The First Step

"Never ever mess with a Martial Lord," Shi Xingwan said to Shi Li.

Shi Li tilted his head as he didn't really understand what his father said. "Why shouldn't I mess with one, Father?"

Shi Xingwan placed his hand on Shi Li's shoulder as he replied, "Think about it closely. A Martial Lord has broken through the Nine Grand Seals, which means it has transcended mortality. Since that's the case, it has an extended lifespan compared to us, not to mention undefeatable power. If you mess with one, what do you think would happen to you?"

Shi Li, being a quick learner, applied this knowledge into real life situations and shuddered at the conclusion he got to.

"I...would die."

Shi Xingwan sighed as he nodded his head. "That's right, you would die. But it doesn't stop there. A Martial Lord is bound to have a lot of connections, plus with their power, they're bound to be short-tempered. So the range of the Martial Lord's anger doesn't only stop at you, your family, your clan, and even your friends and loved ones will be slaughtered by these Martial Lords."

Shi Li visibly shuddered after he heard his father's reply. Even though he has transmigrated into another person's body and has learned that cultivation exists, he never thought that there would be people like that.

Shi Xingwan looked at his son's expression filled with fear and couldn't help but laugh. He patted his son's shoulder to comfort him as he said, "Hahaha! Don't you worry my child, I'm sure you'd become a Martial Lord too someday and protect your father and your clan."

Shi Li stopped shuddering as his father was right. Since cultivation exists in this world, he too could become a Martial Lord in the future and bring fear into the people who hear his name.

"With the realms of cultivation taken care of, let's move on to cultivation aptitude," Shi Xingwan changed the topic after a few moments of silence.

"Cultivation aptitude huh..." Shi Li rubbed his chin as he pondered, "Does this have something to do with the speed of a person's cultivation, Father?"

Shi Xingwan looked at his son and smiled. "That's correct...well half-correct. Cultivation aptitude is the measurement of a person's speed in cultivating realms, comprehending techniques, and even the limit of a person's cultivation!"

"Cultivation aptitude covers all of that?" Shi Li was somewhat shocked since the things he had read on cultivation aptitude back then only covered one's speed of cultivation.

"It does," Shi Xingwan nodded. "There are three levels of aptitude according to the records in our libraries: Mortal, Spirit and World, with Mortal being the lowest and World being the highest level of aptitude."

"There are also some cases where a person's aptitude doesn't fall under these levels, so we give them names like Quasi-Spirit level and Quasi-World level," he added.

"Can you explain it to me, Father? Since I'm going to start putting in effort in cultivation, I should learn all of these things, right?" Shi Li asked.

Shi Li took a deep breath before explaining, "Well...it's quite simple really. A person with Mortal level aptitude can reach the Martial Master realm within five years while their limit would be the peak of the Martial Lord realm."

"As for someone born with Spirit level aptitude, they can reach the Martial Master realm within two to three years while their limit would be beyond the Martial Lord realm."

"Eh?" Shi Li couldn't help but gasp, "Beyond the Martial Lord realm? Aren't there only three realms of cultivation?"

Shi Xingwan shook his head. "Not at all, there are more realms beyond the Martial Lord realm, but at your current realm of cultivation, they're still far beyond your reach."

"Where was I?" Shi Xingwan scratched his head, "Oh right. For someone born with World level aptitude, these are the geniuses of cultivation! They can reach the Martial Master realm within a year while the limit of their cultivation would be at the legendary Martial Emperor realm!"

"Martial Emperor?" Shi Li's eyes gleamed at the name. From the name alone, a Martial Emperor sounds more powerful than a Martial Lord.

"A Martial Emperor is an existence you can't ever mess with!" Shi Xingwan's eyes also gleamed. "They have a lifespan far beyond the levels of a Martial Lord and they're even said to be invincible!"

"Invincible? Like you can't damage them at all?" Shi Li asked.

"You can't...because all your attacks would pass through their bodies!" Shi Xingwan exclaimed.

What?! Shi Li was surprised. He didn't expect that once someone reaches a level of cultivation far enough, they would end up becoming invincible!

'Does that mean I won't die anymore if I get struck by lightning?'

Seeing Shi Li's dazed expression, Shi Xingwan lightly coughed as he grabbed something underneath his desk. At the moment Shi Li came back to reality, he saw his father grab a long crystal devoid of color.

"What's that, Father?" Shi Li asked with a curious expression on his face.

Shi Xingwan opened his palm as he responded, "This is an Aptitude Crystal. From the name alone, I'm sure you know what its function is. Once you hold it and let the crystal examine your body, a beam of light will appear within and cover a part of the crystal, letting you know your aptitude level."

"If the light covers 1/5th of the crystal, you have an aptitude at the Mortal level. 2/5ths of the crystal means you have an aptitude at the Spirit level while 3/5ths of the crystal means you have an aptitude at the World level. If the light exceeds that point, then you have an aptitude exceeding the World level."

Shi Xingwan then gave the crystal to his son as he said, "Go ahead and measure your aptitude. Knowing your speed of cultivation is also a good thing."

Shi Li nodded and received the crystal with both hands. He then gripped on the crystal tightly as he closed his eyes.

"That's it," Shi Xingwan nodded. "Now let the crystal examine your potential."

Shi Li slightly nodded as he felt each and every cell in his body become lively. To him, he felt like all of his cells wanted to leave his body and head towards the crystal. But after a while, the sensation disappeared as he felt that the crystal was done checking.

He opened his eyes and saw a green light emerge within the crystal. Gradually, the green light expanded to cover 1/5th of the crystal. It then stopped for a bit which shocked Shi Li, but as if luck was on his side, the green light continued to expand.

The green light continued to expand to cover 3/10ths of the crystal, 2/5ths of the crystal, and stopped at the point where it covered 1/2 of the crystal.

Shi Xingwan looked at this and said with shock, "Q-Q-Quasi-World level aptitude?!"

Shi Li was also bewildered by the result. He felt his own body as he thought, 'You're telling me that the playboy actually had a body which was capable of exceeding the Martial Lord realm?!'