“Those two levels of ‘Divine’... only exist in legends. The Jun Tian Hand has been established for so long, but in reality, there’s no information about those two supreme ranks—not even... not even any legends about them...”

“Oh... then apart from being born into the royal family of Great Qin, does anyone know the true identity of this Lord Qingming? Isn’t there any rumor or speculation?”

“How could there not be? There’s a rumor that the laziest, most idle Ninth Royal Uncle in the royal family is actually Lord Qingming... But after careful comparison and investigation, no one really believes it... After all, that Eagle Prince is only in his seventies this year... but the legend of Lord Qingming has lasted at least several hundred years... right?”

“Then you might as well not have said anything. Clearly, there’s no need to compare or investigate...”

“Aren’t we just gossiping here... If you take it seriously, you lose. Did you really think I knew a lot?”

Mr. Smith actually said this with utter confidence.

Ethan Brooks pondered silently for a moment and said, “What about the ranks of martial artists? Is there any connection to the ranks of Jun Tian Hand?”

“There’s no connection at all. They’re two completely, utterly different things.”

Mr. Smith rolled his eyes, clearly expressing genuine disdain for Ethan Brooks’s ignorance, but after almost being thrown out earlier, he didn’t dare show it on his face...

(4)

“Oh?”

“The main direction of Jun Tian Hand’s missions is killing and taking lives. Of course, it’s great if the assassins are highly skilled, but even someone completely powerless might still be able to complete a mission. So there’s no necessary link to cultivation... For example, if a scholar uses poison to kill enough targets and completes enough missions, then he’s a gold-ranked assassin, genuine and true.”

“Of course, the chances of that are extremely slim. High-level assassins are basically all extremely powerful themselves.”

“I see. So what’s above gold rank?”

“Doc, you’re really making things hard for me. I’m only iron rank right now—how would I know about things above gold rank...” Mr. Smith rolled his eyes.

Ethan Brooks was stumped by this, feeling that the other’s words made perfect sense, and for a moment, he was left speechless.

“But martial artists don’t really have ranks. The so-called ‘Nine Grades of the Heavenly Path’ is just a saying that most people accept.”

“Proper Nine Grades, Reverse Nine Grades; Heaven, Earth, Human, proper and reverse—these are things we pass down by word of mouth. We don’t really know what they mean or how they work. Do you understand what I’m saying...”

Mr. Smith muttered.

“Oh?”

“Proper Nine Grades? Reverse Nine Grades? Heaven, Earth, Human, proper and reverse? Just tell me what you guys know, what you understand.”

“The proper Nine Grades are below innate, from first grade to ninth grade, with ninth being the highest. Basically, it’s the peak of acquired, with the highest being half-step innate, on the verge of breaking through, but whether you can break through or not is uncertain.”

Speaking of this, Mr. Smith suddenly perked up: “To be more specific, I’m currently seventh grade acquired. In a while, I’ll reach ninth grade, half-step innate. As long as I break through to innate... I’ll be awesome.”

“Oh... let’s not talk about how awesome you’ll be. Let’s talk about the ranks first.”

“Those who reach the reverse Nine Grades are all martial artists above innate. But it’s no longer first to ninth grade—instead, it starts at ninth grade, then eighth, seventh, all the way up to first grade, which is the highest...”

Ethan Brooks was a bit confused: “You’re making me dizzy. Why is it reversed?”

“Supposedly, hmph... the acquired martial artist’s nine grades are the ranks of the common people’s martial world. At best, you can reach half-step innate... not even worth mentioning, so they can be divided however. But once you’re above innate, you transcend the mundane, and naturally gain status, like an official. So it follows the official ranking system, from ninth grade up to first grade, with first being the highest...”

“That’s pretty particular... So, what about Heaven, Earth, Human, and the proper and reverse?”

“When you reach the Human level, you transcend to another level. What exactly you transcend, I can’t say—the level is too high for me. But it reverses again, from first grade to ninth grade...”

“At the Earth level, it reverses again, from ninth grade to first grade, increasing from large to small.”

“At the even higher Heaven level, it flips once more, from first grade to ninth grade, and so on, back and forth. Isn’t that proper and reverse?”

“And at the Heaven level, that’s the level of immortals in the eyes of ordinary people... Supposedly, there are only a handful on the whole continent; each one is extremely mysterious.”

Mr. Smith felt quite knowledgeable, explaining the divisions of martial artist levels with great confidence, every detail in place, not missing a thing.

In reality, he hadn’t expected that things every martial artist on the continent knew, this black-hearted doctor actually knew nothing about...

Truly ignorant!

A total country bumpkin.

Mr. Smith lowered his head and shot a careful look of disdain at Ethan Brooks.

Ethan Brooks was deep in thought and didn’t notice, or else there would have been another outburst for sure.

“What about the specifics?” Ethan Brooks asked.

“Well...” Mr. Smith was at a loss.

I only know this much...

As for anything deeper... if you ask me, who am I supposed to ask?

Can you not overestimate me?

“I don’t know, really don’t know!”

“You don’t know? You know so much about the ranks, but you don’t know what happens within them?” Ethan Brooks frowned.