NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two: Esdeath – I admit, you are now stronger (Request for Subscription)
“Huff… Huff…”
Breathing deeply, Qian Renxue tried to calm her emotions before looking at the chat group.
The group chat was already in chaos.
Adolf K. Wiesmann: “Invincible!! Old Bai is invincible!!!”
Misaka Mikoto: “Hugging Bai Luo’s legs tightly!”
Kurumi Tokisaki: “Scorn the one above, then cling tightly.”
Misaka Mikoto: “You little…”
Members with modern astronomy knowledge could understand Bai Luo’s power.
Even more astonishing was that such a great deity was also their groupmate.
Incredibly, after ten days of being in the group, Bai Luo had remained approachable throughout.
A deity.
Yes, in the eyes of the members, Bai Luo was no different from a god.
Such an existence could interact with them like an older brother next door.
This was beyond humility and low profile; it was simply kindness!
If it were anyone else, they would have long since disregarded the weaker members and started acting recklessly.
Ignoring the commotion in the chat group, Esdeath, who had recovered, logged back in.
“What exactly happened just now?”
She wanted to know how she lost: “What are you all talking about?”
Scrolling through the chat history, Esdeath found herself unable to understand various terms used by Ace and Adolf K. Wiesmann.
Soon, Esdeath learned what had happened in the arena from Adolf K. Wiesmann and others.
Due to lack of knowledge, Tanjiro, Master Abe, Esdeath, and Qian Renxue had insufficient understanding of concepts like the universe, space, galaxies, and planets.
However, this didn’t matter.
“Watch this, Esdeath.”
Kurumi Tiske sent a pre-recorded battle video to Esdeath.
After watching it, Esdeath fell into a daze.
Especially when she was consumed by energy, the video showed the perspective shifting from a small archipelago, rising upward through the sea, the surface, the planet, and finally viewing everything from a galactic angle.
If one had to describe Esdeath’s mindset at this moment:
Before this battle, you saw me as observing the moon from a well; after this battle, you see yourself as a speck of dust gazing at the vast sky!
“This…”
Esdeath trembled slightly, for the first time in her life feeling genuine fear towards someone.
Just a moment ago, Esdeath had been eager to witness Bai Luo’s full strength.
Now she had seen it.
What was the result?
No!
In reality, Esdeath clenched her fists tightly, her expression serious and fervent.
She admitted it; she was afraid.
But feeling fear toward a powerful existence wasn’t shameful!
On the contrary, knowing shame leads to courage.
It was precisely because she saw the gap between them that she must strive with all her might to grow stronger.
Like when Esdeath was young, witnessing her father die before her eyes made her realize the reality that the weak can only be bullied.
Become stronger!
She wanted to become a true powerhouse!
Her once dormant heart burned again, and at this moment, Esdeath felt the world had never been so vast and free.
Gazing at the heavens, the originally unreachable sky seemed laughably insignificant compared to Bai Luo.
One day, I will catch up to you!
Esdeath didn’t seek to surpass Bai Luo, but at least she wanted the qualification to stand beside him.
“So…”
Master Abe: “Can anyone explain what just happened?”
In fact, for Tanjiro and Master Abe, the battle became completely incomprehensible from the moment Bai Luo moved.
For them, battles should involve physical blows or sword fights.
Esdeath’s abilities were already exaggerated.
But Bai Luo…
Tanjiro: “Isn’t this guy a deity?”
Master Abe: “You even said you weren’t a deity?!”
“Cough, let me give a brief explanation.”
Misaka Mikoto: “Firstly, the land we live on is actually round, like the sphere during my battle with Queen.”
“These types of lands are called planets, which can be considered worlds in our context.”
None of the members were fools.
Especially with Misaka Mikoto providing images and specific data, even ancient people like Master Abe understood the enormity of the concept of a planet.
Yet such a planet was casually tossed aside by Bai Luo.
Not only tossed aside, he turned the planet into paper bombs and flattened the entire star system.
“If we use data for comparison.”
Adolf K. Wiesmann: “Our sun’s volume is 1.3 million times that of Blue Star, and the difficulty of destroying Blue Star versus destroying the sun is even greater.”
The larger the celestial body, the higher the density, and the sturdiness cannot be generalized.
“So, everyone can recall their strongest techniques and compare.”
Using Misaka Mikoto as an example, her most powerful strike, firing the maximum mass of super electromagnetic cannon, could at most break a small island, barely qualifying as city-level destruction.
Kurumi Tiske’s spatial quake could devour a city if she went berserk without restraint.
Esdeath’s power was clearly superior, possessing the terrifying destructive force capable of wiping out a country alone.
In contrast, Tanjiro was still cutting stones.
Master Abe could only cut vegetables.
Qian Renxue, who had just broken through to the Soul Emperor level, could at best blow up a building.
“By the way, I previously proposed a rank system.”
Bai Luo: “Considering the large span involved, I’ve established a new grading system ranging from F to S.”
After speaking, Bai Luo posted his newly determined F to S grade system in the chat group.
“I set F grade as ordinary people, E grade refers to martial artists in Master Abe’s world who haven’t cultivated internal energy.”
“D grade possesses speed and strength far exceeding normal humans. In Qian Renxue’s world, this would equate to having over 30 levels of combat strength. The current Tanjiro should be around this level.”
This classification falls within the early seven-digit limit, with the upper limit being S grade.
Therefore, for someone like Esdeath, who has entered the mid-seven-digit level, this ranking system holds little significance.
“I see.”
Misaka Mikoto: “Then what level am I?”
Kurumi Tokisaki: “Same question.”
Upon hearing Bai Luo’s description, the group members curiously asked where they stood specifically.
