Chapter 401: Strictly Organized Ranks
Chapter 401: Strictly Organized Ranks
“Look, those are power crystals from an immortal world! They have Aeonic Ionization True Energy, which supposedly comes from the Aeonic God Heaven, a place far above ordinary immortal worlds. With those crystals, you could build up Aeonic Ionization Godpower.”
“Well, they belong to Yang Qi now.”
“That’s Universal Sky True Energy, also from a very high level immortal world. Power like that far surpasses that of the Titan Emperor Heaven.”
“According to what I've heard, our Titan Emperor Heaven is one of the lowest ranked types of immortal worlds. All of the stuff we’re seeing here comes from higher-level planes!”
“You’re right. The immortal worlds are ranked in a similar way to us cultivators. Among cultivators, you have Energy Artists, Lifeseizers, Legendaries, Great Sages, Demi-Immortals, Demolishers, and Godmyths. But there are even more ranks among the immortal worlds. Thirty-three in total.”
“So all of these are different types of power from higher immortal worlds.”
“What a pity that Yang Qi is getting them all.”
One glowing manifestation of power after another was taken by Yang Qi. The other students in the ceremony were dumbstruck, but didn’t dare to do anything for fear that he might cut them down.
‘Not bad,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘These powers from the immortal worlds are incredible! They definitely come from immortal planes higher than the Titan Emperor Heaven. This is really going to help me in the coming days.’
The almost constant flow of universal power entering Yang Qi went straight into his God Legion Paradise, causing the sage motes there to blaze as if they were on fire.
Thanks to his time spent with his mother and the other top experts in the Hanging Mountain, he had learned much more about the secrets of the universe. He had also formed more Blood of the One God and gained even more information from the God Legion Seal.
The universe contained endless planes and innumerable immortal worlds. However, those immortal worlds were strictly organized into thirty-three ranks.
Planes such as the Titan Emperor Heaven, Nine Yangs Heaven, and Sea King Heaven were all first-ranked immortal planes with relatively low levels of power.
There were as many first-ranked immortal planes as there were grains of eternal sand, so it was no exaggeration to say that no one knew exactly how many immortal planes existed. According to the rumors, the highest immortal planes were those that drew close to the legion of gods and were beyond the level that ordinary humans could go to.
The power of a first-ranked immortal world like the Titan Emperor Heaven was precious. However, it was completely surpassed by that of even second- and third-ranked heavens. And now, countless manifestations of high-level powers like that were being raked in by Yang Qi.
It didn’t take long for the World of Mirages to be swept clean of all treasures. The countless valuable items that students had hoped to compete over in the entrance ceremony were now in his possession.
At that point, a tremor passed through the World of Mirages and the students inside were pulled back out to the square.
Of course, the people from the Everlasting Alliance were nowhere to be seen, which caused many an expression to flicker among the other students as they received confirmation that those experts really were dead.
Oftentimes, people would not shed a tear until seeing the coffin, or in other words, they would not be convinced until faced with grim reality. Well, as of this point the students in the ceremony were seeing coffins and shedding tears. And their hearts were overwhelmed with fear.
Laughing heartily, Yan Weiyi dropped down next to Yang Qi and clasped his shoulder. “Excellent job, Junior Eighteenth Brother. You put on a better show than even Eldest Brother. Seems master really does have sharp eyes. The entrance ceremony is over, and henceforth, you are a formal member of the Invincible Society. The eighteen of us are now the bearers of invincibility!”
“Yes sir!” Yang Qi said, nodding his head. He knew that the members of the Invincible Society were viewed as unusual by others in the collegium. They were few in number, but each and every one of them was extremely strong. Now that he was a member, he at least had something to rely on; any shifty or malicious individuals would definitely think twice before targeting him.
Yan Weiyi eyed the glowing lights up above that were the elders and chuckled. “Alright, let’s go, Junior Eighteenth Brother. You killed all of the new students from the Everlasting Alliance, and once the society chief of the Everlasting Society finds out he's definitely going to explode. They’re not going to let this go, that's for sure. But don’t worry. Once Eldest Brother gets back, he’ll talk some reason into them.”
“There’s no need for that,” Yang Qi replied as they began to walk out of the square. “I like to take care of my own issues. If they try to do something to me, they’ll face the worst kind of heavenly retribution.”
Considering the advances he had made, he was essentially invincible to anyone under the Demi-Immortal level.
Besides, he really needed to do some cultivation now to maximize his benefits. Once he broke through to the third step, it would be time to make another scene in the Titan Emperor Collegium.
The collegium was an enigmatic and mysterious place, filled with all sorts of secrets. His first goal was to establish a foundation and earn a name for himself, thus providing a measure of stability to both the Sage Monarch Continent and his mother in the Hanging Mountain.
His second goal was to unearth some information about his birth father. And third, he needed to unmask Chancellor Demi-Immortal and eradicate him once and for all. Him and any other enemies there might be.
