Chapter 484: Sacred Grading

This monster seems quite strong.

Li Heng was lost in thought.

Before that Power Seed could even grow and bridge the inside and outside, it was discovered by that monster and annihilated in an instant.

This was the first time he had seen such a powerful monster.

If this monster is already this powerful, then just how terrifying must the Calamity that birthed it be?

After thinking it over, he decided to try again.

He did not intend to condense a Power Seed; instead, he chose to condense his own Power Avatar directly, intending to test the upper limits of this monster's strength. Although sending a Power Avatar into the seal would consume a lot of Source Power, it was within his tolerance; it was not a loss.

Soon, the Power Avatar was successfully condensed.

Li Heng pinched a spell seal, maintaining constant contact with the Power Avatar while applying Source Power to bolster it, allowing it to pass through the seal silently and enter the interior, where it launched a surprise attack!

And then... his Power Avatar was killed in seconds.

He immediately fell into silence.

It seems the monster within this seal is even stronger than he imagined. The Power Avatar he sent in, while not possessing his full combat strength, still had fifty percent of it.

Yet it was killed instantly...

Of course, he did not feel dejected in his heart, just a bit annoyed.

After all, he knew he could fish, and others could fish for him too. Clearly, this sealed monster is a Fishing Old Man; it looks like its level isn't high, but in reality, its strength is terrifyingly strong.

Of course, its fishing level is indeed not high; if it were him doing the counter-fishing, he wouldn't have let the other party figure out the details of the Power Seed, let alone trick the main body into entering the seal.

"Fellow Daoist, what is wrong? Did an accident occur?"

Seeing Li Heng silent, and noting that the seal in the third area had not dissipated and remained as stable as before, the Spirit of the Heavenly Palace also realized there was a problem and hurriedly asked.

"Fellow Daoist, I would like to ask, does the Sacred have a grading system?"

Li Heng did not answer directly, instead asking a question, hoping to determine the strength of that monster through this method. He always felt that this monster was no weaker than the Gospel of War.

Or to be precise.

No weaker than the power the Gospel of War had previously displayed.

The Spirit of the Heavenly Palace was taken aback upon hearing this, then revealed a bitter smile.

"Fellow Daoist Li, this question has truly stumped me."

"Does the Sacred have a grading system? Yes, and also no."

The answer from the Spirit of the Heavenly Palace was very vague and ambiguous.

"Yes and no? How is this to be understood?"

Li Heng immediately became interested.

Seeing Li Heng continue to press, the Spirit of the Heavenly Palace could only continue to answer, pondering for a moment before speaking. "Fellow Daoist, you should also know that the Sacred are supreme and noble, so they only have the right to define others; how could there be any reason for others to define them?"

"Then what if they define themselves?"

Li Heng naturally understood what the Spirit of the Heavenly Palace meant.

The Sacred Realm is considered the known pinnacle of the Great Void, truly capable of running rampant through the Great Void unless encountering even more mysterious Calamities or monsters and the like.

So who would dare to grade the Sacred?

However, perhaps they themselves would dare.

Thinking of this, Li Heng asked this question.

"Fellow Daoist Li is indeed wise; that is exactly where the problem lies. In my memory of the many Sacred of the Heavenly Court, His Majesty did indeed set many definitions for the Sacred, but they were all different and could not be unified."

"Some Sacred simply followed the habits from when they were mortals, directly using first-rate, second-rate, and Third-rate to divide the strength of the Sacred. Some even used terms like Mouse, Elephant, Tyrannosaurus, and Behemoth to determine strength."

"Each standard is different, and no Sacred could convince the others; once one brought out their own standard, other Sacred would definitely refuse to accept it, and it would inevitably lead to a war of words, which is why it is said there is no grading system."

The Spirit of the Heavenly Palace shook its head with emotion, as if it had returned to the "good old days" when the Immortal Gods of the Heavenly Court would bicker and spray each other. Although compared to now, those days were indeed good enough; at least one could still stay alive.

