Chapter 104: The Meaning of Rank
Monday morning, Yu Xian was waiting for Nora right outside his front door. In his hand was an elastic bubble, which he occasionally tossed outside the spatial bubble.
The elastic bubble would hit the ground and, in the next split second, ricochet onto the drum-stone, shoot up to the eaves, and bounce again toward the drum-stone right behind Yu Xian. However, before it could rebound toward his back, it would vanish, instantly teleporting right back into his hand.
If one were to look closely, they would notice a layer of crimson energy coating the surface of the elastic bubble. It was not Spatial Blood Energy. Rather, it was a special type of energy formed after the Dragon Shield's core absorbed Yu Xian's Spatial Blood Energy.
After returning home last night, Yu Xian had spent the rest of the night studying the Dragon Shield. He discovered that each dragon scale was coated in a layer of crimson energy. It was just that the dragon scales themselves were red, so unless he looked carefully, it was difficult to notice the existence of this energy.
He had tried injecting even more Spatial Blood Energy into the core, then drew out what the core had refined. The result was more of that crimson energy. This energy was neither as red as Blood Energy nor as transparent as Spatial Blood Energy. It simply radiated a faint crimson glow. Yu Xian discovered that as long as he covered an object with this energy, he could freely control that object and make it blink through space, just like the dragon scales.
He spent the entire night experimenting, coating all kinds of objects with the energy. In the end, he found out that each teleportation consumed a portion of the energy coating the object. Compared to Spatial Blood Energy, however, its greatest advantage was how convenient it made teleportation.
It was basically a streamlined version of Spatial Leap or an item-teleportation technique. Even activating Spatial Leap required a bit of casting time, but if he used this energy to coat an object, or even himself, teleportation would become instant. It had a zero-frame startup, making it almost impossible to guard against.
He thought of many, many tactics. For example, he could throw a bomb straight at an enemy. When the enemy dodged, the bomb could instantly teleport to the spot they were dodging toward, causing them to crash into it themselves. The same went for throwing knives. He could throw them from the front, then have them teleport behind the target.
After practicing for an entire night, Yu Xian realized that what truly limited his ability now was his reaction speed. As long as he could react in time, he could easily dodge any attack and hit any enemy. His only weakness was whether he could keep up with the enemy's speed.
When Yu Lie had attacked him over a thousand times in a second, he had not managed to react at all. No matter how fast his spatial ability was, it was useless if he could not respond in time.
At that moment, Nora appeared from the right, walking over with light, lively steps. While the school uniform looked downright unflattering on everyone else, on her, it seemed to brim with pure, youthful energy. It really proved the old saying that clothes were only as good as the person wearing them.
Seeing Yu Xian lying inside his bubble, she blinked in surprise before stepping forward to greet him. "Good morning, Salted Fish."
Yu Xian looked up at Nora, her golden hair catching the morning light, and smiled. "Morning, Dazed Goose."
Nora stepped forward and curiously poked his bubble with her finger. "I'm not a Dazed Goose. Don't you think you look all lazy right now, like a salted fish drying in the sun?"
Yu Xian realized something. No wonder Nora had called him Salted Fish today. Usually, she always called him by name.
He briefly explained why he had to stay inside the bubble. Nora became worried, but he reassured her by telling her that it would be fine after some time.
On the way to school, Yu Xian asked, "Nora, what do you think about... me applying to Yanjing Vocational and Technical College together with you?"
Nora visibly brightened. "Really?"
Yu Xian nodded. "Mm. I've already decided. I'm going to apply to that college too, so let's work hard together!"
Nora said eagerly, "Then once we get to school, I'll help you arrange a revision plan. You haven't attended the Supernatural Academy before, so there must be a lot of things you need to catch up on."
The thought of going to college together with Yu Xian filled her with motivation. Her mind was already packed with key points and important topics. Although her practical combat grades were a disaster, her academic grades had always ranked near the top. She was more than capable of helping Yu Xian find and fill in his gaps.
Yu Xian smiled. "Then I'll help tutor you in practical combat. By the way, is it still possible to apply for practical combat classes at the Supernatural Academy?"
"You should be able to. During recess, we can head over together and check with Instructor Wang, the practical combat instructor."
At the same time, she silently calculated how much money it would cost for the two of them to attend Yanjing Vocational and Technical College together if Yu Xian's grades turned out to be less than ideal.
Nora, who had never once worried about money, suddenly felt a strange sense of being stretched thin. She made up her mind that from now on, she would spend her weekly allowance of several hundred million more carefully. Reckless online shopping was not allowed anymore.
The two of them arrived at school. After entering the classroom, Nora took out all her textbooks from the first year of middle school to the third year of high school from her spatial ring. Then she turned around toward Yu Xian. "Take a look through these first. Later, I'll help you mark the key points."
Yu Xian thanked her and accepted the books, placing them on his desk before picking up the first one. The textbooks used by the Supernatural Academy were completely different from those used in ordinary high schools.
The first book was a first-year middle school textbook titled Common Knowledge of the Supernaturals. He flipped to the first page and began reading. The content covered the division of ranks and the characteristics of each rank.
Reading it, he realized that the ranking system had not been created at random. There was actually some logic behind it. Insect rank was called as such not merely to make supernatural beings aware of their weakness. It also carried the metaphor that an insect was the beginning of transformation. Every person who became a supernatural being had the chance to transform into a butterfly.
Ant rank meant embodying the traits of an ant. Individuals at this rank possessed physical strength far beyond their weight. Body weight and stature were no longer the standards used to measure strength.
In the world of ordinary humans, if two competitors were not too far apart in skill, the heavier person usually held the advantage. That was why different weight classes existed. But in the world of the supernatural beings, a little girl could possess enough monstrous strength to smash apart a mountain. Even an infant could easily overpower an adult many times heavier than themselves.
This was the true essence of Ant rank: physical weight and size simply did not matter, just like for an ant, which could lift objects more than four hundred times its own body weight!
Bee rank could be considered one of the major thresholds. Most supernatural beings were considered to have truly stepped into the supernatural world only once they reached this rank.
Just as a bee possessed a venomous stinger as its trump card, most supernatural beings would obtain a trump card or finishing move only after reaching Bee rank. This trump card could even allow them to defeat enemies above their rank or turn the tables during moments of disadvantage.
After reading this section and comparing it to his situation, Yu Xian had to admit that it was true. Although he had awakened Silver Blood at Ant rank due to being a mutated vampire, he had only truly become powerful after consuming the Blood of Pangu and reaching Bee rank.
Both of his earlier battles against Zhou Tai had been extremely difficult, and he had suffered setbacks. But after reaching Bee rank, he had easily handled Zhou Tai No. 5, who had been strengthened by the Death Curse Blood. Even against Zhou Tai No. 3, Yu Xian had only needed a simple tactic to capture him alive.
Capturing someone alive was far more difficult than killing them. That alone was enough to prove just how much he had improved back then.