Xiao Chen turned his head, dodging the banana that was flying toward his face, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Um…” Elder Wu looked apologetic, but his expression soon returned to normal. He coughed and smoothened his beard. “Um, ahem, ahem. Nothing. Nothing at all.”

Xiao Chen frowned, finding his behavior to be odd. Elder Wu seemed to be keeping a secret from him, but it didn’t matter. “Oh, that reminded me,” he said. “What’s my grade?”

Elder Wu picked up the other banana on the table and peeled it as he replied serenely, “It’s on the Mystic Sky Rankings outside. Look at it yourself. But I suggest you start looking from the Human Ranking lest you should waste your time.”

“Tsk, show-off.”

Even though Xiao Chen found Elder Wu to be scary-looking, the man was pretty humorous. He chuckled and then walked out.

Stepping outside felt like walking into a different domain. Bai Ling and the older disciples were still standing in front of the Mystic Sky Rankings, watching the name changes on the steles. They didn’t seem to have heard his conversation with Elder Wu inside the stone chamber.

Bai Ling was standing in front of the stele for the Earth Ranking. Her slender legs were pressed together and she had one hand placed in front of her chest, the other propping her fair chin. Her eyebrows were furrowed and the hair on her temples fluttered in the wind. Her eyes, as limpid as water, were focused on the ranking. From where Xiao Chen was standing, she looked rather breathtaking.

Seeing her frown made Xiao Chen think that he must have ranked higher than she did. The thought filled him with satisfaction. He walked over to her. Just as he was about to scan the stele, Bai Ling gave him a sidelong glance. “Stop looking. Your name isn’t up there.”

“Oh?” Xiao Chen was doing it on purpose. Naturally, he knew his current strength wasn’t enough to put him on the Heaven Ranking. Moreover, Baili Xiaohualuo was only in the 36th place of the Heaven Ranking. He just found Bai Ling to be an interesting person. He followed her line of sight and found her name on the 61st place. Her ranking didn’t fall.

He faked a laugh. “Oh my, you’re 61st. Not bad.” The banter in his voice was obvious. Bai Ling rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, “Idiot.”

“Hehe.”

Xiao Chen laughed and started scanning the names above the 61st place. However, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find his name anywhere. He was suddenly reminded of what Baili Xiaohualuo said. If he was able to rank somewhere, everyone under him would fall by one rank. Since Bai Ling’s ranking didn’t change, that meant he hadn’t surpassed her at all.

The thought prompted him to look at the names beneath the 61st place until he finally found his name in an unnoticeable spot. Even the cyan glow to the left of his name seemed to be lighting up with difficulty. He was ranked 69th.

“69th?” Xiao Chen felt the world spin around him. He was ranked 8th on the List of Experts in Heaven and Earth in the Violet Manor, but placed at the end of the Earth Ranking here?

To be frank, the List of Experts in Heaven and Earth wasn’t an authoritative one. Many truly powerful cultivators didn’t bother trying to enter the ranking. Bai Ling sneered when she saw his expression. “Did you only now know how weak you are?”

Regardless of what she said, she must admit that she was taken aback when she saw him ranked 69th on the Earth Ranking. She was also relieved to know that he hadn’t surpassed her yet, though she didn’t know why it bothered her so much. Perhaps it was because she believed that he only won their battle at the Long-Gate Pass thanks to his dirty tricks.

The disciples in the same batch as Xiao Chen, however, were amazed. It was incredible that a newcomer could break into the Earth Ranking. Some of them couldn’t even make it into the Human Ranking. Even Bai Ling, back when she first entered the academy, barely made the bottom of the Human Ranking. It seemed that the Annihilation Times was truly in the works. Even though the newcomers these days didn’t have pure cultivation, their cultivation realms were higher than the disciples before them.

Even so, Xiao Chen had a hard time accepting the results. Was he, a fourth-level Nirvana Realm cultivator, truly no match for Bai Ling, who was merely in the second-level Nirvana Realm? Could Bai Ying be right? Was his cultivation not substantial enough?

The thought made him turn around and run back inside the stone chamber. Elder Wu bit off a part of the banana and said indistinctly, “What do you think? Happy with the results?”

“Well…” Xiao Chen pulled a face and clenched his fingers. “What’s going on? Please give me some pointers, Elder.”

“Hehe.” Elder Wu chortled and put down the banana. “Give me your hand.”

Xiao Chen immediately did as told, rolling his sleeve and offering his hand. Elder Wu pressed two fingers together and shot a ray of white light into his wrist. Then, as if he was a doctor examining his patient, he picked his fingers for a moment with a slight frown. “Fourth-level Nirvana Realm. Your cultivation realm is decent, but what a pity…”

“What’s a pity?” Xiao Chen asked impatiently.

“It’s a pity that your cultivation grade is too low. It’s inferior,” Elder Wu replied bluntly, retrieving his fingers.

“Inferior?”

Xiao Chen was in disbelief. He had learned a thing or two about cultivation grades on his way here. Cultivation grades referred to the purity of one’s cultivation. He knew that his current grade was incomparable to some of the older disciples here, but it wasn’t so bad as to be the lowest grade, was it? So, he asked, “How are cultivation grades divided?”

Elder Wu chortled and handed him a banana. “Don’t be so hasty, young man. We can talk again after you have this banana.”

“Oh. Thanks, Senior.”

Xiao Chen took the banana off his hands but didn’t peel it open. Elder Wu smoothened out his beard and said, “Cultivation grades are divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. Yours isn’t as bad as the lower grade, but it can’t be considered a middle grade either. Well, you can consider it a lower-middle grade.”