Li Heng smiled slightly upon hearing this; so that was it, no wonder the Spirit of the Heavenly Palace looked so conflicted. Using terms like first-rate, second-rate, Mouse, and Elephant as a division really lacked the prestige of the Heavenly Court's Sacred; it was no wonder the Spirit of the Heavenly Palace seemed unwilling to mention it.

Of course, to him, those things were not important.

It was nothing more than a standard to distinguish strength.

If it can distinguish objective strength, then it is a good grading system.

However, perhaps a standard capable of distinguishing objective strength would never appear in the first place. After all, the Great Void is infinite, and the Worlds and systems within it are all different, making it difficult to generalize.

Some powerhouses in Worlds can shatter galaxies but cannot attain immortality, perishing as soon as ten thousand years pass. Yet some powerhouses in other Worlds struggle even to move a mountain, but can live for a million years.

Some are even more absurd.

Supreme existences who control the laws of the universe, or are even capable of creating many universes and covering a multiverse, might still suffer a setback because of a mortal, being beaten by a mortal, which is truly shocking.

However, that is just how their systems and standards are, so one can only be surprised and not say much more.

Unless a supreme powerhouse can emerge who forcibly encompasses everything beneath them and creates a relatively objective standard and grading system that reflects strength, there is no point in thinking about any universal standard.

"Then what was the standard of your Emperor?"

Thinking of this, Li Heng remembered that Heavenly Emperor of the Heavenly Court.

Since these Heavenly Court Immortal Gods all claimed that the Heavenly Emperor was the number one in the heavens, surely the standard he divided must have some reference value and wouldn't be that absurd, right?

"His Majesty's standard?"

The Spirit of the Heavenly Palace's expression became even stranger upon hearing this.

It hesitated for a while, seemingly struggling with whether to say it, but finally made up its mind and spoke.

"His Majesty... actually had no standard."

"Or rather, there was only one most basic standard."

"Those he can beat and those he cannot."

Li Heng raised his eyebrows slightly after hearing this.

This... in a sense, is truly a good standard.

Low emotional intelligence: it's too simple and crude.

High emotional intelligence: a classification where the Great Dao is simplified.

"Then, is there anyone that Heavenly Emperor cannot defeat?"

Li Heng had already given up hope for the Sacred classification, so he smiled and spoke, teasingly.

"Actually, Fellow Daoist Li, many Sacred Lords have asked this question before. And His Majesty's answer was: if there were anyone who could defeat me, I would already be dead and would not be sitting here."

The spirit of the Heavenly Palace answered with a smile.

"That answer is quite witty and direct."

Li Heng smiled dismissively; from these harsh words, he could tell that this Heavenly Emperor quite enjoyed fighting, the type with abundant martial virtue, deciding both superiority and Life and Death.

"Indeed, witty and direct."

"It's just that I don't know where His Majesty is now, or how the situation is."

The spirit of the Heavenly Palace sighed with emotion.

"That question is simple; just go find him and ask."

Li Heng answered with a smile.

That monster which had instantly killed his Power Avatar was clearly difficult to deal with, and even if he forced a confrontation, the investment might not be proportional to the gains; he was too lazy to engage in such a losing business.

As for the Calamities and monsters sealed in other areas?

He had encountered a monster of this level on his third time fishing, so there was no need to mention the Calamities and monsters in other areas that had no reaction; they would certainly also contain risks.

If he were to run into a few more fierce Calamities and monsters.

His Power Seed and avatar would just be running in to serve themselves up as food.

It was better to just set them aside for now; once his own power became a bit stronger later, he would deal with the other monsters and Calamities all at once.

In any case, he had already made a huge profit on this trip.

For now, he would run off to that past layer, look for traces of that Heavenly Emperor from back then, and resolve the doubts in his heart first; perhaps he could really find the Heavenly Emperor who remained in the past?