I think I can already see my future opponents.
Ye Li thought this to himself when he heard "All-Nations Prodigy Ranking."
Going by the usual formula, even a world like this, set in ancient times, would have rankings compiled by authoritative institutions.
They would detail the upper tiers of combat strength in this world.
Then the protagonist would endure countless hardships climbing that heavenly ladder, fighting his way up one opponent at a time until he reached first place.
Clearly, this "All-Nations Prodigy Ranking" was probably just that.
As far as Ye Li was concerned, he had Naruto's background! Zheng Zha's wisdom! Lu Mingfei's courage...
With all those protagonist traits rolled into one, I should count as a protagonist! I'll have to get onto this Heavenly Pride Ranking, too.
Seemingly noticing where Ye Li was looking, Feng Yue also spotted the young book peddler calling out in the distance and said with a smile:
"You've always lived in the southern district, so you probably haven't heard much about the Heavenly Pride Ranking."
Ye Li admitted honestly, "This really is the first time I've heard of it."
Seeing that Ye Li knew nothing about it, Feng Yue smiled. "The Heavenly Pride Ranking is actually compiled by the Bureau of Astronomy of the Daqing Dynasty in Central Province, using the orange epic trait [Cause-Tracing and Effect-Tracking]."
"Legend has it that [Cause-Tracing and Effect-Tracking] can investigate everything within Great Qing Dynasty territory. Even someone in the Martial Saint Realm would be detected through divination the instant they stepped across its borders."
"They say every trait below orange throughout the Great Qing Dynasty falls under [Cause-Tracing and Effect-Tracking]'s surveillance! It can even monitor how many people have awakened each type of trait."
"That terrifying?!" Ye Li sucked in a breath of cold air. "Wouldn't that mean there's no privacy at all?"
"Of course," Feng Yue said with feeling. "It's the strongest intelligence-gathering trait ever recorded!"
"Back then, the Daqing Dynasty's founding emperor possessed a golden trait and was unrivaled among his peers. With his iron arms, he battered the eight wildernesses and four seas, finding not a single opponent who could withstand one exchange. But without this trait's assistance, even he would have struggled to establish a nation in Central Province!"
"The three nations of Central Province, the Southern Barbarian Sects, the Northern Thousand Sects, the Western Regions Myriad Dharmas, the East Sea Monster Horde, and the Outer Realms—these are the strongest powers in their respective regions."
Seeing Ye Li's utterly clueless expression, Feng Yue asked in puzzlement, "Didn't you go to school? You don't even know this?"
"I really don't," Ye Li explained helplessly.
"Before adulthood, I studied to awaken traits. Once I'd learned to read at private school, memorized the famous works, and awakened the prerequisite for [Exceptional Agility], I went off to grind other traits. I didn't have the energy to learn about this stuff."
"After I turned eighteen, I spent all my time practicing martial arts. I threw myself into it completely, so I had even less time to learn."
After all, the education Ye Li had experienced before had always been cram-fed, exam-oriented schooling.
Just getting through each day took all his effort. He truly had no energy left to learn about these things.
Faced with Ye Li's complete ignorance, Feng Yue could only steer the conversation back:
"Take the All-Nations Prodigy Ranking we just mentioned. Daqing compiles it, and aside from the Outer Realms, it lists the strongest members of the younger generation throughout the Five Regions."
"For example, that Ji Xun from earlier ranks first among the younger generation. Not only did he reach the Post-Heaven Realm at such a young age, he even has a legendary golden trait!"
"A golden trait!!!" Curiosity flashed through Ye Li.
"Exactly." Clearly an old hand at gossip himself, Feng Yue explained fluently, "That trait is called [Only I of the Myriad Worlds]!"
"Every year, he can forcibly converge his own existence and devour an expert from one of the Outer Realms whose strength matches his."
"In other words, every year, his strength, aptitude, foundation, talent, experience, and skills double from their existing levels!"
Ye Li said, "Huh???"
Isn't this just... the fantasy version of being transmigrated into ninety-nine worlds at once?