“Lower-middle grade…” He might have mentally prepared himself, but the answer still disappointed him. “What about beyond the upper grade? Is there none?”

“What do you mean, none? Who told you that?” Elder Wu glanced at him and continued, “Beyond the upper grade is so much greater quality that upper, middle, and lower grades can no longer cut it. Rather, we go from the bottom to the top: Cave Ruins, Mystic Sky, and Supreme.”

“Cave Ruins, Mystic Sky, and Supreme grades…” Xiao Chen muttered. It seemed that he was really far behind in this. Frowning, he asked, “Do we have any older disciples with Cave Ruins grade?”

“Puff!” Elder Wu choked on his water. He looked at Xiao Chen and said, “Did you think you can find Cave Ruins-grade cultivation anywhere? Never mind the Cloud Mist Academy, you can hardly find one in the entire Wastelands! Well, at least that’s the case for now. Of course, that person may be the exception…”

He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Let’s put it this way. The gap between the two sets of grades is like that of heaven and earth. A peak Nascent Soul Realm expert with Cave Ruins cultivation grade can instantly kill any Nirvana Realm beginner with lower or even middle cultivation grade.

Xiao Chen was stunned. “You’re kidding me. Isn’t there also a heaven-and-earth difference between Nascent Soul Realm and Nirvana Realm? A Nirvana Realm cultivator was instantly killed by a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator? That sounds too crazy to be true.”

“Hehe.” Elder Wu threw him a sidelong glance and took a few more sips of water. “Too crazy to be true? That was before the Annihilation Times. Now, it’s no longer an exaggeration, especially in the final two stages.”

He put down his cup and looked at Xiao Chen. “See the Young people these days,” he said serenely. “The Annihilation Times is already here, but all you care about is advancing your cultivation without any regard for its quality. Don’t you regret it now? It’s easy to advance your cultivation, but not your grade. Moreover, once your grade lags behind your cultivation realm, it’ll be impossible to raise it again.”

“Is that so…”

Suddenly, realization dawned on Xiao Chen. He finally understood that before the Annihilation Times, cultivation grades weren’t at all an important factor. No one would have cared for their cultivation grade because let alone the grade, it was difficult enough to improve their cultivation realm,

In the era of the Annihilation Times, where everyone’s cultivation had improved, the disparity between cultivation grades became increasingly evident.

Right now, Xiao Chen could finally understand what things that had confused him before. The arrival of the Annihilation Times had simply spurred everyone to improve their cultivation realm as quickly as possible, neglecting their cultivation grade. The faster their cultivation realm advanced, the lower their cultivation grade would be. It was easy to advance realms, but not grades. Those who prioritized realms would be destined for a tragic end. Those who went on a pill rampage were just digging their graves.

Bai Ying, on the other hand, had been paying attention to her cultivation grade since the very start. That was why she invented the Wisdom-forsaking Technique, considered a mockery by others, and continuously refined her grade. Once her cultivation realm picked up, she would surpass everyone around her.

Once the final two stages of the Annihilation Times take place, those who only prioritized their cultivation realm would be doomed to become cannon fodder. The thought sent a shiver down Xiao Chen’s spine. Oh no! He might have understood this, but Xin’er, Senior Sister Luo, and the rest didn’t. He had to find a way to send them a message at once, telling them to stop their blind pursuit to raise their cultivation realm.

But very soon, Xiao Chen calmed down. Xin’er’s side had Senior Gui Xian, Senior Sister Luo’s side had Perfected Immortal Qing Chen, Elder Zi Mo, and Elder Qingfeng, whereas Muxue and Brother Yifeng were in Kunlun. Since Elder Wu understood this logic, surely Perfected Immortal Qing Chen, Senior Gui Xian, and the rest would too. They wouldn’t lead Xin’er and the rest astray.

The thought restored his calmness. Sure enough, one required a teacher to guide his cultivation journey. Blindly pursuing cultivation would surely bring one away from the true path. Had he not come to the Cloud Mist Academy today, he would have truly gone down a path of no return. What a close call.

He sighed, remembering Bai Ying’s warning not to blindly advance his cultivation realm. He had been confident, thinking that he possessed the Mystic Cyan Cultivation Method, believing in the glory of the Mystic Cyan Sect in the yesteryears, and thus ignored her words. Still, it wasn’t too late to mend things now.

Seeing the look of realization on Xiao Chen’s face, Elder Wu laughed and asked, “How is it? Do you finally understand it now, young man? Do you still believe that you can be content with your fourth-level Nirvana Realm cultivation now?”

Xiao Chen saluted him with a smile. “Your advice today is more useful than ten years of classroom learning. But, how do the people here improve their cultivation grade?”

“Do you still have to ask? Using Mystic Stones, of course. But the stones aren’t all that effective as after all, cultivation grades aren’t easy to raise.”

Xiao Chen nodded. Elder Wu’s reply confirmed his speculation. The Mystic Stones could just barely remedy those with low cultivation grade. It was impossible to use them to advance from lower to upper grades. Moreover, the better one’s cultivation realm was, the harder it would be to raise one’s cultivation grade.

“You’re beginning to understand how difficult it is, aren’t you?” Elder Wu laughed. “You were quite a good seedling, but unfortunately, you were too anxious for results. If your cultivation is merely in the first-level of the Nirvana Realm, it wouldn’t have been that difficult for you to improve your cultivation grade. But your cultivation is in the middle stage now. The way I see it, there aren’t enough Mystic Stones in the world to help you.”

“Your words are indeed true, but…” A cunning smile appeared on Xiao Chen’s face as he left the rest of his sentence unspoken.