Chapter 234: Life's Ladder

"Not a beast?"

"Not a beast."

"Pure-blooded dragon descendant?"

"Pure, ultra-pure, and the bloodline rank is very high—at least above colored diamond."

To show sincerity, Hela was remarkably friendly, even permitting a blood test.

The result showed not only no "beast" reaction, but also confirmed her pure royal bloodline (despite the illegitimate child potion), and further revealed her 100% dragon descendant identity—this meant she had rejected her mother's power.

"Not a magical girl, not a beast," Dai Niya plopped down, watching her cheerful and relaxed "sister," with no reason left even to yawn.

Above bloodline, they were the closest, and in their relationship, they could even be called "life and death intertwined."

"A sixteen-year-old colored diamond bloodline, and yet the hardest-to-advance dragon line"—this was merely hardware, yet it still seemed an absurdly extraordinary existence.

But considering her living environment, it somehow made perfect sense.

"The colored diamond has turned red; the flame of life is burning fiercely."

The real-world level classification is actually quite crude, only roughly distinguishing strength and weakness; professions are marked only by ring count and rank, while only bloodline and supernatural abilities (race) carry direct identifiers—this is essentially a species-level marker.

Some groups and races are inherently powerful, typically marked by their adult bloodline strength as their species level—for example, orcs are raw stone species, while adult dragons are diamond bloodline.

The most basic is raw stone (inferior stone not included), meaning unworked ore; species at this level, according to the Spirit Hero Catalog, are roughly single-digit in number.

Next, it's not gold or silver, but "colored metal."

Copper, silver, and such are categorized under colored metal, referring to ore that has been mined, refined, and turned into usable material.

This stage roughly corresponds to the core and backbone of each race; peak gold bloodline means the peak of colored metal.

This is a continuous refining process, during which the organism's food intake often increases dramatically, with heat and supernatural materials serving as fuel for "refinement," allowing life to accumulate "quantity."

The next step, "diamond," is a qualitative transformation; the transparent diamond signifies "purity," because at this moment the bloodline becomes even purer, and its path becomes clearer.

From this stage onward, the organism's food intake generally begins to decrease; they gradually ignite their internal "flame of life," beginning to "emit light and heat" on their own.

These non-humans no longer rely entirely on external sustenance.

Colored diamond, colored gem—these terms describe the "brightness" of life at this stage, gradually becoming more "vivid" along the solar spectrum.

Minor sub-levels like red diamond or blue diamond aren't particularly significant, as the distinctions between them are subtle; they're usually just called colored diamond. If all goes well, this stage rarely lasts long.

But it is extremely dangerous.

Igniting the flame of life, the soul's flame—if one does not smoothly enter the next stage, when time runs out, the result is total "burnout."

Yet "diamond warriors" at this stage, viewed purely by physicality, have already achieved a degree of "eternity."

They heal themselves naturally, won't die even with minimal food intake, and their stamina and sustained combat capability reach inhuman levels.

"Young Lady Hela is likely not far from Star Rank."

When an indestructible diamond begins to "emit light" on its own, it naturally becomes an immortal star.

The brightness of the soul's flame will slightly dim and become stable and enduring.

The most direct effect is a dramatic increase in lifespan.

There are minor sub-levels within this stage, but the differences are now noticeable; high-end "stars" and newcomers at "shattered star" are entirely different tiers, yet to mortals, their strength is already comparable to legendary heroes—just go on a rampage.

As for what comes after—Sacred Spirit (Divine Messenger), Demigod, Eternal Divine Throne—these involve true eternity; there's no need to discuss them now.

Clearly, these so-called levels actually indicate the degree of species evolution, a genuine hardware standard; supernatural professions naturally don't use this system, but bloodline abilities and supernatural traits rooted in the body and hardware can still draw from this evaluation framework.

Also, one can see the arrogance behind this evaluation system—it was never meant for ordinary people; the most numerous silver and gold tiers were simply lumped into colored metal. Perhaps to them, diamond rank is merely the beginning.