Chương 312: Mortal Ranking

"No matter what, we're still disciples! They can't leave us to die here! It's not fair! The sect has so many powerful elders, eliminating these Earth dwellers should be easy!" Gui Wu questioned. At this point, he was real just running his mouth. The thought of losing his life after being in the sect for a few months was scaring him. All the other missions he took also had some deaths, but this was more than average for a one star mission. Also, the death was too painful!

The old disciples suddenly began to laugh after Gui Wu spoke.

"Not fair? Indeed. It's not fair. But what can you do about it? I told you, outer peak disciples aren't even true disciples of the Sect. We're left to do the house chores and we're rewarded with measly change that have been rejected by the Inner and Core disciples. More ironic is that we rejoice at receiving those things that others consider as trash."

"I'll tell you a secret. Outer Peak disciples have become too much over the past few years. The sect is raising powerhouses, not weaklings. Those who have potential and can become Inner peak disciples are valued. In fact, only the top hundred outer peak disciples are barely considered as true disciples and only the current top ten are worthy of the Sect's attention. They can become Inner peak disciples at anytime. *"But us? We're way too much.

The sect naturally have to reduce the numbers to prevent waste of resources. That's where these missions come in handy. Now tell me, would you choose to eliminate the earth dwellers yourself if you were an elder or even a warden? Or let the earth dwellers help you eliminate the weaklings and polish the stronger disciples?" Listening to this explanation, Gui Wu couldn't refute him.

If he was an elder facing this situation, then he would actually let the earth dwellers to train the disciples and eliminate the trashes. Hell, he would create hard missions that were just life threatening enough to sieve out the weaklings. In that case, not even one star missions would be safe for those without the strength to protect themselves. Long Feng also felt that deeply. He hadn't spent long this Mainland but he had come to realize one thing. Here, strength was everything.

If not strength, then at least having a great talent would be enough. But having none of those? Then you would be reduced to a cannon fodder in every situation and could even lose your life without knowing what happened.

"If you know what's best for you, sit down and regain your energy. The earth dwellers attack randomly. We'll be lucky if they don't reappear several times this month."

"And in case you have hope that a warden or someone would come and help, then get rid of it. There are hundreds of mining tunnels. This is just one of the hundreds of low grade essence stone mine. All of those are facing similar threat by the earth dwellers. There are some mid grade essence stone mines and not even those would gain protection by the wardens. If we let the miners fall below ten in numbers, then we'll be punished severely for failing the mission."

Hearing that, Gui Wu shivered and didn't continue to speak. He returned to his seat and began to frantically regain his energy. He even began to use Imperial crystals to increase his cultivation. Long Feng also closed his eyes and continued his comprehension. At the same time, he held two spirit crystals in each hand and absorbed the energy within them, slowly inching closer to a breakthrough.

He had already decided not to pick this mission again, but for now, he had to use the time he had and focus on his cultivation. Time continued to pass. The miners continued to work indifferently, the disciples meditated or cultivated while keeping their guards up just in case the earth dwellers attacked again. They returned three days later, but no one died among the disciples this time and fewer miners lost their lives. The earth dwellers attacked randomly.

For the next one week, they attacked five times and one more rank six Imperial lost his life. The original eight disciples were now six. Long Feng and the other three also developed some connections with the others. Most of them were extremely curious as to how a rank six spirit realm warrior was able to survive for so long while two rank six Imperials died. Whenever someone brought up the topic, Long Feng always replied with, "I have my methods."

He interacted with one person the most, Ren Hua, a rank seven Imperial realm warrior. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. He was slightly over twenty, and his talent wasn't really good, barely better than Long Feng's tested talent. They discussed a lot, mostly him speaking while Long Feng listened and learned some things he didn't know of before. He even revealed to Long Feng that he had long since given up hope of becoming an Inner peak disciple.

There was an age limit to taking the inner disciple test and he had nearly reached that limit. Becoming an Inner peak disciple in a year meant reaching the early stage deity realm in a year, which was impossible for him. But according to him, outer peak disciples like him weren't completely hopeless. If they could reach the mid stage deity realm before thirty years of age, they could become wardens in the outer peak.

That would be much better than being sent out of the sect after wasting several years and achieving nothing. That was also his plan, to become an outer peak warden.

"Where do these earth dwellers come from? I understand that they live in the earth, but where does that dark path leads to?" Long Feng asked after a while. That question had been in his mind for a few days now and Ren Hua was the perfect person to ask.

"Oh yeah. You're right, it leads somewhere. But we're not sure. All I know are rumors that these tunnels eventually merge with all the other tunnels at an unknown depth and the nest of the earth dwellers exist there." Ren Hua replied. He was pretty easy going, unlike the other disciples who refused to really acknowledge Long Feng due to his cultivation. Ren Hua didn't care much about that.

"Their nest?" Long Feng repeated.

"That's right. Their nest. It's only a rumor, but there some credibility to it. Of course, I doubt any outer peak disciple can go down there and survive long enough to tell the story." Long Feng moved his gaze from the depth of the cave and glanced at Ren Hua.

"You've been in the sect for four years now right? Didn't you ever hear about the danger of this mission?" He asked. Ren Hua laughed mirthlessly.

"Actually, when I joined the sect, I was like every other new disciple; I was extremely confident in myself. I wouldn't even look at missions like these. But four years in the sect has shaved off my confidence. I now simply want to earn enough heaven runes to handle important stuffs like rent and my cultivation resources."

