THE LING TIAN LEGEND
episode 138

“As for martial arts in the world today, not many are commendable.” Ye QingChen smiled wryly as she continued, “Let's use the Heavenly Star Continent as an example. In a noble family, only the Yu Family has a complete inheritance! However, genuine martial arts abilities are usually indistinguishable only by numbers or tiers. Each school, sect or family had a unique form of cultivation as well as different methods to develop internal energy. Some focus on developing strength, others on combat tactics. Some develop their mental state, while others focus on agility and subtlety. How could one rank them as if they were officials in the Imperial Court? If someone forced her, they would just be a joke. ”

“For example, let's talk about ‘Switch God Guidelines of the NanGong Family. If we compare between normal disciples, their exquisite movements would rank first among the extended families. However, if we take into account the disciples with internal strength, then their disciples would be relegated to the rear. However, this does not mean that their manuals do not meet the standards, but rather the fact that they never focus on internal forces, puts importance on their movements instead. There were once some NanGong disciples who went to compare notes with other big families. Although they were always suppressed, the final victor would always be NanGong's disciple, who was firm and determined in killing! This is something that cannot be ranked!”

“At the same time, if a peerless expert were to lower their vigilance at the wrong time, he could still die from the hands of someone much inferior to him. So, for the boxer community, no rank can separate them. The only way was to separate between external and internal martial practitioners, as well as XianTian and HouTian internal energies. What we can conclude is that XianTian practitioners have better endurance as well as better skills compared to those in the HouTian realm. But this was not absolute, because if one's methods were extraordinary enough, he could cover up any flaws, and thus in martial arts, there were no martial artists who excelled definitively

“So so.” Ling Tian felt his face burn with shame. Since he had been influenced by the web novels of his previous life, he assumed that this new world would have some sort of rank for martial arts. What would be the strongest, which would be the most tyrannical, such a rank. Now, he felt that his previous thoughts were laughable.

Ye QingChen was silent for a while, before continuing on in a flat tone, “Although the martial community never explicitly categorizes any martial arts, it does, each great family and sect had aligned themselves consecutively for management purposes. They had separate rankings for the martial skills of each house, but only focused on internal energy, and they were ranked based on the realm that could be achieved with that cultivation method. Although the internal energy realm has a great relationship with one's prowess, this is never certain.”

Ling Tian's eyes sparkled, as he asked, “Junior is listening ama. Senior, please let me know. ”

Ye QingChen laughed as she replied, “For the evaluation of the various great family cultivation rankings, each house has their own standards. But in my humble opinion, the standard given by the Yu Family of Northern Wei is still the most accurate. ”

“The valuation of the Yu Family is based on a count of five jade colors: black, blue, purple, white and gold. However, in my eyes, the black and blue jade series was considered useless, only good for people with shallow backgrounds. On top of that, from the purple jade level onwards, they were further divided into lower, middle and upper levels. From the purple jade onwards, one could be said to have officially stepped into the ranks of internal force practitioners. If one was able to reach the rank of white jade, most likely, that person should have reached HouTian realm pinnacle. Reaching the intermediate level of white jade would represent stepping into the XianTian realm! The top level of the white jade meant XianTian's small success. As for the golden jade stage, it was reserved for true XianTian experts. They would usually be masters of a generation. Even the Yu Family might not have someone at the top level of gold jade. ” Speaking at this point, Ye QingChen could only smile wryly.

Ling Tian laughed as he spoke in a joking tone, “If Master Ye base himself on the Yu Family rank, what kind of jade will you be?” While his tone was relaxed, as if making a joke, Ling Tian could not help but feel a little worried by his answer. His strength could be said to be similar to Ye QingChen, so if Ye QingChen declared herself to only be at the purple or white jade stage, how should she react?

Ye QingChen flashed a smile that was not a smile as she glanced at Ling Tian. In response, Ling Tian remained bland and indifferent, raising his glass to him. Ye QingChen could only laugh and said with a hint of ridicule, “Based on the strength of the current young noble, I will probably put you at the top level of the white jade.” While Ling Tian asked him to evaluate himself, the former actually replied by using Ling Tian as a gauge. Clearly, he had seen through Ling Tian's little trick, and also did not wish to use himself as a gauge, thus choosing to evaluate Ling Tian instead.

“Master overestimated Ling Tian's ability.” Ling Tian lifted his cup down, laughing out loud, but his heart was full of shock. So, it seems like the strength of the Yu Family is not something to be underestimated!

Just a moment ago, Ye QingChen had only mentioned that the Yu Family might not have anyone at the top level of gold jade. Chances were that there were still people at the lower gold level or even intermediate gold jade! Ye QingChen had explained clearly to Ling Tian that he was only considered on top of the white jade. Thus, when compared to the highest echelons, there were two full tiers separating him and them!

