Heaven Above Heaven

Li Yangyi fell to his knees. "...What the fuck just happened."

Shou placed his hand on Li Yangyi's shoulder. He said, his voice filled with sympathy, "Dude, you got schooled by a chef."

Silently, Li Yangyi stood up. He walked over the unconscious Wang Jing and headed for a corner to hide himself in. He knelt down and hugged his knees while facing the wall—his face was ashen.

"Completion rate 12%," the distinct window hovering above the golden-glowing core said.

Zhang Yong walked to the dejected Li Yangyi. "Little Yangyi, don't let this get to you. Look at that glowing light over there. 12% on your first run is a high number. Also, that Heart of a Gale of yours, I must say it was well executed." He was a bit jealous, since he only managed to reach 1%...

Li Yangyi lifted his head. His eyes had lost their glimmer. "Uncle Zhang Yong... Then why did the guy shrug it off as if it was nothing?"

"Uhh..."

"God dammit!" Li Yangyi cupped his hands over his face and shrunk even smaller.

Shou squatted down. "Well, you shouldn't sweat it. The man was pretty strong after all."

"Ah, yes! What was his cultivation stage?"

Shou tilted his head. "I think he was a mortal."

Li Yangyi started to silently weep.

"Calm down, cultivation isn't everything you know." He patted the guy's head.

Li Yangyi shot up, and with an agitated voice he screamed, "What do you mean, 'cultivation isn't everything'? I've already broken through three times in my cultivation road you know? I'm counted as one of the budding geniuses in this empire you know? If I joined the army, I could lead my own troops you know?" His shoulders slumped down. "...Yet, I was done in by a mere mortal." He stared at Wang Jing who still hadn't woken up. Who knew, maybe he'd sleep the whole night.

"Three times—Wait, you reached the third realm already?" Shou's eyebrows shot up. "Mortal Fortification, Spirit Ascension, Longevity Lord... you've already become a Longevity Lord?" If so, he'd really be a genius! That was one-third of the road to immortality!

However, Li Yangyi quickly shook his head. "What? Have you gone crazy? Do I look like a monster? I'm at the third Stage."

Shou squinted his eyes—Li Yangyis words greatly confused him. "Third Stage? Third stage of what?" There was a big difference between being the third stage of the first realm or the third stage of the seventh realm, though he didn't believe the kid in front of him had reached this far. 'Be more specific, please!"

"You don't know? You start as a mortal and then reach the Compassion Stage—that is the first breakthrough and you would officially become a culitvator. Afterward comes the Frugality Stage, and lastly, we have the Humility Stage—the one I am right now."

Shou knitted his brows. He held his head and sorted his thoughts. He went through the information that Si had given him and compared it with Li Yangyi's. 'Weren't those the stages of the Mortal Fortification Realm?' He sighed in relief. "What? So you are only at the latter-stage of the first Realm. Stop confusing me like that. I thought you were already a Longevity Lord."

Si mumbled from behind. "Hoh? So these guys count every stage within a realm as a breakthrough? I personally think only the nine realms should be counted as breakthroughs not the stages in between them, or else's how many would there be? Is this the case of handing out participation-trophies so that even the lesser talented feel valued?"

Li Yangyi, seeing the confused Shou, laughed slightly. His mood lightened a bit. "Longevity Lord? That's funny, then I'd already be at the end of my cultivation road no? I could even face off against his majesty then, let alone a feeble chef with one arm."

"End of the road?" Shou caught on to this particular words, and his mind became jumbled again. It almost sounded like the guy in front of him said that the Longevity Lord was the pinnacle of cultivation. "What do you mean 'end of the road'? More like the beginning. Next comes the fourth realm, what did Si call it again—ah, yes, True Sovereign."

Zhang Yong began to realize that there seemed to be a miscommunication happening. He quickly stepped in to explain. "Shou, since you do not mind yourself with the cultivation world, I can understand why you'd be confused of its system and the several levels of ascension, so let me explain."

Shou nodded slowly. "Please do."

