sects in an area and the sects were held in high regards. There were even sects who didn’t even know how much land they had under their control. The powerful clans in each city or country would have control over that area.

It was just like how there was even a reign even over Qing Village. In this world, even though it appeared to be very messy, there were still paths for development. Qing Shui came from Qing Village, was the guardian for Hundred Miles City and was even the guardian for the Cang Lang Country and Greencloud Continent.

This was the fate of a powerful cultivator.

In Qing Shui’s previous life, there were official positions in the dynasties. However, it was upon arriving here that he learned that the dynasties here were different from the ones he had from his previous life. However, they were still basically the same. It was just that the officials had been changed to clans and the clans those officials had came from also wielded great power.

Once Qiu Feng explained it, Qing Shui understood. This system was one which clans joined forces to form a dynasty. It should be to stand up against sects with similar systems.

“Brother, what is the State Master about?” Qing Shui recalled that it was mentioned that the position of National Protector State Master seemed to be very important.

“The State Master is a high level existence in a dynasty. The royalty call the person the National Protector State Master. Not all members of royalties are at the level of a State Master but only those from the royal family could be called National Protector State Masters. A Grade One State Master’s level is about 3,000 nimbus. Oh, right. 10,000 stars is equal to one nimbus. A Grade Two State Master has a strength of 6,000 nimbus and the Grade Three State Master has the minimum level of 10,000 nimbus. These seemed to all be rumors and may not be very accurate,” Qiu Feng smiled and said.

It was only then that Qing Shui knew that he was extremely weak. Even a Grade One State Master was much stronger than him. If Qiu Feng were to know that Qing Shui was already comparing himself with State Masters now, he would definitely cough blood.

What existence was a State Master at? They were the people at the pinnacle of a dynasty and even one from the lowest grade was able to reflect how impressive the Western Oxhe Continent was. No matter where they went, they would be in high demand.

“Brother, what I said might not be accurate. You just need to get an idea. Even in a Grade One dynasty, there would also be Grade Two and Three State Masters, just that they are few in number and aren’t sufficient to bring up the grade of the dynasty they belong to. The State Masters’ abilities are the same as the dynasties’. There are Grade Four State Masters above Grade Three State Masters. However, I’m not very sure about their strengths.”

“Then what is the estimated numbers of State Masters? Would there be a big difference between dynasties of different grades?”

“In the royal family of a Grade One Dynasty, there mustn’t be less than 500 Grade One State Masters, 50 Grade Two State Masters and 5 Grade Three State Masters. This would the royal family as well. As for the other clans who are inferior to the royal family, they would be much weaker in comparison. However, in all, their numbers are several times bigger than the number of State Masters in the royal family,” Qiu Feng looked at Qing Shui and said, smiling.

Qing Shui knew that the strength of these great clans was much weaker than the royalty. Otherwise, the royalty wouldn’t be the wielder of power. To think that there were already so many powerful cultivators in Grade One Dynasties…

How many years of accumulated effort was required for a clan to gain such a high level of prosperity?

“Then what are the numbers like for the State Masters in a Grade Two Dynasty?” Qing Shui asked, feeling curious.

“In the royal family of a Grade Two Dynasty, there mustn’t be less than 5,000 Grade One State Masters, 500 Grade Two State Masters and 50 Grade Three State Masters. This would be for the royal family as well. As for the other clans who are inferior to the royal family, they would be much weaker in comparison. However, in all, their numbers are several times bigger than the number of State Masters in the royal family. Oh, right, not all members of the royal family have the royal lineage. It’s just like how in clans, most of the members aren’t direct descendants and could be just outsiders. However, there are other methods to let them serve the clan.”

Qing Shui now understood. If they were all people from the royal family, how perverse would that be? However, thinking about it, he estimated that at least one-third of them should be of royal blood. Qing Shui thought of himself and the changes that had happened for his clan. Therefore, he knew that these royals would definitely have their own monstrous legacies which were extremely powerful.

If such legacies didn’t exist, with there being so many people and so many experts, the royal family wouldn’t be able to sit at the very top.