"Rent?" Long Feng raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Oh, you're a new disciple. You don't get to pay for rent for the first three months. But after that, you'll need to pay a hundred heaven runes per month as rent. Otherwise, you'd very soon find yourself sleeping in the woods." Ren Hua laughed.

"Listen, as a new disciple, I have two advises for you. First, you should not be overconfident. Here, there are more geniuses than there are trees on the mountain. Especially those top outer peak disciples on the mortal ranking. Also, you should save any heaven runes you receive. Don't waste any. Essence stones as well. They're extremely useful for cultivation. You'll need them all in the nearest future." He added after laughing.

"What's the Mortal ranking?" Long Feng asked.

"There are three rankings in the Supreme Heaven Sect; the Mortal ranking, the earth ranking and the heaven ranking. They correspond to the three peaks, outer, inner and core. The mortal ranking is the ranking of all the outer peak disciples based on their strengths. There are about ten thousand outer peak disciples. Any one with the ability to rank in the top thousand is a powerful cultivator at rank eight or rank nine Imperial realm.

Those in the top hundred are all at least peak Imperials without exception, and each of them have a unique method that allows them to fight ordinary early stage deities to a standstill. Some of the monstrous ones can allegedly defeat a normal early stage deity under special circumstances. As for the top ten, they're all extremely shocking. Each of them is a powerful early stage deity and they are stronger than most in the same level.

They are already considered as Inner peak disciples even before the actual test in a few months. Each of them is a shocking genius in their own rights. We just can't compare." Ren Hua explained and paused with a sigh. Long Feng listened attentively. He had already met some of the top ten; two of them. And he could confirm that they were very strong. Even among early stage deities, they would stand at the upper middle.

As for the peak Imperials who could fight and even defeat normal early stage deities, Long Feng didn't know what to think. The gulf between peak Imperial and early stage deity realm was vast. Especially when a deity used their true essence; they should be multiple times stronger than peak Imperials. Yet the geniuses of the Supreme Heaven Sect could cross that Gulf. And these were just outer peak disciples!

"What's your rank on the mortal ranking?" Long Feng asked curiously. Ren Hua was stronger than him. Long Feng could probably defeat rank six Imperials but not a rank seven Imperial. Ren Hua's rank would enable him to estimate his own rank in the mortal ranking. Ren Hua scratched his head and laugh awkwardly.

"Em… I'm not very high. Somewhere around five thousand. My strength isn't the best among rank seven Imperials." He muttered. Long Feng smiled.

"That's about halfway up. You aren't bad yourself. I guess I'd rank somewhere around six thousand in that case." Ren Hua glanced at him in surprise.

"Seven thousand? That's where the strong rank six Imperials are ranked!" Long Feng nodded.

"Then that's probably my space. I'm not sure specifically till I test it though…" he added. Ren Hua stared at him for a few seconds before he smiled.

"You must be really confident in your strength. Just don't underestimate anyone. That'll cost you a lot." He couldn't fathom how a rank six spirit realm warrior could confidently claim to be as strong as the best rank six Imperials in the sect. That was a full realm different! He couldn't help but worry that Long Feng was underestimating the sect disciples. In this sect and this world, underestimating one's opponents was among the fastest methods to court death.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing." Long Feng smiled and replied. He decided to change the topic.

"What are the exact use of these essence stones? And how are they used?" Long Feng asked.

"Oh. That's general knowledge. Essence stones contain pure essence energy of the world. That is the energy used by deities. Essence stones are actually mostly used by deities, but strong Imperials can also use them."

"To use an essence stone, you'll need to refine it with your Imperial energy. Then you can absorb the trace of true essence in it. For deities, it is equivalent to Imperials cultivating using an imperial crystal. But to us imperials, it is extremely hard and painful. A single mistake could cost severe injuries in light cases and death in worst cases. As for you, I'd advice you not to try using it. You will explode instantly. Even Imperial crystals can cost you your life right now." Long Feng nodded.

"I understand. How much of an effect does the essence stone have ok Imperials?" He asked again.

"I've only absorbed it a few times, and each stone took me days to fully absorb it. You see, becoming a deity have a few requirements. One is to have an extremely pure and dense Imperial energy. Two is to condense your first strand of true essence from that Imperial energy. A deity has a stronger form of Imperial essence but very few true essence which is why they don't use it often. So without a strong foundation and pure enough Imperial energy, becoming a deity is a fool's dream.

For us imperials, absorbing an essence stone is very helpful. It raises the cultivation but not by much. Instead, it purifies your energy and makes it denser, preparing you for the deity realm. Most importantly, the remaining essence would hide in your body until the moment you're breaking through. Therefore, the more essence stones you absorb, the easier your breakthrough to the deity realm would be. Unfortunately, not many imperials can withstand the pain of absorbing an essence stone.

Even I only did it twice and I can't bring myself to try it again." Ren Hua slowly explained. Long Feng took in everything he said and buried them in his mind.

"Oh, I also happen to have a single spirit purifying pill. What's it used for?" He remembered the pill he received as his resource for this month along with ten essence stones, and he didn't know what they were used for.

"Ah. Spirit purifying pill? That's something you will actually need. It purifies your energy to some extent and raises your cultivation. Consuming it while breaking through to the Imperial realm would be the best choice for you. I'm telling you, do all you can to purify your energy as much as you can before you reach the late stages of the Imperial realm. At my current level, purifying my energy is hard next to impossible."