"As you probably know, us cultivators—no matter what type—try to cultivate our mind and body to the finest degree, hence the name. There are certain milestones a cultivator reaches, indicating his ascension. After many years, we have decided to categorize them as stages. Li Yangyi over there has reached the third Stage, a commendable height for his age. I myself have reached the fifth Stage, and I think the City Lord, the one with the highest cultivation in this city has reached the sixth Stage. Each stage has a name, but most cultivators refer to them by their numbers since it's easier."

Shou grumbled. He held his head in confusion. 'That was a lot different from what Si had taught him. Did she lie to me? No, I don't think so. Let's hear him out first.'

"Also, there are a total of three realms in which the stages reside: The Mortal Fortification Realm, the Spirit Ascension Realm, and the last one, the Longevity Lord Realm. No more, no less."

"What's the highest stage then?" He suddenly seemed to realize something.

"Hmm, I heard my grandfather a long time ago say it was ten stages, But I don't know for sure. It's still far away for me after all."

Si quickly added. "Ah! The Mortal Fortifiaction Realm has three stages. The Spirit Ascension Realm has five stages. The Longevity Lord Realm has two stages. So ten in total. It adds up. So, what they know as the fifth stage, we'd recognize as the second realm second stage, I think."

A window popped up. It was a green: [the Spirit Ascension Resln consists of five stages—the Eyes, Ear, Nose Mouth and Hands Stage. Clearing each Stage allows the cultivator to separate the mind from its body and come in tune with their spirit.]

Shou held his chin and fell into a thought. "So, the stages are the same, only their names are different. For some reason, the highest cultivation realm they know is the third realm... I think I know why that may be. Last question: Say, what do you guys think the goal of cultivation is?"

Zhang Yong answered immediately. "Well, to reach the highest level and become the strongest martial artist."

"Not immortality?"

"God no. There's no such thing as immortality."

Shou thought about it some more, and suddenly, in his mind, a connection seemed to have been made, and he laughed out loud. "Ah I get it, I get it."

Si immediately asked, "What is it, what is it?"

Shou looked at the two customers in front of him, before he hid behind the counter. He knelt down and then whispered, "Si, do you know of the 'heavens above heavens' effect?" He cupped his hand over his mouth.

"[tilts head] no, what's that?" Seeing Shou's measures to ensure secrecy, Si turned a bit more serious. "Why are you acting so suspicious? Is it something big? Why do you hide it?"

"Well, I don't think they should hear about it for now." He paused. "Since it concerns the Dao after all."

"What!" Si cried out and gulped. "What is it, what is it?" Her eyes glistened with curiosity. She never heard many stories about that stuff, since her jurisdiction wasn't high enough.

He crossed his arms, "Well, I can't say much due to some restrictions, but to summarize, some time ago, I knew a guy who had taken the responsibilities of becoming the Dao. He didn't want to, since his wife had just birthed a daughter, but no one else was as strong as him. In the end, he compromised and decided he would do everything to help his child on her road of cultivation, though he could not be around her. He always liked the 'Child of Heaven' underdog stories, so he decided to mimic them for his daughters life. One of the things he created was the 'heavens above heavens' effect. It's when you reached what you think was the top of the cultivation road and it suddenly turns out there are even higher realms above you. His daughter could then swoop in and break new heights in the cultivation world, impressing her peers and beating down arrogant youths. I heard he once tried making the world more stupid to make his daughter seem smarter, but he settled w—Si, you there?"

Si, "..."

Shou looked a the ceiling. "Hello? Are you still there Si?"

"Yes, I just realized how everything seems so laughably stupid around you."

"Save it, now is no time for compliments." Shou placed his hand forward and appeared humble. "Anyway, even if we explain it to those two, they'd not understand it due to the restrictions of the almighty Dao, so let's just follow their system, okay?"

"Ah, sure whatever. I honestly couldn't care less." She shook her head and renewed her common sense. Really, never talk about the Dao with Shou.

He walked back with a smile and pretended as if nothing had happened. "Third Stage, huh! Man, aren't you great?" He patted Li Yangyi on his shoulder.

"...Why do I feel like you are making fun of me?"