The Great Yu Dynasty was a Grade Two Dynasty and was a top notch one at that. There was no further elaboration of a Grade Three Dynasty since Qiu Feng didn’t know about them. However, seeing how the difference between a Grade One and Grade Two dynasty was ten times, then the gap between a Grade Two and Grade Three Dynasty would probably not be lesser than ten times as well.

There were two Grade Four Dynasties in Western Oxhe Continent. The power of a Grade Four State Master caused Qing Shui to feel very astonished. The four continents was a bigger world.

“Mmm, how does Western Oxhe Continent compare to the other three continents?” Qing Shui was both excited and astonished. The world here was so much bigger.

“The area is too wide and we usually can only hear a little about the other three continents. People of our abilities aren’t capable of traveling around,” Qiu Feng shook his head and said in self-mockery.

Just a Western Oxhe Continent was sufficient to compare with the size of the five continents. It was already very hard for Qing Shui to travel between the five continents, let alone doing so here. Seems like he would need to get stronger as soon as possible.

After letting Qing Shui understand the situation and gain some basic knowledge, Qiu Feng took out a detailed map and handed it to Qing Shui. This is the map for Great Yu Dynasty and the Western Oxhe Continent. I don’t have anything for the other areas.

“Brother, I’m just askingif it’s not convenient then you can ignore my question. How is Formation Immortal Sect’s power in Great Yu Dynasty?”

Qiu Feng had brought it up to Qing Shui before that there were certain sects who were very well concealed and the outside world knew nothing about their abilities.

“This is no secret but it’s hard to describe it in a short timespan. Sects are also unique existences here and usually are independent outside of dynasties. Here, only sects would be able to be a match for dynasties but I don’t know who is stronger. Sects are also grouped into grade one, two, three and four. There seems to be a parallel to the dynasties. Formation Immortal Sect used to be basked in great glory but right now, we can only be considered to be at the top of the Grade One Sects.”

It was close to what Qing Shui had expected. Formation Immortal Sect was very powerful. Hearing from Qiu Feng, it seemed that they had declined but they still maintained the abilities of a peak Grade One Sect. They should still be a very strong existence in Great Yu Dynasty.

Sects are independent of dynasties. However, there would also be times when dynasties unite the sects in the dynasty in order to go against other dynasties.

“Brother, do you know about Putuo Mountain?” Qing Shui was asking about Tantai Xuan’s sect.

“Miss Tantai’s sect is still considered quite famous in Great Yu Dynasty. It’s because it’s said that their power doesn’t lose out to Great Yu Dynasty at all. They are very mysterious and have a high status. I don’t know the details either. Right now, Formation Immortal Sect is a far cry from Putuo Mountain and we are no longer standing on the same grounds.”

Qing Shui thought of Di Chen again, wondering where she ws. She should still be in Western Oxhe Continent, right? The Western Oxhe Continent alone was comparable to the five continents in total. To be finding a person in such a big place, an unfamiliar place at that… How could it possibly be easy?

If he wished to find her, he must first rise to the top in Great Yu Dynasty. It would be relatively easier if he had gained a certain level of influence. However, what was it that he needed to do now?

State Master！

Qing Shui’s eyes lit up. He should only be able to gain the ability after becoming an expert that was of a State Master level, right?

The lowest ranked Grade One State Masters have a strength of 3,000 nimbus. The difference in their power was tremendous and this wouldn’t be an easy route.

What should he do? Could it be that he would really need to join a particular group right now?

Qing Shui went into deep thought. To get stronger, he would need to cultivate. This was something which he could do anywhere. After coming to this unfamiliar place, there wasn’t anything he had to attend to at the moment.

Looking for Di Chen wasn’t something he could accomplish just by being anxious. It was only after he had gained power and could use it to his advantage to look for her, would it then be easier. In Great Yu Dynasty, the top notch State Masters were a special existence.

There was Qiu Feng in Formation Immortal Sect and Tantai Xuan in Putuo Mountain. Although he wasn’t on extremely friendly terms with Tantai Xuan, he was considered to have helped her before and they could sort of be considered friends.

Qing Shui secretly decided to himself that he would become Great Yu Dynasty’s State Master as soon as possible, even if it was just one of the lowest grade!