Chapter 44: Supernatural Levels, Teacher and Disciple Scheme (I)
Both teacher and disciple were the epitome of hubris in this moment. Fear and worry were no longer a concern!
Li Hao’s teacher was a Dominator of Thousands and possibly the greatest among modern martial masters. What was there to fear about a paltry scarlet shadow?
As for himself, the young man didn’t think much of breaking through to Slayer of Tens. So he was a Slayer. Great. Everyone was a Slayer in the Demon Hunters and they still struggled at every step.
The current Li Hao didn’t understand what it meant to set foot into Slayer of Tens after training for only three years. Yuan Shuo did, but he didn’t pay it much heed.
Slayer of Tens was indeed weak and this was his student they were talking about. Even if the lad didn’t focus on martial dao, it was a foregone conclusion that he would advance given guidance from a Dominator.
Not to mention, Li Hao was twenty years old. It wasn’t beyond the pale that he set foot into this level at that age. Yuan Shuo recalled a disciple of one of his old friends breaking through at twelve years old. Now that was ridiculous.
Granted, his friend’s disciple had started training as a child and bathed in precious herbs at the age of three. The professor couldn’t be bothered to consider that. Li Hao hadn’t been completely without external help either. Other than cosmic power, he’d also absorbed some mysterious power. That was a key factor too.
“Teacher!” An excited Li Hao put everything out of his mind. “Are Dominators of Thousands also invincible in the supernatural field?”
Dominator of Thousands!
Wreathed in smiles, Yuan Shuo paused for thought. “Pretty much. I will well and truly be invincible once I make the crossover!”Continue reading on No_veLbIn
“And before you do?” Li Hao followed up, slightly that something was amiss.
Yuan Shuo’s hand closed on empty air when he tried to stroke his beard. His facial hair disappearing would take some getting used to! He considered things again and answered ambiguously, “A Dominator is an apex existence!”
“How apex?” Li Hao couldn’t rest easy—why was his teacher being so inconclusive?
Yuan Shuo coughed. You’re asking too much on a day of great joy, kid!
Somewhat reining in his brazenness, the professor replied calmly, “Li Hao, you must know that being supernatural is not synonymous with being strong. Most people are the equivalent of Slayer of Tens when they first cross over. They are on par with a Sunderer after a period of improvement. Differences abound between Sunderers—whether one is of Nine Hundreds or One Hundred, one is a Sunderer all the same!”
“Teacher...” Li Hao couldn’t resist interrupting since he desperately wished to know if his teacher was invincible. “Were you just making empty boasts earlier?”
“Heh!” Yuan Shuo snorted with dissatisfaction. He pointed at the sky and raised his nose. “Let me put it this way. There are only five people in all of Silver Moon who can beat me at my current strength!”
There were thirty-two cities in the province, yet his teacher claimed to be in the top five? Li Hao was hugely taken aback by this claim.
How big was Silver Moon and how big was its population? Silver City was a small, backward city and possessed roughly a million, but the capital of White Moon City counted thirty million! Silver City was nothing compared to White Moon City!
Out of the other cities, the smaller ones were on par with Silver City and the larger ones less than White Moon, but the second largest of Flare City also housed more than ten million. There were at least hundreds of millions if the entire province was considered! How was teacher top five in light of all those people and supernaturals?
“Teacher, if Dominators are that powerful, then—” Li Hao almost physically stumbled with Yuan Shuo’s next words.
“The five that can defeat me are all higher level than me. In terms of supernatural levels, there’s a couple dozen that are the same strength as me!” Yuan Shuo explained awkwardly. If he successfully made the crossover, then those stronger than him might not prove to be a challenge either.
Li Hao was slightly disappointed at first, then felt that this was still quite an accomplishment. There weren’t that many that rivaled his teacher in the entire province! Seen in another light, it was absolutely stunning that his teacher was so strong without being supernatural himself.
“Teacher, does every level of supernatural contain different depths of mysterious power inside their bodies?”
“No shit, of course!” Yuan Shuo nodded. “The denser their power, the stronger they are. But we do need to take actual combat and practicality into consideration. If a supernatural is skilled at healing, then they might still lose to someone weaker even though their power is strong. It comes down to individual capacity.”
Understood!
“Are there differences to the different levels of energy?” Li Hao explored curiously. “The Demon Hunters have an ice crystal cover that can visibly manifest mysterious power. If we can see it, doesn’t that mean there’s different states, arrangements, and power?”
“Of course!”
This was Yuan Shuo’s area of expertise. He’d discovered the ice crystals and contributed to the method of dyeing mysterious power. The professor nodded authoritatively.
“I won’t speak of those stronger than me in the supernatural field. Newly ascended martial masters manifest their power in a way similar to motes of starlight. That’s why they’re called Starlight! This is the first level of that domain, but since everyone goes through that stage, society is used to calling all supernaturals as Starlight!”
Starlight! The first level!
“Then... that means Starlight maps to Slayer of Tens?”
That sounds... so weak! Even I’m a Slayer!
“Pretty much! At the same time, it’s hard to tell who’s stronger and weaker in actual combat since there’s differences between the two specializations. The second level of the supernatural domain comes with a brighter luminosity of energy. On par with the full moon, they are called Darkmoon!”
Li Hao listened intently. This was the first time that someone unveiled this new part of their society to him. The Demon Hunters hadn’t mentioned it because none of them had made the crossover. Although Yuan Shuo hadn’t either, he was exceedingly familiar with it because this was his trade!
“So Starlight, Darkmoon, and Sunflare are the equivalent of Slayer, Sunderer, and Dominator?”
“Not exactly!” Yuan Shuo didn’t want to admit it, but he did. “Unless a martial master reaches Dominator of Thousands, they will always be weaker than their supernatural peers.”
“Why is that?” Weren’t they the same level?
The professor smiled with resignation. “Let’s put it this way—martial masters can employ only physical attacks. Supernatural abilities are not physical in the slightest. Take those two outside earlier, for example. The man could fly, so he probably became Darkmoon not that long ago. I’m a Dominator now, but if he’s prepared for me and hovers in the air indefinitely... what do you think I can do about that?”
“Teacher, you can fly too!”
“......” Yuan Shuo was truly resigned. “That’s not flying, that’s using leverage! I can’t keep myself up there, but he can so long as his energy doesn’t run out. That’s what makes us different!
“Of course, it’d only take one fist to kill him!” the man suddenly said proudly. “It won’t matter then if he can fly. Martial masters also gain some special abilities when we reach Dominator. That’s why we stand toe-to-toe with their Sunflare when we reach Dominator. Before that, martial masters are slightly weaker than their counterparts.”
Li Hao didn’t know whether or not that was true—he could only trust his teacher.
“Does that mean that the two outside are possibly stronger than Captain Liu?
Supernaturals... were too terrifying! Those two looked very young from a distance, but they were potentially mightier than a Liu Long who’d trained for decades.
“Not necessarily!” Yuan Shuo shook his head. “Liu Long is more than forty years old and has been immersed in martial dao for nearly thirty years. He outstrips them in terms of experience and knowledge. If they fight him, it’s more likely that they die!”
No wonder! No wonder Liu Long said that if he couldn’t handle things, then the Night Watchers of Silver City might not be useful either.