Struck by impulse, he suddenly asked, “Elder Tenth Brother, does there happen to be a ‘Demi-Immortal Society’ in the Titan Emperor Collegium?”
“Demi-Immortal Society?” Yan Weiyi thought for a moment. “There was in the past, but not anymore. From what I heard, it's been countless years since the society chief of the old Demi-Immortal Society left for some remote region to found something called the Demi-Immortal Institute, which he hoped to grow into an organization to rival the Titan Emperor Collegium. Wait a second, you’re from the Rich-Lush Continent, aren't you? That’s where he ended up and founded the Demi-Immortal Institute, which you recently destroyed. You must be worried that you already have enemies in the Titan Emperor Collegium. Well, I wouldn’t worry about that. For one thing, the Demi-Immortal Society doesn't exist anymore. And if any former members cause problems for you, our Invincible Society will simply wipe them out.”
Yan Weiyi’s voice fairly boomed with confidence, leaving Yang Qi feeling more assured than ever that he had really found a powerful group to rely on. Of course, he was getting more and more curious about what the Invincible Dugu was like.
“Elder Tenth Brother, where exactly is Master? Now that I’m through the entrance ceremony and am an official member of the Invincible Society, will I have a chance to meet him?”
Yan Weiyi stopped walking and looked Yang Qi in the eye. “You want to meet Master? I'm afraid that won't be possible. He’s in seclusion right now in a very dangerous location in the universe, attempting to enter the dao of Demolishing, which is also known as the dao of immortal ascension. If he succeeds, he’ll become a true immortal. It was from that distant location that he sent word about taking you in as a member of the society. However, even without Master here, people still won't dare to pick on us, not with Eldest Brother around. Remember, our society is invincible!”
“Right,” Yang Qi said, inwardly shocked. How could he ever have guessed that his new Master, the Invincible Dugu, was actually the highest type of Demi-Immortal there was—a ninth order Paragon Demi-Immortal, just on the verge of reaching the Demolishing level?
“What level is Eldest Brother?” Yang Qi asked.
“The same as Master, a Paragon Demi-Immortal. He’s also just on the verge of reaching the dao of Demolishing. Of course, Eldest Brother can’t match up to Master. After all, Master already used his Adjudicating Heaven Technique to form an Invincible Heart. Because of that, he aroused the jealousy of heaven, and thus, is having a lot of trouble demolishing the void and stepping into the Demolishing level. Anyway, Eldest Brother’s cultivation base puts him above the level of the prime paragon elders. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that he actually smashed a Universal Demi-Immortal prime paragon elder into dust, all because the elder plotted against the Invincible Society. From that point on, Eldest Brother’s ferocity ensured that no one in the Titan Emperor Collegium dared to mess with our society. Not grand elders, prime elders, or prime paragon elders. In fact, not even the elder kings will do anything to us.”
‘This Eldest Brother sounds like a freak!’ Yang Qi thought. Eldest Brother, a mere student, had the entire collegium bowing their heads in acquiescence.
If someone like that couldn’t match up to his Master, then what was the Master like?
“Okay, Junior Brother, the time has come for me to explain how the Titan Emperor Collegium works. Let’s start with the ranking system for the students. It goes: freshman student, common student, consecrated student, then elite student. To be honest, all of those ranks are basically just ordinary students. Above them are the noble students, who are broken up into the subcategories of mountainous, sealike, earthly, and heavenly. Above the noble students are the royal students. They also have four categories, those being celestial, terrestrial, universal, and aeonic. The highest rank of them all, the aeonic royal students, are roughly as powerful as the prime elders and prime paragon elders.
“Of course, there are students even more powerful than the aeonic royal students, and they’re the elysian children. The basic meaning behind the name is that they are like children of the immortal worlds. They’re definitely the most respected of all the students in the collegium. And they’re as powerful as the elder kings. The only person who outranks them is the supreme rector.”
“Oh?” Yang Qi could already tell that the Titan Emperor Collegium was a lot more complicated and refined than the Demi-Immortal Institute.
“Most people enter the collegium as a freshman student, or possibly a common student,” Sword Seventeen said. “Those who put on a good show in the entrance ceremony might attract the attention of one of the three thousand societies and join as a consecrated student. As you know, those who die in the ceremony become freshman students and are sent to distant planets to do mining work for three years. If they do well, they can be promoted to common students and eventually rise through the ranks, hopefully being accepted into a society as a consecrated student. In any case, Junior Brother, as a member of the Invincible Society, you are now a consecrated student.
“As you would expect, the resources available to the students vary according to their rank. For example, the noble students get daily supplies of heavenly-grade spirit stones to practice their cultivation while the royal students get immortal stones!”
1. These ranking categories might seem odd, but they are based on groupings of Chinese characters that make more sense in Chinese, and cannot really be interpreted in many other ways than I have here. The "earthly and heavenly" are the traditional characters for those terms, whereas "celestial and terrestrial" are xuan and huang . Those of you who read might remember that there was a similar ranking system in that novel.