Chapter 65: Grade Divisions

Murong Mengli paused, then continued. "I understand your concerns as Nightmare Apostles, but rest assured, what you're worried about won't happen at Bronze Coffin. In fact, after years of development, cooperation between Transcendents in the Real World and Nightmare Apostles has fallen into a relatively stable pattern. In the beginning, things were indeed chaotic, and incidents of Real World Transcendents coercing Nightmare Apostles were frequent.

"But people underestimated how dangerous Nightmare Apostles could be. When threatened, a person who might die in the Nightmare World at any moment can explode with a ruthlessness far beyond that of an ordinary person.

"There were even terrorist incidents where Nightmare Apostles used suicide attacks to kill Empire nobles. Gradually, the two sides shifted toward cooperation, eventually giving rise to Transcendent Tier Companies."

Su Mu smiled noncommittally. He understood human nature all too well. In the eyes of the nobles, Nightmare Apostles were simply highly valuable employees who could drop dead at any time. A noble might pay a Nightmare Apostle today, only for them to die in the Nightmare World tomorrow. The nobles would inevitably wonder: if they just made a verbal promise and waited for the Nightmare Apostle to die, wouldn't they save a fortune?

The more black-hearted nobles could just use a Nightmare Apostle's family as leverage and avoid spending a single cent. No matter how crazy a Nightmare Apostle got, what could they actually do? In the end, this world ran on strength.

For example, would a Transcendent like Han Yu fear Yang Dongqing's threats?

"Miss Murong, I haven't been a Transcendent for long. I want to know where my strength stands among Transcendents, or rather, the grade divisions between them." Yang Dongqing asked the question he cared about most. His complete inability to fight back against Han Yu had cast a shadow over his heart.

If every Transcendent in the Real World were like that, he would have to start walking around with his tail tucked between his legs.

Murong Mengli nodded. "Mr. Yang, at present, you should only possess the single Bronze Law of Heart of Steel, correct?"

Yang Dongqing paused in surprise. "I do only have Heart of Steel. Miss Murong, from your tone, is it possible to possess multiple Bronze Laws?"

"Yes, the abilities possessed by Transcendents are not limited to just one. Has Mr. Yang never thought about why the Bronze Law is called Bronze?"

Yang Dongqing seemed to realize something, his eyes unconsciously widening. "Could there be a Silver Law above it? A Gold Law?!"

Murong Mengli tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and smiled faintly. "Mr. Yang really understands with just a hint. There are a total of three laws in this world: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

"Possessing one Bronze Law means you have formally stepped into the ranks of Transcendents, placing you at Bronze Tier 1.

"And possessing two Bronze Laws puts you at Bronze Tier 2."

Yang Dongqing's mouth involuntarily dropped open. "Then if someone had ten Bronze Laws, wouldn't they be Bronze Tier 10?!"

Pfft.

Murong Mengli smiled gently, dazzling and enchanting as a spring flower in bloom. Only at times like this did she seem to shed her disguise as a strong career woman, revealing a trace of girlish innocence.

"There aren't that many. The maximum is only Bronze Stage 3. Above Stage 3 is Silver, and reaching Silver Stage 3 naturally paves the way to becoming a Gold powerhouse. My father is a Silver Stage 3 Transcendent. He has been stuck at this rank for a long time and has collected many transcendent materials. Currently, he is only missing the Eye of Gold to advance to Gold."

Phew.

Yang Dongqing breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost thought he was worlds apart from the Transcendents in the Real World. It turned out each tier only had three stages.

"Then Han Yu is..."

"Tier 2."

Yang Dongqing's expression shifted. "Silver?"

Murong Mengli shook her head. "Bronze Tier 2."

"What?!" Yang Dongqing's expression drastically changed. He hadn't expected Han Yu to be only one rank higher than himself. When they met that day, the man had completely suppressed him with just one hand, rendering him unable to move.

"Han Yu's two abilities are Great Force Bombardment Punch and Ceaseless Recovery. The former provides him with unimaginably immense physical strength, while the latter grants him a recovery rate hundreds or thousands of times greater than an ordinary person's. You could say that as long as his body isn't smashed to pieces, he is very difficult to kill."

A wave of frustration welled up in Yang Dongqing's heart. He realized that neither of Han Yu's two abilities was weaker than his own Heart of Steel; in some aspects, they were even superior.

Before becoming a Transcendent, he had always been insecure and withdrawn. Later, transcendent power gave him unparalleled confidence. But now, after coming into contact with the transcendent world, he suddenly discovered he was still at the very bottom. For a moment, his self-confidence took a severe hit.

Murong Mengli seemed to notice Yang Dongqing's low spirits and comforted him, "Mr. Yang, do not lose heart. You are a Chosen One. You possess a talent advantage that ordinary Transcendents cannot match."

"What advantage?" Yang Dongqing revealed a look of anticipation.

"The talent of a Chosen One is unparalleled. Under normal circumstances, after an ordinary person consumes a Transcendent Potion and becomes a Bronze Tier 1 Transcendent, it takes about a year of continuous training and combat to develop their ability to its peak. At that point, they can consume a second bottle of Transcendent Potion and advance to Bronze Tier 2.

"But a Chosen One does not need to consume Transcendent Potions. Moreover, going from Bronze Tier 1 to Bronze Tier 2 only takes three months. Some exceptionally gifted Chosen Ones take even less time.

"And that is not even a Chosen One's greatest advantage. The biggest advantage is that none of your advancements rely on Transcendent Potions. You only need to independently connect to the Bronze Law in the Nightmare World to advance. Of course, consuming Transcendent Potions definitely saves more time."

Yang Dongqing raised an eyebrow, his confidence recovering slightly. "Is there any sign when one's ability is developed to its peak?"

"Only the Transcendent themselves can feel it. It's as if a certain boundary has been broken, and suddenly, they can utilize their abilities much more proficiently, their strength skyrocketing."

Hearing this, Yang Dongqing's lips twitched upward—his smile was harder to suppress than the recoil of an AK. He was now absolutely certain he was a one-in-ten-thousand genius!

Because in the last Nightmare World, his Heart of Steel had been enhanced. It had clearly been developed to its peak, and he was about to advance to Bronze Tier 2!

Su Mu observed all of Yang Dongqing's shifting emotions and couldn't help but shake his head slightly. The guy was still too young; he wore everything on his face.

Murong Mengli suddenly turned to look at Su Mu and asked, "I wonder if Mr. Su could disclose his own rank? If it's inconvenient..."

"It is inconvenient," Su Mu smiled politely. The main issue was that he didn't actually know what Bronze rank he was. One or two? Immaculate Heart plus Myriad Phenomena made it seem like he should be a two, but he hadn't developed either ability to its peak, completely contradicting the advancement logic.

Murong Mengli: "..."

She stared blankly for a moment, then recovered her composure. "Mr. Su is straightforward indeed. I was too abrupt. I'm not sure how much Mr. Su knows about the transcendent world, but I still have one piece of advice I must give."