Translator: Kazeyuki_ Editor: Jimmy_

The Martial Saint laughed: “Good! The most precious thing on you is this exceptional temperament! Whether challenging the Wealthy Class, threatening the Xi Men Feudal Lords, or taking the first place in the martial arts student exam, I could see such temperament on you! It is also the reason I put a lot of expectation on you. Of course, it’s a question whether you have the Spiritual Force or not. I am ashamed to say; Bai Yue Country don’t even have the tools and the method to test for Spiritual Roots! However, the exam itself was not organized by the Bai Yue Country. Its origin came from the Mother Country.”

When he said this, the Martial Saint’s voice turned deeper: “So, your final destination for this exam is the Mother Country. “

“The Mother Country?”

After all, Qin Wushuang did not come from this world and did not have the deep-rooted understanding of the Mother Country. Vividly, he remembered how the Mother Country of the Bai Yue was a middle-ranking great Empire to the east of the Tian Xuan Land.

In the Tian Xuan Land, the strength of a middle-ranking Empire was only less than the upper-ranking Empires. They were one of the few higher civilizations in the Tian Xuan land.

In the Tian Xuan land, there was only three upper-ranking Empires.

And there were nine middle-ranking Empires.

The Great Luo Empire was one of the nine middle-ranked empires.

Qin Wushuang said: “Martial Saint, I heard the results of this exam would directly influence Bai Yue Country’s ranking and status?”

“Yes. Under the leadership of the Great Luo Empire, there is a dozen Subordinate Countries. There are ten middle-ranked Subordinate Countries like the Bai Yue. And only three are upper-leveled Subordinate Countries. However, in this exam, the Great Luo Empire promised to give up two spots of the higher level Subordinate Country. So, those with the largest contribution points would rise to become an upper-level Subordinate Country.”

The Martial Saint continued on to say: “To the Bai Yue, it is a rare chance to change our status. As soon as we become an upper-level Subordinate Country, our entire environment would improve significantly. After all, it’s all middle-level Subordinate Country around us. When we get promoted, we will have a geographical advantage and would not worry about the invasion of the surrounding Subordinate Countries.”

Qin Wushuang nodded and inwardly, he thought indeed, this world had a strict ranking. From as small as individuals to as large as countries, they had such strict classification system.

“Martial Saint, how much of a chance does our country have this time?”

When the Martial Saint mentioned this topic, a trace of a smile emerged on his face: “Initially, among the ten Subordinate Countries, the Bai Yue Country did not have any particular advantages. However, today, everything is different. Everything changed because of you!”

“Oh?” Qin Wushuang blinked as he was very curious.

“Six hundred points, Marquis Wushuang. Your exam grade alone was almost equivalent to the sum of three others. The contribution points are huge. Thus, the Bai Yue Country will most likely stand out from this exam. However, as for the specific grades, we must see the official announcement by the Great Luo Empire. We’ve already sent our result to the Mother Country. I believe, that soon, the result will come out.”

“Of course, this result was only the preliminary result. To achieve recognition, it must be audited and verified by the Mother Country.” When the Martial Saint said that, his tone had discernibly become more cautious.

“Ok, these are things to think about later.” The Martial Saint waved his hand, “Marquis Wushuang, back to the topic, now I will talk the specifics about the division in the Spiritual Martial Force.”

Qin Wushuang moved his brow for it was something he was most concerned about.

“Please guide me, Martial Saint.”

“Haha, the so-called Spiritual Martial Force borrows the power from nature and uses the naked body as an intermediary to emit strong power. However, think about it, since the body is the intermediary, it is like a ship moving forward while carrying merchandise. Regarding how much it could carry, it all depends on the size of the ship. Thus, the Spiritual Martial Force does not disregard the body. On the contrary, the body would need to receive even stronger tempering. The more powerful the body is, the more natural power it could sustain and of course, the greater the attack power.”

“However, the strength of the body is not exactly equivalent to a strong attack power. While you have a robust and sustained body, you must also have proficient control. For instance, your body could take in thirty percent of the natural power. However, because of your lack of control, you could only use ten percent. Naturally, , the attacking power is incomparable to those Spiritual Martial warriors with twenty percent endurance but could correctly utilize all twenty percent of that power. Do you understand this principle?”

Qin Wushuang thought for a bit and nodded: “Yes. To put it simply, having this power is just one part, to bring out this power is another matter. Both must combine perfectly to perform one hundred percent.”

Martial Saint nodded with gratification: “Good, you are promising and worth being taught, Haha.”

Then, he said again: “The Spiritual Martial Force is different from the Power and the Genuine Force. There are only four stages. The Initial, Middle, Highest and the Perfect Stage of the Spiritual Martial Force.”

“Four stages?” Qin Wushuang thought about this and could not help but ask: “Then, how exactly are these four stages classified?”

“It’s easy. The Initial Spiritual Martial Force can only take ten percent of the natural power; the Middle Stage—twenty percent; and the Highest—thirty percent.”

When Martial Saint said here, he stopped. Complications filled in his eyes.

“What about the Perfect Stage?” Qin Wushuang could not help to ask.

