Star Gate

Chapter 44: Supernatural Levels, Teacher and Disciple Scheme (I)

Both teacher and disciple were the epitome of hubris in this moment. Fear and worry were no longer a concern!

Li Hao’s teacher was a Dominator of Thousands and possibly the greatest among modern martial masters. What was there to fear about a paltry scarlet shadow?

As for himself, the young man didn’t think much of breaking through to Slayer of Tens. So he was a Slayer. Great. Everyone was a Slayer in the Demon Hunters and they still struggled at every step.

The current Li Hao didn’t understand what it meant to set foot into Slayer of Tens after training for only three years. Yuan Shuo did, but he didn’t pay it much heed.

Slayer of Tens was indeed weak and this was his student they were talking about. Even if the lad didn’t focus on martial dao, it was a foregone conclusion that he would advance given guidance from a Dominator.

Not to mention, Li Hao was twenty years old. It wasn’t beyond the pale that he set foot into this level at that age. Yuan Shuo recalled a disciple of one of his old friends breaking through at twelve years old. Now that was ridiculous.

Granted, his friend’s disciple had started training as a child and bathed in precious herbs at the age of three. The professor couldn’t be bothered to consider that. Li Hao hadn’t been completely without external help either. Other than cosmic power, he’d also absorbed some mysterious power. That was a key factor too.

“Teacher!” An excited Li Hao put everything out of his mind. “Are Dominators of Thousands also invincible in the supernatural field?”

Dominator of Thousands!

Wreathed in smiles, Yuan Shuo paused for thought. “Pretty much. I will well and truly be invincible once I make the crossover!”

“And before you do?” Li Hao followed up, slightly that something was amiss.

Yuan Shuo’s hand closed on empty air when he tried to stroke his beard. His facial hair disappearing would take some getting used to! He considered things again and answered ambiguously, “A Dominator is an apex existence!”

“How apex?” Li Hao couldn’t rest easy—why was his teacher being so inconclusive?

Yuan Shuo coughed. You’re asking too much on a day of great joy, kid!

Somewhat reining in his brazenness, the professor replied calmly, “Li Hao, you must know that being supernatural is not synonymous with being strong. Most people are the equivalent of Slayer of Tens when they first cross over. They are on par with a Sunderer after a period of improvement. Differences abound between Sunderers—whether one is of Nine Hundreds or One Hundred, one is a Sunderer all the same!”

“Teacher…” Li Hao couldn’t resist interrupting since he desperately wished to know if his teacher was invincible. “Were you just making empty boasts earlier?”

“Heh!” Yuan Shuo snorted with dissatisfaction. He pointed at the sky and raised his nose. “Let me put it this way. There are only five people in all of Silver Moon who can beat me at my current strength!”

There were thirty-two cities in the province, yet his teacher claimed to be in the top five? Li Hao was hugely taken aback by this claim.

How big was Silver Moon and how big was its population? Silver City was a small, backward city and possessed roughly a million, but the capital of White Moon City counted thirty million! Silver City was nothing compared to White Moon City!

Out of the other cities, the smaller ones were on par with Silver City and the larger ones less than White Moon, but the second largest of Flare City also housed more than ten million. There were at least hundreds of millions if the entire province was considered! How was teacher top five in light of all those people and supernaturals?

“Teacher, if Dominators are that powerful, then—” Li Hao almost physically stumbled with Yuan Shuo’s next words.

“The five that can defeat me are all higher level than me. In terms of supernatural levels, there’s a couple dozen that are the same strength as me!” Yuan Shuo explained awkwardly. If he successfully made the crossover, then those stronger than him might not prove to be a challenge either.

Li Hao was slightly disappointed at first, then felt that this was still quite an accomplishment. There weren’t that many that rivaled his teacher in the entire province! Seen in another light, it was absolutely stunning that his teacher was so strong without being supernatural himself.

“Teacher, is it easy to reach the Dominator equivalent for supernaturals?”

“Easy?” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “It’s not that easy, but much easier for them than martial masters! Let’s put it this way—supernaturals are also divided into various levels. Their Dominator equivalent is called Sunflare! A Sunflare supernatural is the martial master Dominator of Thousands. There are quite a few Sunflare in the province—nearly every major city has one in residence.

“But that’s only comparatively speaking against martial masters.” Yuan Shuo shook his head with a slight sigh. “I might be the only Dominator to appear in the last twenty years!”

There’d been more Dominators around twenty years ago, but he hadn’t heard of any in recent times. They might still exist, but they were either in seclusion or biding their time. The second group would be testing the waters to see if they could make the crossover, or perhaps they already had.

The situation outside Silver Moon was much less clear—Yuan Shuo hadn’t set foot beyond the province in many years and was ignorant about the outside world. In the meantime, Li Hao committed the new term to memory.

Sunflare!

That was the supernatural level that corresponded to Dominator of Thousands. The martial master equivalent was hailed as walking gods, but they weren’t invincible in their otherworldly counterpart. More than a dozen existed in Silver Moon.

I wonder what level is the scarlet shadow?

Worried about sending his teacher to his doom, Li Hao added, “Teacher, can you handle Little Yuan’s killer after your breakthrough? What if they have an organization behind them with lots of supernaturals? Will that be too much for you to handle?”

“Let’s go inside and talk!” Yuan Shuo looked around them and lowered his voice. “We should keep a low profile after these changes.”

Li Hao understood and headed inside with the rejuvenated elder.