Watching the young man's eyes widen, Feng Yue smiled smugly.
"Well? Impressive, right? That's a golden trait, something we wouldn't dare dream of in our entire lives. As long as he survives, he's guaranteed to reach the Martial Saint Realm!"
"It really is impressive," Ye Li had to admit.
By comparison, his seemingly dazzling [World-Shocking Wisdom] looked quite ordinary in effect. All it did was let him break through without any bottlenecks.
He had thought Deep Blue's point allocation was already invincible under heaven, but [Only I of the Myriad Worlds] looked even more absurdly powerful.
In an instant, the slight swelling of pride Ye Li had felt after breaking through to the Body Tempering Realm cooled completely.
His innate potential doubles every year. With a foundation like that, he really does seem invincible among his peers.
If we fought in the same realm, I probably couldn't beat him. But the advantage of my World-Shocking Wisdom is that I have no bottlenecks when breaking through. I can overwhelm him with superior power!
Since he's invincible at the same level, I'll face him from a higher one! I'll cross realms and crush him!
As long as I'm willing to be backward-compatible and strike down across realms! I'll use raw stats to counter skill!
Fight the Post-Heaven Realm from the Xiantian Realm, and the Xiantian Realm from the Grandmaster Realm. If one realm higher isn't enough, I'll go two or even three realms higher. I refuse to believe I could still lose!
If they really push me too far, I'll take the Gou Dao School route, go into seclusion for a few decades, then come out and slaughter them all!
Watching Ye Li sink into thought, Feng Yue waved a hand.
"You're better off not learning too much about this sort of thing. It'll only hurt your confidence."
"We'll never run into such important figures in our entire lives. Making them your goal will only add needless worries!"
"Never mind you—even the strongest person in Guangming City is only in the Complete Post-Heaven Realm. Pick anyone off the Heavenly Pride Ranking, and I'm afraid the whole city combined couldn't beat them."
Ye Li asked, "Even our gang leader couldn't?"
"That's right!" Feng Yue answered with absolute certainty.
"All right." Resigned, Ye Li glanced at his panel:
Name: Ye Li Realm: Early Body Tempering (1/1835) Cultivation methods: "Azure Dragon Force (1846/100)" "Nine Chapters Fist Manual (2/500)" Trait: [Dazzling: World-Shocking Wisdom]
The Body Tempering Realm was divided into early, middle, late, and complete stages!
After this breakthrough from an ordinary mortal to Body Tempering, his realm experience bar had reset to zero.
Its experience cap had then increased by 1,000, rising to 1,835 from its previous value.
If he relied solely on tempering his body, he would probably need four to five months to fill this experience bar and break through to the middle stage.
Here, Ye Li could not help marveling.
The experience reduction granted by [Super-Perfect Azure Dragon Force] actually continued to lower the experience cap even after a breakthrough, saving him more than half a month of cultivation at every minor stage.
If word of this effect got out, it would surely drive the outside world mad!
Before reaching the Xiantian Realm, martial artists had only a hundred years of life. After fifty, their vitality declined, and without heavenly treasures, they would have no hope of breaking through for the rest of their lives.
Thus, ordinary martial artists cultivated with the aim of reaching the Xiantian Realm as quickly as possible, remaking their bones and marrow to extend their lifespans.
This latent effect of World-Shocking Wisdom, refining the efficiency of cultivation methods, could spare martial artists countless hours of arduous work, effectively extending their lives.
Following Feng Yue through East City, Ye Li looked at the dazzling array of shops along the road, which came in all sorts of varieties.
He even caught a fleeting glimpse of a building resembling a Western church.
Only after asking Feng Yue did he learn that this was the Guangming sanctuary of a religious order called the Orthodox Sect, one of the Northern Thousand Sects.
Directly opposite the Orthodox Sect stood a Daoist temple and a Buddhist temple.
The three sects stood like the legs of a tripod, their front doors aimed straight at one another. The sight made the corners of Ye Li's eyes twitch.