Grade

Li Qi spent half an hour flipping through books before finding the relevant records in the Book of "Zhu."

The Book of "Zhu" recorded: "In ancient times, there were two brothers, Shentu and Yulei, whose nature allowed them to seize ghosts. They lived atop Duoshuo Mountain in the Eastern Sea, beneath a peach tree, reviewing the hundred ghosts. Should ghosts act without reason and bring calamity upon people, Shentu and Yulei would bind them with reed ropes and feed them to tigers."

Another record stated: "In the Eastern Sea lies Duoshuo Mountain, where there is a great peach tree that winds and coils for three thousand li. In its northeast lies the passage through which all ghosts enter and leave. Above it stand two divine men: one is called Shentu, the other Yulei. They command the myriad ghosts. Harmful and wicked ghosts are seized with reed ropes and fed to tigers. Thus, the Yellow Emperor placed great peachwood figures at doorways, painting Shentu, Yulei, tigers, and reed ropes upon them to ward off ghosts."

In other words, in ancient times there had been two brothers, Shentu and Yulei, who could restrain ghosts and lived on Duoshuo Mountain in the Eastern Sea.

On Duoshuo Mountain stood a Great Peach Tree, vast beyond measure, stretching for three thousand li.

At the peach tree's northeastern corner stood a ghost gate, the place through which all ghosts passed. The brothers Shentu and Yulei were stationed above it, responsible for supervising and guarding it. Whenever wicked ghosts appeared, unreasonable and bent on evil, Shentu and Yulei would arrest them, bind them with ropes woven from reeds, and take them away to feed the tigers.

When the Yellow Emperor ruled the world, he saw that chaos reigned across the land and evil ghosts ran rampant, causing endless misery for the people. Thus, he taught the common folk to carve divine images of Shentu and Yulei from peachwood, then hang them by ropes before their household doors to prevent evil ghosts from invading.

Thus, Shentu and Yulei became door gods.

Within this account, Li Qi saw several deities he was familiar with, as well as astronomical knowledge he knew.

Though he had no idea what relationship this world had with his original world...

These folk customs, even these ancient texts, all matched up?

Most crucially, he could understand the writing and language. And damn it, there was even a country here called the Tang Kingdom...

A coincidence?

Forget it. None of that really had anything to do with him.

Since he was here, he might as well settle in.

When worshipping the door gods this time, Li Qi used another method.

He offered the willow branch Young Master Zhu had given him upon the altar.

This time, a wisp of Spirit Qi released by the door gods entered the willow branch.

This was also one of the methods recorded in the Book of "Zhu." The ritual implements and divine artifacts used by Shamanic Priests were mostly made in this manner.

As the wisp of Spirit Qi merged into it, the willow branch visibly became more lustrous, though it did not undergo any qualitative transformation.

That was only natural. This willow branch had been given by Young Master Zhu; it should have already contained Earthly Deity Spirit Qi.

Still, after the Spirit Qi of Shentu and Yulei had been infused into it, the willow branch clearly gave off a different feeling.

According to the records in the book, its ability to strike ghosts should have become stronger.

A good thing, a good thing. Strengthening his equipment now was still a good idea.

The Earthly Deity had been worshipped as well, but Li Qi did not worship the Human-Ghost.

Human-Ghosts were ancestors, after all. Yet he had no ancestors in this world; he was a practitioner of the Outer Dao.

As someone of the Outer Dao, there was little need for him to worship Human-Ghosts unless he gained the recognition of some Human-Ghost deity in the future, or became a live-in son-in-law.

After finishing all that, Li Qi, who had risen at three in the morning, looked up and found that the sun had already risen.

Fortunately, rather than feeling exhausted after all this, he was nourished by the vitality of wood qi and became more vigorous than ever.

Shen Shuibi was still sleeping soundly. She had not opened her eyes all night and had slept wonderfully.

Compared with the cautious Li Qi, this fugitive with a bounty of a hundred gold on her head seemed to have no pressure at all.

All he could say was that being single-minded was rather useful in some ways.

Let her sleep... Anyway, Young Master Zhu was paying for the room.

With that thought, Li Qi voluntarily stopped the Ox-Strength Technique and walked outside.

"Judging by my current condition, what grade should I be?" He tested his hand strength and muttered to himself.

By Wushen Mountain's own grading, Li Qi felt that he was now merely an ordinary Shaman who had just entered the gate. He still had to flip through books on the spot to learn the proper rites of worship. The two simple daily rituals that morning had taken him a full three hours, and he even had to stay up through the night to perform them. At best, he could barely be considered no longer a complete layman.

Yet the Shamanic classification was difficult to compare against other paths throughout the world.

Thus, in order to "standardize the world," the sages had established a method applicable to all paths of cultivation: a grading system from ninth grade to first grade.

Li Qi really wanted to complain about the phrase "standardize the world," but after thinking it over carefully, he realized that it might not merely be symbolic... It was very likely a struggle among great figures for the Dao.

Perhaps this thing truly could standardize the world, restraining all cultivators just as the Heavenly Path did.

Setting aside such vast and ethereal matters, Li Qi carefully studied how these grades were divided.

The first through ninth grades were actually ranked according to one's influence upon and understanding of the "Dao," and had nothing to do with combat power.

Cultivators of the Military Way and Sword Way could kill those who were less suited for battle—such as diviners of the Shaman Path—across grades as easily as eating and drinking, but their influence upon the Dao was certainly far inferior.

Because of this distinction, a fifth-grade Shaman Path diviner facing a Military School cultivator one grade below him—a sixth-grade cultivator—might very well be beaten into a stupid dog in a head-on fight.

But then again, if that diviner hid himself and used the Art of Divination, or even the art of curses, to toy his opponent to death, it would not be difficult either.

Or take a Medical Way cultivator: even at a high grade, they probably would not possess much destructive power over the environment.

But if a Shaman Path Shaman had the protection of Earthly Deity and mountain god Spirit Qi, they could cause a localized earthquake at eighth grade.

In short, this grading system looked only at the grade of one's Dao. While it had some slight connection to one's displays of power and combat strength, the connection was not great. Lethality mainly depended on one's cultivation method.

Yet grades were not merely for show. Once a particular path reached a high grade, it would naturally possess methods of its own. They might not be especially adept at fighting, but they would absolutely be irreplaceable, perhaps even unique.

According to the classifications, the ninth, eighth, and seventh grades were the lowest, referring to newcomers who had just entered the gate and were gradually becoming familiar with their path.

The sixth, fifth, and fourth grades were experts in their fields, masters of a path. They had profound understanding of their own Dao and possessed certain unique methods.

The third, second, and first grades could be considered masters of the age. Generally, they were leaders of a school or heads of great powers.

The miscellaneous sections of the Book of "Zhu" recorded that the Shaman Path had shaman gods, the Daoist sects had True Immortals, the Confucian school had sages, and the martial path had Human Immortals.

Legend had it that there were still beings above even these; first grade was not the ultimate limit.

But the book wrote no more than that, perhaps because it considered further details unnecessary.

As for Li Qi...

He confirmed it again and again.

He should be... ungraded.

That was right, ungraded. Only after he had at least mastered the rites for worshipping the four seasons, continuously worshipped the most common gods of the four seasons and the Five Sacrifices Earthly Deities for a full year, and developed Qi of the Four Seasons within the little heaven-and-earth of his body while the Five Sacrifices Spirit Qi protected him, could he presumably count as ninth grade...

"Ah, the road is long and the burden heavy. Do I have to toil diligently for an entire year before I can even enter a grade?"