Upper Realm Power Rankings

"How many Sacred Clan members are there in the space behind the dimensional passage?" Gu Qingfeng asked.

"Aside from me, there are two others. The rest are just some human slaves," the Elephant Demon answered honestly.

"What?! So only three Sacred Clan members are managing the entire Qing Realm?" Gu Qingfeng exclaimed in surprise.

"Master, although the Qing Realm is vast, it lacks true powerhouses. Moreover, with the assistance of the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, we don’t need too many Sacred Clan members. Sending too many would only draw unnecessary attention."

"How strong are the other two Sacred Clan members?"

"One is about the same as me—just a lowly servant. The other is our ancestor, the Heavenly Elephant Ancestor. His strength is unfathomable!"

"Huh? Why is there an ancestor-level figure here? Didn’t you say managing the Qing Realm doesn’t require many strong individuals?"

"The Heavenly Elephant Ancestor isn’t here to manage the Qing Realm. Beings of his stature don’t bother with such trivial matters. He came to refine the Heavenly Dao of the Qing Realm. It was he who captured the Qing Realm in the first place. For thousands of years, he has been in seclusion within the space behind the dimensional passage, never leaving, solely focused on fully refining the Qing Realm’s Heavenly Dao."

"A being capable of refining the Heavenly Dao of a Minor Thousand World? Just what level is the Heavenly Elephant Ancestor?" Gu Qingfeng asked excitedly.

"Peak Heavenly Human!"

"Peak Heavenly Human?!" Gu Qingfeng was stunned—this was beyond his understanding.

"Explain the realm divisions of the Upper World in detail."

"Yes, Master.

The Upper World’s cultivation realms are divided into three major stages: the Foundation Realm, the Divine Core Realm, and the Heavenly Realm.

The Foundation Realm consists of: Qi Sea, Dragon Transformation, and Divine Soul.

The Divine Core Realm consists of: Human Origin, Earth Origin, and Heaven Origin.

The Heavenly Realm consists of: Heavenly Human, Heavenly Lord, Heavenly Venerable, Heavenly Supreme, and Heavenly Emperor!"

After listening to the Elephant Demon’s explanation, Gu Qingfeng suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

He quickly asked, "What level is the Divine Realm?"

"The Divine Realm is the Divine Soul Realm, which belongs to the Foundation Realm."

"What?! The Divine Realm is just the Foundation Realm?" Gu Qingfeng cried out in shock.

He had known the Upper World would be on a higher level, but he never imagined the gap would be this vast!

He had thought his current strength, while not making him a powerhouse in the Upper World, would at least place him above mediocrity. But now he realized he was still stuck in the Foundation Realm.

"Wait, if the Divine Realm is the Divine Soul Realm, and Dragon Transformation remains the same, what about Qi Gathering, Inner Qi, True Qi, Gang Qi, and Grandmaster?"

"Master, the stages from Qi Gathering to Grandmaster are essentially just refining Qi. The only difference is the increasing quality of the Qi. In the Upper World, there’s no such detailed division—they’re all collectively called the Qi Sea Realm.

The Upper World’s ambient spiritual energy is incredibly dense. Compared to the Qing Realm, it’s like the difference between a desert and an ocean—spiritual energy is like water.

In such an environment, the Qi refined by Upper World cultivators from the start is of extremely high quality, and the refinement process is effortless. There’s no need for the slow, incremental progress like in the Qing Realm, so the stages aren’t divided so finely. Hence, it’s all simply called the Qi Sea Realm."

"Damn, so you’re saying anyone in the Upper World can casually reach Grandmaster level just by practicing a bit?"

Exactly. As long as someone has decent cultivation aptitude, reaching Grandmaster—the peak of the Qi Sea Realm—is practically guaranteed. However, breaking through to Dragon Transformation isn’t so easy. Each major realm has a massive gap, requiring talent, luck, perseverance, and opportunities to cross.

A massive gap?

Gu Qingfeng laughed. In the Qing Realm, many martial artists trained their entire lives without even glimpsing the threshold of Dragon Transformation. Even reaching Grandmaster was a struggle, and those who did were considered geniuses.

But in the Upper World?

Thanks to the abundant spiritual energy, people could casually train to Grandmaster level. The disparity was staggering.

This was the power of environment!

If someone with the same aptitude trained in the Qing Realm their whole life, they might only reach Grandmaster.

But if they went to the Upper World? They could achieve Grandmaster in just a few years, leaving them plenty of time to break through to higher realms like Dragon Transformation or even Divine Soul.

Truly, environment shapes destiny!

It was like comparing a child from a poor African nation who might never learn to read in their lifetime to a child in China, where nine-year compulsory education is the norm.

The Qi Sea Realm was like compulsory education—anyone could achieve it with the right environment. But without it, even that basic level might remain out of reach.

"What realm are you in now?" Gu Qingfeng asked.

"Human Origin Realm," the Elephant Demon replied. "Above the Foundation Realm is the Divine Core Realm. The Foundation Realm cultivates essence, Qi, and spirit, while the Divine Core Realm fuses them into a life-nurturing Divine Core! The Divine Core Realm is divided into three stages: Human Origin Divine Core, Earth Origin Divine Core, and Heaven Origin Divine Core."

Gu Qingfeng’s heart stirred. "‘Swallow a Divine Core, and my fate is mine, not Heaven’s’?"

The Elephant Demon forced an awkward smile. "Master, you jest. It should be ‘my fate is yours, not Heaven’s.’"

"Didn’t expect you to be so smooth."

"Thank you for your praise, Master," the Elephant Demon said with a fawning expression.

"Alright, since you’re so smooth, hand over your Divine Core. I’ve never seen one before."

The Elephant Demon’s face instantly paled. "M-Master, please don’t joke about this! If I take out my Divine Core, I’ll die!"

Slap!

"Didn’t you just say your fate is mine? Now I want your life—got a problem with that?"

"No, Master, please!" the Elephant Demon wailed in terror. "Master, spare this lowly one! Let me serve you with my useful body!"

Gu Qingfeng sneered. "Look at yourself. You’re practically roasted elephant meat. What ‘useful body’? Your only use now is letting me taste what elephant meat is like.

Enough nonsense. I order you—hand over your Divine Core now."

At the word "order," the Elephant Demon could no longer resist. To defy it would mean breaking his oath, resulting in a fate worse than death...

Trembling and weeping, the Elephant Demon clenched his teeth, shut his eyes, and reached into his abdomen, pulling out a blood-drenched Divine Core glowing faintly with yellow light. With shaking hands, he offered it to Gu Qingfeng.

Then his head lolled to the side—dead.

Gu Qingfeng examined the golden Divine Core in his hand. With a thought, moisture in the air condensed into a stream of water, washing the core clean.

Holding it, he could feel an immense, condensed power within.

Truthfully, he had no use for it. Since he had already drained the Elephant Demon dry, the Divine Core couldn’t offer him any further benefits.

After a moment’s thought, he tossed it into his dimensional storage for the Little Corpse Charm.

Then he drew a sword and began carving the Elephant Demon’s meat. During the earlier lightning and fire ordeal, he’d caught a whiff of its aroma and had been eager to try it.

If the Sacred Clan could eat humans, why couldn’t humans eat Sacred Clan meat?

He sliced off a piece of tender meat—already cooked from the earlier roasting.

Popping it into his mouth, he chewed.

"Pah! Pah! Damn it, it’s burnt!"