Apex Grandmaster

Biodata

Power Progression

Requirements and Transformation

Earth Source Integration

Earth Source is the decisive resource for entering the Apex rank; ordinary cultivation alone cannot elevate a Grandmaster into an Apex Grandmaster 39.

• Earth Source usually appears as a mass of white mist. Martial artists below the Apex rank cannot normally see it. 39
• A practitioner must first comprehend an Earth Source; the duration differs by individual. Once comprehension is complete, the Earth Source recognizes the practitioner and merges naturally into their body. 55
• Under conventional understanding, only a Grandmaster at peak physical capacity can survive integration. A weaker body collapses and dies under the transformation. 55
• Insightful Observation can allow a non-Apex practitioner to perceive Earth Source, making it indispensable to certain Earth Source-based pill refinements. 43
• Earth Source also serves as an ingredient in pill and artifact refinement, including Returning Yang Paste. 39 43

Result of Integration

An Earth Source permanently alters the practitioner and establishes a symbiotic relationship between them.

• Source Power — True Qi is transformed into a higher-order power that creates the enormous gap between Apex Grandmasters and ordinary Grandmasters. 55
• Flight — Apex Grandmasters can fly freely, allowing them to dominate conventional battlefields from the air. 38 55
• Extended lifespan — Their lifespan increases to approximately two hundred years, compared with a Grandmaster's hundred-year lifespan. 16 55
• Physical transformation — The body undergoes a fundamental strengthening process upon integration. 55
• Overwhelming pressure — Even the aftershocks of an Apex Grandmaster's full-strength clash can kill weaker martial artists. 38

Earth Source Affinities

Earth Sources possess distinct affinities, rankings, and abilities. Kun Earth-affinity Apex Grandmasters are particularly valuable because of their connection to the land.

• Earth-vein exploration — Kun Earth practitioners can inspect earth veins and control Feng Shui. 102
• Terrain advantage — Their combat power is enhanced while standing on the earth. 102
• Earth Source detection — They can determine the approximate time and location of future Earth Source appearances. 102
• Sensing networks — He Yu organized Kun Earth-affinity Apex Grandmasters across Great Qian and Golden Yue Kingdom into a rotating Earth Source detection network. 153

Exceptions and Higher Tiers

The traditional belief held that an Apex Grandmaster could integrate only one Earth Source and could not further improve their cultivation or combat power after doing so. A second comprehended Earth Source was expected to dissipate rather than merge. 55

Later events prove that this limitation can be overcome.

• Shangguan GouSheng becomes the first known Apex martial artist to fuse two Earth Sources. 122
• He Yu inherits and fuses five Earth Sources simultaneously, reaching sixth-tier Apex Grandmaster. 152
• The eleven Great Paths can each provide up to nine separately fused Earth Sources, creating a theoretical maximum of ninety-nine Apex levels. 153
• A practitioner who reaches higher tiers develops greatly increased affinity for Spiritual Energy. 153
• The Fragmented Realms' return reveals a catastrophic weakness: fused Earth Sources can be forcibly extracted, severely mutilating or killing their hosts. Yan Zhixue and Mingjue die when their Earth Sources escape. 154

Notable Practitioners

• Li Anlong — Great Qian's Emperor Xuanwu; widely regarded as the strongest Apex Grandmaster emperor in the dynasty's history. 39
• Lin Jingzhi — Sword Establishment Sect Apex Grandmaster and one of Great Qian's foremost martial artists. 38
• Yan Zhixue — Gentle-seeming leader of the Extinction Sect and a prominent Apex Grandmaster. 38
• Hu Zhongxuan — Comprehends and integrates an Earth Source in only three years, later serving among Great Qian's Apex Grandmasters. 55 73
• Ling Yu — Prince of Yongning, who becomes an Apex Grandmaster after avoiding the rank for fear of Li Anlong's designs. 84 91
• He Yu / Shangguan GouSheng — An anomalous practitioner whose repeated Earth Source integrations establish the higher-tier Apex Path. 122 152 204

Role in the Martial World

• Apex Grandmasters are powerful enough to determine the outcome of wars between Great Qian and Golden Yue Kingdom. At Yajiang Pass, forty-six practitioners from each side gathered over a newly appeared Earth Source. 38 39
• Rather than fight, the two nations divided the collected Earth Source equally, ending the immediate conflict at Yajiang Pass. 39
• The Mizhen Sect possesses most of Golden Yue Kingdom's Apex Grandmasters and functions as the kingdom's state religion; its leader holds authority exceeding that of the ruler. 36
• The rank's power hierarchy is extreme. Li Anlong, himself a top Apex Grandmaster, was defeated in a single exchange by Shangguan GouSheng, who then overwhelmed more than twenty Apex Grandmasters. 125
• Shangguan GouSheng later kills nineteen Golden Yue Apex Grandmasters, including the leading expert Meng Han, with one strike. 146
• By the fifth-tier Apex stage, no other Apex Grandmasters dare contest Earth Sources against the Myriad Dreams Palace Lord. 148