“The Perfect…” In the voice of the Martial Saint, there was a trace of longing, “Regarding the details of the Perfect Stage; I have no idea at my current level. I heard that the Perfect Stage could bear fifty percent of the natural power and could manipulate it freely. In between the performance, one could change the scope of the heaven and earth, and prompt a landslide and crack the earth.”

Change the scope of the heaven and earth, cause a landslide and crack the earth…

When he heard these words, immediately, Qin Wushuang’s blood boiled up. Indeed, it was the Upper Sky Realm recorded by the Innate Vermillion Book from his former world.

Upper Sky…

Qin Wushuang had never experienced a moment like this where he was filled with desire, urgency, and a longing of the Upper Sky Realm.

“Martial Saint, in the Tian Xuan Land, are there powerful people who’ve reached the Perfect Stage of the Spiritual Martial Force?”

“I would not dare to say for sure whether there are or not. However, from my guess, surely there are,” the Martial Saint said with a cold voice, “The Bai Yue Country is only a middle ranked Subordinate Country, and we have someone at the Initial Stage of the Spiritual Martial Force. Then, it’s not a surprise if these large empires have people at the Highest Stage of the Spiritual Martial Force. And to that hidden sect behind the great empires, of course, it’s not a surprise if they have someone at the Perfect Stage.”

Although this answer could not satisfy Qin Wushuang’s curiosity, it was enough. At least, he had already grasped some knowledge and knew much more about the Tian Xuan land. After all, he was no longer as ignorant as before.

“Martial Saint, from your tone, your strength…”

“It’s not a taboo to talk about my power. I am at the Initial Stage of the Spiritual Martial Force. I can take on ten percent of the natural power. However, because of the lack of the Spiritual martial arts technique books, on the Initial Level, my strength is only considered as average. From what I know, in same middle ranking Great Wu Country, their Martial Saint protector is slightly below me on how much of the natural power he can bear. However, because he had one good Spiritual Martial Force technique books, most likely, he is slightly better than me regarding combat ability…”

The Bai Yue country and the Great Wu had always stood opposite one another. Throughout all this time, they maintained a balance and never broke it. It was why each of them had a Martial Saint protector to oversee the country.

Once this balance broke, most likely, the situation would become completely differently.

Thus, both countries highly valued this exam. They all wanted to use this opportunity to rise to become an upper-level Subordinate Country to gain the supreme advantage.

“Ok, we have stopped long enough. I believe those martial arts students should have walked out from the forest. Marquis Wushuang, do you plan to rejoin them over here? Or go down the mountain first?”

“I can go down the mountain first?” Qin Wushuang said, “Then I’ve decided to go down.”

“That’s good. You are returning to Eastwood Town after going down the mountain, right? If the Royal family acts efficiently, I believe that before you’ve reached home, all the rewards will have been conferred.” The Martial Saint nodded and said again, “Marquis Wushuang, it’ll be three months before the trip to the Great Luo Country for the next examination. Within these three months, I hope you will consider my suggestion thoroughly.”

“Martial Saint, I will consider it with care. If in the future, I have a chance to enter the Upper Sky Realm, regardless of taking over position as the Martial Saint, I will be a citizen of the Bai Yue Country forever. Things that would affect the Bai Yue country, I would not watch with folded arms.”

To any martial arts students in the Bai Yue Country, taking over the Martial Saint Mountain was a glory which they would not even dare dream of.

If one were to put this honor to anyone else, even to the prince of the Royal family, most likely they would choose to take over the Martial Saint Mountain without a moment of hesitation. They would become the next Martial Saint and not inherit the throne.

The Martial Saint was the spine and the backbone of a country. He represented the supreme authority. His power and prestige was even greater than the Emperor of the Bai Yue Country.

However, Qin Wushuang’s personality wasn’t like that. In his former world, people knew him as a martial arts nerd, and a martial arts psycho because of his obsession with martial arts.

He would not sell his freedom because for some short-term reward and glory.

What he loved was the free and unconstrained exploration in martial arts, and not the so-called ruling the entire world.

He had his own approach regarding the understanding of martial arts. Chasing after martial arts was bold and unimaginative. It focused on freedom and the room to do whatever one wanted. If one lost freedom, surely he would meet many obstacles on the way to practice martial arts.

Certainly, it was not a situation he would accept.

Thus, he was not greedy of the position of a Martial Saint.

Of course, it did not mean he would ignore the fate of the Bai Yue Country. After all, he was a citizen of this country, and everything he did was related to the Bai Yue country. If a disaster were to befall the Bai Yue Country, he would undoubtedly suffer as well.

Besides, the current Eastwood Qin was already a Royal family of the Bai Yue Country!

Even if he did not do it for the position of the Martial Saint, he must contribute as a Royal family of the country.

As the Martial Saint watched the back of Qin Wushuang walking down the mountain, he felt somewhat perplexed.

He admitted that he had his own selfish reasons. He wanted to tie this exceptional young man completely to the Bai Yue Country. However, he also knew and accepted that the future of this Marquis Wushuang could not be contained by this little Bai Yue Country.

After all, a legendary dragon was not meant to stay in the pond…