A moment later, in the front courtyard of The Thompson Family, Emily Thompson glanced at Mr. Harris, then at the four gray-robed elders behind him. He looked around, uncertain, and asked, “Just you few? Isn’t this too few people?”

Yesterday, Emily Thompson had thought that traveling with dozens of attendants was too ostentatious, but today’s arrangement seemed a bit too shabby.

Those four gray-robed elders—one missing a left arm, one missing a right arm, one blind in the left eye, one blind in the right—didn’t look very reliable. Emily Thompson seriously doubted whether they could actually protect his safety.

It wasn’t that he had picked up the habits of a young master after just one day here; it was simply that this world was too dangerous.

Just thinking about that arrow from yesterday still made him break out in a cold sweat.

Mr. Harris chuckled and said, “Young master, don’t worry. Though we’re old, we’re still nimble. If any blind assassin dares to show up, as long as they’re below the Fifth Realm, we guarantee they’ll never return. Even if it’s a Fifth Realm master, we can still hold them off—we won’t let a single hair on your head be harmed…”

Emily Thompson still wasn’t reassured and asked, “What if it’s someone from the Sixth Realm?”

“If it’s the Sixth Realm…” Mr. Harris coughed lightly and said, “Young master, rest assured—even on the road to the underworld, this old servant will take good care of you…”

Emily Thompson understood: if it was a Sixth Realm assassin, they’d all be dead.

As for martial arts, he’d only heard Mr. Harris mention it in passing—something about strength of a thousand catties, controlling objects with qi, plucking flowers and flying leaves to injure people—but he didn’t have a concrete understanding of how powerful each realm actually was.

On the way to the county office, Emily Thompson took the opportunity to ask.

According to Mr. Harris, in this world, martial arts are divided into seven realms.

The First Realm is Body Tempering, focused on refining the body; the strength at this stage increases greatly compared to ordinary people. The Second Realm is Internal Breath, where the rudiments of true qi are generated within the body, further increasing strength under the enhancement of internal breath. The Third Realm is True Qi, where internal breath condenses into true qi, which can be attached to weapons to easily split gold and stone, or cover the body to form a true qi shield. At this stage, one can injure others with plucked flowers or flying leaves, and is as impervious to blades and spears as the legendary Iron Shirt.

Body Tempering, Internal Breath, and True Qi, in Emily Thompson’s view, were still within the scope of ordinary martial arts novels.

But at the Fourth Realm, the so-called Object Manipulation Realm that Mr. Harris mentioned, the true qi within the body becomes vast and can even be projected outside the body—moving objects from a distance, attacking with flying swords, soaring through the air. The power at this stage far surpasses the previous three realms.

Mr. Harris, those four gray-robed elders, and his wife were all at this realm.

The True Qi Realm is also the highest most martial arts geniuses can reach in their lifetime.

The Fifth Realm of martial arts is called the Grandmaster Realm. There’s no fundamental difference between the Fifth and Fourth Realms, but a martial grandmaster’s true qi is as vast as the sea, and their control over it is unparalleled. They can even condense it into weapons, and their martial skills reach the pinnacle, giving them the ability to found their own schools.

The heads and sect leaders of the major martial arts sects today are mostly at this realm.

Each martial arts realm has a different level of difficulty for advancement, and it’s not always the case that the higher you go, the harder it gets. From Body Tempering to Internal Breath, and from Internal Breath to True Qi, there are significant bottlenecks, with about a ten percent chance of breaking through. But if one can reach the True Qi Realm, there’s about a fifty percent chance of advancing to the Object Manipulation Realm.

From the Fourth Realm (Object Manipulation) to the Fifth Realm (Grandmaster), it’s no longer just about physical talent and hard work; comprehension becomes the key, and this is the biggest hurdle among the first few realms. The advancement rate drops sharply, to about one or two out of a hundred.

The Sixth Realm of martial arts allows one to begin to harness the power of heaven and earth. Even the simplest moves in their hands can unleash earth-shattering might. At this stage, it’s no longer about technique, but about touching the very essence of martial arts. Even in all of Great Xia, there are very few Sixth Realm experts.

So when Emily Thompson mentioned the Sixth Realm, Mr. Harris straightforwardly invited him to journey to the underworld together. No matter how strong you are in the first five realms, you can still be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, but once you reach the Sixth Realm and can command the power of heaven and earth, numbers alone are no longer enough. Hence the saying: “Below the Sixth Realm, all are ants.”

As for the Seventh Realm, it has always been the stuff of legend—shrouded in mystery, with few stories about it passed down. In the current Great Xia and neighboring countries, no one is known to have reached this realm, and even Mr. Harris isn’t sure about it.

As for the path of martial arts, Emily Thompson didn’t need to think about it. Mr. Harris had trained his whole life and was still stuck at the Fourth Realm, which was already considered extremely talented. Emily Thompson didn’t have any talent at all and could only seek another path.

Fortunately, the Legalist path doesn’t require talent. As long as he handles enough cases, it’s not impossible to catch up in a short time.

Soon, they arrived at the Chang’an County Office. The yamen runners on duty at the gate already recognized Emily Thompson and hurried over to respectfully lead him inside. Emily Thompson noticed that the county office was especially lively today. Even from a distance, he could see that the courtroom and its surroundings were packed with people. The whole place was noisy, with many constables and yamen runners maintaining order.

“Sir, it’s already past lunchtime. When will you let us go home?”

“Yeah, it’s fine to catch the culprit, but you can’t hold up so many people’s affairs, can you?”

“If you won’t let us go, at least the yamen should provide a meal! I haven’t even had breakfast!”