“The current Qian Renxue is roughly between C and B grade. After comprehending her Battle Spirit’s true form, she could break through to B grade.”
The Qian Renxue in the group came from anime rather than the novel Douluo Dalu, something discovered during private chats.
Qian Renxue: “If Soul Saint is only B grade, then what about Title Douluo?”
“It’s not that Soul Saint is B grade, but rather that your breakthrough beyond Soul Saint reaches B grade.”
Qian Renxue’s Battle Spirit was a divine-level Battle Spirit, allowing her to fight Title Douluo even at the Soul Saint stage.
For others, a 70-level Soul Saint would at most receive a C-grade evaluation.
To reach B grade, one would need to break through 90 levels and become a Title Douluo.
“…”
Alright, Qian Renxue had no words left.
With the strength Bai Luo displayed, his words carried absolute authority in her eyes.
However, this made Qian Renxue feel that the profession of Soul Cultivator/Soul User seemed somewhat beneath dignity.
“As for A, a 99-level Ultimate Douluo can barely reach this level.”
A grade also spans a significant range. An Ultimate Douluo merely achieves an A rating but isn’t among the top-tier.
Reaching A means one can single-handedly destroy an army or even devastate a city.
“For instance, Ace, if you unleash your full power, you’d rank highly even among A grades.”
If Ace were placed in the Douluo anime world, Thunder Giant, Iron Sand Sword, and various Super Electromagnetic Cannons would qualify as divine-level combat power in terms of output.
In short, Ace lacks only physical prowess to reach Special A grade.
“Above A is Special A.”
“Special A, also known as Catastrophe Level, possesses calamitous might akin to natural disasters.”
Kurumi Tiske’s spatial quake has nuclear weapon-like destructive power.
Combined with the extensive erosion of the City of Time Consumption, obtaining Special A status is justified.
Similarly, Adolf K. Wiesmann, as the Silver King, possesses defense impervious to nuclear weapons.
Even if the earth collapses or tsunamis arrive, he remains unscathed.
“Within the chat group, there’s currently only one S grade member—Esdeath.”
S grade belongs to the seven-digit realm and is considered a demon king-like existence on any planet.
They possess the ability to destroy nations or sink continents, wielding catastrophic powers, making them the pinnacle of terrestrial combat strength.
Qian Renxue: “I’m merely B grade, and even achieving godhood at level 100 would only amount to A-level combat strength.”
Nevertheless, Qian Renxue raised no objections.
There was no way; she had personally witnessed S grade power in Esdeath.
That kind of instantaneous freezing of continents and erasing all vitality.
Recalling it brought shivers down Qian Renxue’s spine.
Of course, Qian Renxue chose to ignore Bai Luo.
So did the other group members; they directly excluded Bai Luo from the comparison scope.
Kurumi Tokisaki: “What about the Origin Angels in my world?”
“Hmm…”
Bai Luo thought for a moment before replying: “Much stronger than Esdeath. If it were Chonggong Mio at her prime, she could create a space quake capable of destroying a planet.”
Thus, peak Chonggong Mio would be considered late seven-digit, perhaps even reaching the pinnacle of seven-digit, belonging to planetary explosion-level combatants.
“However, she could only destroy planets like Blue Star. For something like Jupiter, equivalent to 25,000 Blue Stars, at least late seven-digit would be required.”
Planets vary in size. A twenty-thousand-fold difference shows the value of the seven-digit realm.
From the initial destruction of 473 continents at the beginning of seven-digit, to destroying Blue Star in the middle, and eventually blowing up Jupiter at the end, each breakthrough differs by ten thousand times.
“Then, Mr. Bai Luo, where do you stand?”
Speaking these words was Qian Renxue, who indeed cared deeply about this.
“In my case, I should be considered one of the outstanding figures at the early six-digit level.”
Bai Luo’s current strength could effortlessly destroy a star system.
If placed in the Douluo anime world, he could easily wipe out the entire Douluo Divine Star.
As Bai Luo mentioned earlier, aside from the deities from Ace’s world, which he couldn’t handle yet, he could easily solve any problems the other group members encountered.
“How do you feel, Esdeath?”
Seeing Esdeath reappear, Bai Luo kindly inquired.
“Not bad.”
Esdeath: “I’m satisfied with this match. Thank you.”
Indeed, getting beaten is also fighting; there’s nothing wrong with that.
“Good.”
Bai Luo: “That’s good. You can call me if you need anything in the future.”
“No, it’s unnecessary.”
Esdeath awkwardly replied: “At least until I reach the six-digit level you mentioned, I probably won’t challenge you again.”
After saying this, Esdeath finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Admitting inferiority requires immense courage.
Especially for someone as proud as Esdeath, it was akin to negating oneself.
Of course, breaking through leads to new heights, and Esdeath’s mental state improved significantly.
“My body has fully recovered, and the energy stored in Ice岚 General has returned.”
Ice岚 General theoretically should have remained in the Amegakure World, but the arena converted it into a summonable entity.
“So, if members prepare sufficiently before entering the arena, does the arena consider it part of their power?”
To test this point, under Bai Luo’s suggestion, everyone conducted another trial.
For example, Kurumi left her clones in reality while entering the arena herself, and she could still summon those outside clones.
However, Adolf K. Wiesmann’s Genos Nitenjiro.
Although he was his follower, the arena did not recognize such summons.
Bai Luo summarized that anything self-condensed by members, including energy bodies, consciousness entities, equipment, and items, would be regarded as part of the member in the arena.
Even if not carried in initially, they could be accessed as needed.
Undeniably, the arena was quite humane and ensured fairness in the duels to the greatest extent possible.