This point made the extremely complacent Ling Tian a little uncomfortable, a sense of unwillingness to admit bubbling.

Ling Tian smiled cheerfully, as if putting trouble behind him. He then remembered something else, and said, “If I may ask, for the current eight great families, how many of them were cultivators in the past?”

Ye QingChen then sighed lightly as if expecting this question, and replied, “You asked a good question. In addition to Ling and Yang, these two families of ‘rich people’, the other six have roots in martial arts.

Ling Tian laughed and said with a hint of self-mockery, “The Ling and Yang families haven't even existed for sixty years. Indeed, they were a new rich family. However, the approval of the Outer Heaven and Outer Heaven was only that limited. All those martial families, aren't they all integrated into the political affairs of every kingdom right now?”

Ye QingChen's expression changed slightly, as she refuted, “The millennium long agreement has nothing to do with this. This was because out of the eight great families, taking out the Yu Ling and Yang families, the other five only had a history of several centuries and could not be considered a martial family that was thousands of years long

“In our Heavenly Star Continent, other than the Yu family, the original eight great families are DongFang, XiMen, NanGong, BeiMing, YuChi, ShangGuan, and Lei. Of them, DongFang has the toughest road so far. Rumor has it that the head of the first generation inadvertently discovered an incredible high-end martial manual — ‘Hidden Dragon Guidelines Against the World’. The martial skills described in it were amazing and DongFang was overjoyed. However, after that head died, his two sons competed endlessly to obtain that manual, and subconsciously, each of them only earned half of it.”

“It turns out, those two sons are people blessed with extraordinary talent. After suffering many injuries in the fight, the family split into two factions, with older brother DongFang AoTian brings the top of the Hidden Dragon Guide Against the World as well as those loyal to him to travel the world, by chance managed to make a name for himself and establish the Eastern Zhao Empire. His younger brother, DongFang AoYun, brought his men to the Moon God Empire to seek asylum and treated the Eastern Zhao Empire as his sworn enemies. So, when the two countries are at war, it is actually the two factions from the big families that are fighting!”

“I saw!” Ling Tian gasped, but deep down, he memorized five words, The World-Defying Hidden Dragon Manual!

“Instead, the big family of XiMen is a relatively peaceful family,” Ye QingChen took a sip or two sips to wet her dry throat and wiped her mouth while continuing, “This is mainly due to their cultivation manual, , ‘Formula Heavenly Compassion. ‘, emphasizes on having a pure mind and lack of desire to develop their mental state. Although their cultivation progress was slower than most people, they were more effective at repairing internal injuries compared to most internal cultivation skills, and had a strong resistance to poison or poison.

“As for the NanGong family, they do not have any profound internal cultivation manuals. Instead, they took an alternate route, using externals to redeem internally, and created their ‘God Sword’ Guidelines that offered incredible power. If practiced up to second from behind, it can actually cause a state of ‘sword and man as one’. However, from what I heard, the talents of the NanGong family have withered over the past thirty years, no longer possessing peerless experts. So, the method to process the ‘sword stage and the human as one’ may have been lost in the sands of time. ”

“As for the BeiMing extended family, they specialize in unarmed combat and movement techniques, especially in the area of movement. Their signature consists of ‘Pursuing Matahari’, ‘Pursuing Bulan’ and ‘Finding Bintang’, three unique movement techniques. They were considered top notch, even within the eight great families! Furthermore, they had a high-quality cultivation formula, named ‘Mysterious’ Underworld Heart Sutra, which focused on the most extreme ice and cold as well as the power of the sky and earth moons. Those who manage to cultivate it can command six forms of vital energy [1], reaching a state of prajna where you separate yourself from the mortal world. It was a pity that this silk was so demanding of a cultivator's talent, and no one had managed to cultivate it.

“Next is the Lei Family, although they have a long history, even since before the great families of the North, South, East and West, the long period of war has resulted in irreparable losses for them. Their prestige may have fallen under the four families I spoke of earlier, but their family heirloom, ‘Sutra Lightning Heavenly Penta’, is no small seed. The power it produced was immense and could be said to be the most destructive skill in the entire heaven. Unfortunately, this art is out of balance, with their defense being negligible!” Ye QingChen's mouth was already dry because of all that talk, and took the opportunity to drink several cups of wine at once. Every time he finished a cup, Ling Tian would be there to refill his cup. In order to make Ling Tian into a mere ‘ cup’ rechargeer, Ye QingChen should feel proud!

[1] – This may not be the most accurate translation. But what the author is talking about here is about the six types of Qi or the vital energy of the Earth, namely Yin, Yang, Wind, Rain, Darkness and Light.