Lin Mo's voice was calm and unruffled, but every word was like a hammer.
Each blow struck Luo Feng's heart.
They shattered the worldview he had built on his understanding of Earth.
"The universe is vast, its civilizations as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Power has its own universally accepted scale of measurement."
Lin Mo spoke as though he were stating the most ordinary common knowledge.
"At the very bottom is Apprentice Level, divided into nine ranks."
"What you Earthlings call Warriors, Warlords, and Wargods all fall into this category."
Luo Feng nodded silently. He had already suspected as much.
But hearing his teacher confirm it still sent a chill through him.
Earth's pinnacle was merely the universe's starting point.
"Apprentice Level."
Lin Mo paused, an indescribable note entering his voice.
"In the universe, they're generally not considered independent individuals."
"They have no citizenship and no basic protections."
"To put it bluntly, even if they're captured and sold as slaves..."
"In any half-decent slave market, they're the sort of freebie thrown in with a purchase. Buyers even think they take up too much space."
Cheap labor? Freebies?
Luo Feng's breath caught.
The Wargod realm that countless people on Earth looked up to, that could only be reached through life-and-death struggles...
Was it really held in such low regard in the universe?
"As for Planetary Level..."
Lin Mo continued, his voice still almost devoid of inflection.
"That's the level of the few people on Earth who are Beyond War God-level. It's also divided into nine ranks."
"Only at this level can you barely be considered a person in the universe."
"You qualify for citizenship in a Universe Country."
Luo Feng had just breathed a small sigh of relief when Lin Mo changed tack:
"But don't get happy too soon."
"A Planetary Level Nine warrior might go through countless hardships and defeat countless competitors of the same rank."
"And in the end, the relatively stable jobs they can fight for..."
"Are nothing more than waiting tables, scrubbing floors, delivering packages, or sweeping streets."
Luo Feng was completely stunned, his mind blank.
The Councilor Level experts on Earth who stood high above others like gods, protecting human civilization...
Beings like Hong and Thunder God...
In the universe, was it actually hard for them to find even a decent job?
Did they have to compete desperately for entry-level positions like those?
Absurd!
A feeling of utter absurdity battered his understanding.
But reason told him that his teacher had no need to lie to him.
Luo Feng swallowed instinctively, his throat a little dry.
His heart pounded heavily in his chest.
The slight pride and ease he had felt after his strength recovered and the martial arts school began to value him...
Were crushed to pieces at that moment.
In their place came a crushing pressure and a sense of insignificance that were almost suffocating.
"Teacher."
Luo Feng's voice sounded a little hoarse even in his consciousness.
"Please continue."
As though he had expected Luo Feng's reaction, Lin Mo's voice remained calm and unruffled:
"Star Level is the level above Planetary Level."
"At this level, you no longer have to struggle for the most basic resources needed to survive, as those at Planetary Level do."
"You can take the assessment to become a Universe Trainee Mercenary."
"Or work as a security guard for certain Universe Level families."
"With a little luck, you might even become a minor supervisor."
"As for Universe Level above that..."
At last, Lin Mo's tone changed ever so slightly, as though this level was barely worth mentioning to him.
"It's a leap in the level of life. In a basic cosmic civilization, you can be considered a local power."
"Becoming a well-known One-star Mercenary, taking a minor official post, or developing a family isn't difficult."
"As for existences above Universe Level..."
Lin Mo's voice paused briefly.
"You don't need to know yet. I've already been quite generous telling you this much."
When his voice faded, a brief silence fell over the sea of consciousness.
Luo Feng kept his head lowered, giving no response for a long time.
He sat cross-legged on the floor of the cultivation room.
His body was slightly stiff. His fingers curled unconsciously, then slowly relaxed.
The enormous amount of information swept through everything he had known before like a cosmic storm.
Only now did he truly glimpse one corner of this vast universe.
And that corner alone made him feel how insignificant he and even Earth's entire civilization were.
Apprentice Level beings were freebies given away with slave purchases, while those at Planetary Level were bottom-tier laborers.
Star Level beings were high-level enforcers; only at Universe Level could one be considered an expert.
His teacher had once been an Invincible King, his name renowned among hundreds of millions of races.
What kind of existence was that?
Luo Feng could not imagine his teacher's strength at his peak.
With his current horizons and understanding, he simply could not comprehend an existence at that level.
Insignificant. An unprecedented sense of insignificance enveloped him.
It was not inferiority, but what came after his understanding had been completely remade.
The most immediate awe and bewilderment in the face of boundless vastness.
At that moment, an indescribable longing, mixed with a fierce fighting spirit...
Gradually overcame his initial shock and bewilderment.
Luo Feng slowly raised his head. The daze and shock in his eyes had faded.
In their place was a clarity that had settled over him.
"Teacher."
Luo Feng's voice rang out in his consciousness, calm yet full of strength.
"This disciple understands."
He asked no more about what lay above Universe Level.
As Lin Mo had said, knowing too much would be of no benefit at this stage.
He only needed to know that the road was there, and that it was long. That was enough.
The most urgent task was to increase his strength.
And so, under Lin Mo's watch...
Luo Feng took a metal box out of a safe in the cultivation room.
Luo Feng opened the box.
Inside lay a book about one centimeter thick-that was, one centimeter thick.
It was a supreme blade technique manual created by Thunder God, the second-strongest person on Earth, and was worth a fortune.
Back then, he had purchased only the first three of its nine layers.
Even after the discount, it had cost a hundred million, though it had not been his money.
"Teacher."
Luo Feng respectfully asked in his heart.
"This disciple previously bought one of the very best secret blade techniques on Earth."
"It's called the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade. Do you think this disciple is suited to cultivating it as his main means of attack in the early stages?"
He took the outline and principles of exerting force from the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade...
And roughly conveyed them through his thoughts to Lin Mo in his sea of consciousness.
A moment of silence followed.
Then Lin Mo's voice rang out, its disdain undisguised:
"Garbage. Pure garbage."
"Cultivating this thing is a complete waste of time."
"It's something that could be explained in a few sentences, but he insisted on writing so much."
Although Luo Feng had long suspected that Earth's secret techniques might be nothing in his teacher's eyes...
Hearing it called garbage and a waste of time...
Still made him feel a little embarrassed.
This was the ultimate technique Thunder God relied on to make his name, a secret technique countless warriors on Earth dreamed of obtaining!
Before Luo Feng could react, he felt a slight tremor in his sea of consciousness.
Immediately afterward, a vast and profound stream of entirely new information...
Naturally surfaced in the depths of his consciousness.
There were no complicated explanations in the stream of information.
Instead, it contained mostly direct, fundamental principles of exerting force, circulating power, and guiding energy.