……

The main visitor hall was spacious and arranged with classic flair. Instead of settling down to business, Yuan Shuo first sought out a mirror after heading inside. He appraised his appearance with satisfaction before heading back to his student.

Teacher’s getting a little full of it!

Li Hao ignored the little display of narcissism.

“In my view, Zhang Yuan’s killer is neither weak nor too strong,” Yuan Shuo analyzed. “Zhang Yuan wouldn’t have made it out of his room if the supernatural was really strong. He would’ve silently burned to death on his bed. But since he could walk outside, that means that his killer or the supernatural ability employed is limited!

“Of course, we can’t conclude they’re weak from that alone. Someone who can spend more than ten years setting up a scheme won’t possibly be weak. What we need to see is if they’re an organization or flying solo.”

“Most likely an organization!” Li Hao thought for a bit.

“What makes you say that?” Yuan Shuo looked at his student with an assessing gaze.

“The presence I sensed outside Zhang Yuan’s house belonged to a scout!” the young man analyzed. “I also discovered someone following me outside the Inspectorate once. They were in a car, so they might be mundane people keeping an eye on me.

“The main perpetrator probably isn’t bold enough to personally maintain constant surveillance. There’s also no need to do so since I’m very weak. Therefore, there should be more than one person on the enemy’s side. But if it comes down to exactly how many or the number of supernaturals they have… I have no way of figuring that out.” Li Hao looked at his teacher at this time. “Teacher, how do we determine whether a supernatural is strong or weak?”

“It’s difficult to tell!” Yuan Shuo answered candidly. “The same goes for martial masters—it’s hard to determine someone’s strength if they don’t show the characteristics of their levels. It can be defined only through actual combat. As for objects like a supernatural probe, that’s all bullshit!”

The professor sneered visibly. “There’s even some of my work in that. It’s somewhat useful, but not really. A Sunflare can absolutely compress his mysterious power to decrease its seepage. You might only pick up the tiniest supernatural ripple, so how can you use that to determine their strength?”

That’s true!

Li Hao thought of how his eyes were different from other people—he could see mysterious power. Could that be an indicator?

“Teacher, does every level of supernatural contain different depths of mysterious power inside their bodies?”

“No shit, of course!” Yuan Shuo nodded. “The denser their power, the stronger they are. But we do need to take actual combat and practicality into consideration. If a supernatural is skilled at healing, then they might still lose to someone weaker even though their power is strong. It comes down to individual capacity.”

Understood!

“Are there differences to the different levels of energy?” Li Hao explored curiously. “The Demon Hunters have an ice crystal cover that can visibly manifest mysterious power. If we can see it, doesn’t that mean there’s different states, arrangements, and power?”

“Of course!”

This was Yuan Shuo’s area of expertise. He’d discovered the ice crystals and contributed to the method of dyeing mysterious power. The professor nodded authoritatively.

“I won’t speak of those stronger than me in the supernatural field. Newly ascended martial masters manifest their power in a way similar to motes of starlight. That’s why they’re called Starlight! This is the first level of that domain, but since everyone goes through that stage, society is used to calling all supernaturals as Starlight!”

Starlight! The first level!

“Then… that means Starlight maps to Slayer of Tens?”

That sounds… so weak! Even I’m a Slayer!

“Pretty much! At the same time, it’s hard to tell who’s stronger and weaker in actual combat since there’s differences between the two specializations. The second level of the supernatural domain comes with a brighter luminosity of energy. On par with the full moon, they are called Darkmoon!”

Li Hao listened intently. This was the first time that someone unveiled this new part of their society to him. The Demon Hunters hadn’t mentioned it because none of them had made the crossover. Although Yuan Shuo hadn’t either, he was exceedingly familiar with it because this was his trade!

“So Starlight, Darkmoon, and Sunflare are the equivalent of Slayer, Sunderer, and Dominator?”

“Not exactly!” Yuan Shuo didn’t want to admit it, but he did. “Unless a martial master reaches Dominator of Thousands, they will always be weaker than their supernatural peers.”

“Why is that?” Weren’t they the same level?

The professor smiled with resignation. “Let’s put it this way—martial masters can employ only physical attacks. Supernatural abilities are not physical in the slightest. Take those two outside earlier, for example. The man could fly, so he probably became Darkmoon not that long ago. I’m a Dominator now, but if he’s prepared for me and hovers in the air indefinitely… what do you think I can do about that?”

“Teacher, you can fly too!”

“……” Yuan Shuo was truly resigned. “That’s not flying, that’s using leverage! I can’t keep myself up there, but he can so long as his energy doesn’t run out. That’s what makes us different!

“Of course, it’d only take one fist to kill him!” the man suddenly said proudly. “It won’t matter then if he can fly. Martial masters also gain some special abilities when we reach Dominator. That’s why we stand toe-to-toe with their Sunflare when we reach Dominator. Before that, martial masters are slightly weaker than their counterparts.”

Li Hao didn’t know whether or not that was true—he could only trust his teacher.

“Does that mean that the two outside are possibly stronger than Captain Liu?

Supernaturals… were too terrifying! Those two looked very young from a distance, but they were potentially mightier than a Liu Long who’d trained for decades.

“Not necessarily!” Yuan Shuo shook his head. “Liu Long is more than forty years old and has been immersed in martial dao for nearly thirty years. He outstrips them in terms of experience and knowledge. If they fight him, it’s more likely that they die!”

No wonder! No wonder Liu Long said that if he couldn’t handle things, then the Night Watchers of Silver City might not be useful either.