Chapter 95 - Levels
On July 23rd, Kuoh Academy began the final exam for the first semester.
Aoki took a short vacation beforehand, but at least the foundation is still there.
Except for history, he passed all other subjects without issues.
As for history…
He truly had no choice.
The historical context of this chaotic world was entirely different from what he remembered.
Not only was the history of the world itself altered, but the history of the world also experienced quite a few deviations.
However, the history Aoki encountered is only average, so he can't identify the specific differences.
After the summer vacation, Aoki assimilated all the dual cultivation talents and achievements he had acquired previously.
Except for actual combat experience, which remained at the original level, he made great progress in all areas.
[Name: Uesugi Aoki] ★
Talent: [Demon Bloodline (Advanced)·Disabled] [Physical Mastery (Primary)] [Kenshin (Primary)] [Light of Thunder·Remnant] [Eye of Insight] [Mental Toughness] [Mirror Reflection] [Perception] [Contract (Spiritual)] [Tenacity] [Charm]
Skill: [Magic Extraction (Primary)] [Close Combat (Elemental)] [Zen Sword (Elemental)] [Thunder Spear] [Fireball] [Wind Sword Technique] [Earth Thorn Technique]…
Comprehensive Evaluation: Peak B-Level
There was no final comprehensive evaluation on the personal panel, but Aoki found that no matter how much he practiced dual cultivation, there was no improvement.
Puzzled, he specifically asked Rias.
After Rias's careful research and observation, he obtained this evaluation and learned some more detailed class divisions of the power system.
Intermediate devils generally possess A-level strength, corresponding to the average magician, average fallen angel, four-winged angel, martial saint, and other powerful levels.
Higher-level devils are classified as S-level, which corresponds to high-level magicians, high-level fallen angels, seraphim, warrior gods, etc.
After that, there is the highest level of devils, SS-level, which corresponds to the utmost level of fallen angels and eight-winged angels.
As for magicians and martial arts masters, it is more challenging to reach this level.
Magicians need to find the "root," while martial arts experts must cross over to the "immortal path."
Rias didn't explain the so-called 'root' and 'immortal path' to Aoki in detail because she wasn't very clear about these two concepts.
It is said that after crossing this threshold, the path ahead will be smooth, but this threshold is hundreds of times more difficult than other promotion methods.
In the past ten thousand years, I have never heard of anyone finding the "root" or the "immortal path."
After the SS level comes the SSS level, also known as the Dragon King level. Ten-winged angels, fallen angel cadres, and others are all at this level.
The Demon King level is even higher.
It is almost the strongest combat power in the three realms and is called the EX level.
The corresponding combat power is the twelve-winged angel, the king of fallen angels.
Existences beyond the Demon King level will basically not appear easily in the Three Realms, and there is no qualification ranking.
However, through Aoki's hard work, Rias still revealed some information.
Above the Demon King level, there are also the Super Demon King level, the Main God level, and the Sub-Dragon God level.
During this time, Rias told Aoki that it is very difficult to improve at all important levels.
Among these, the A-level and EX-level are the most difficult to break through.
Of course, "root" and "immortal" are not within the scope of discussion.
The difficulty of breaking through these two cultivation methods, which have become almost legendary, is estimated to be even harder than ascending to the Demon King level.
On the contrary, once you succeed, you will be able to break through to the Main God level, and your combat power will certainly reach the peak of the same level.
The reason Aoki cannot make any progress is that he is now facing the bottleneck of breaking through from B-level to A-level.
In Rias's words, A-level is truly extraordinary, and the essence of life begins to transform.
After reaching A-level strength, extraordinary energy, similar to magic power, truly starts to become the foundation of everything.
As long as you possess magic power, you can accomplish anything without eating, drinking, or sleeping.
They have never heard of any A-level strong person starving to death or becoming sick from overwork.
After reaching A-level, the increase in combat power at each level is no longer additive, but exponential.
Class A may not be enough to defeat Class B, but Class S can easily overpower Class B.
The attack of a higher-level demon can reduce a mountain to ashes, and the difference in power between lower-level demons and higher-level demons is like that of an ant to an elephant.
It is precisely due to the special nature of Class A that many individuals find themselves trapped here for their entire lives.
Consequently, extraordinary individuals such as high-level magicians and martial saints represent some of the world's top combat power.
This is the situation Aoki currently faces.
His dual cultivation ability can only increase quantity, but it cannot assist him in achieving qualitative changes.
Therefore, until he breaks through the bottleneck, no matter how hard he works, dual cultivation will have no effect.
It is easier for exceptional bloodlines to break through bottlenecks, but that doesn't mean challenges do not exist.
Rias took several months to reach A-level, let alone Aoki's unique incomplete high-level demon blood.
After learning this information, Aoki felt somewhat numb.
Rias and the others told him that with his magical talent, he would naturally break through after mastering the intermediate level of magic extraction…
But his family knew their own capabilities, so how could Aoki have any magical talent?
Since he had never extracted Shinra Tsubaki's intermediate magic power extraction skill, he could only attempt to learn it on his own.
However, after studying for nearly a month, he saw no progress.
He had thought that spending more time would suffice, but now it seems that it isn't merely a matter of time.
With his average magical abilities, it would take him at least one or two years to learn how to draw intermediate magic power.
Aoki doesn't have that much time to waste.
If he does not reach A-level within a day, he will not be able to enjoy the increased cultivation speed of his dual cultivation skill.
He also plans to advance to the Demon King level within a year.
Currently, let alone the Demon King level, there is uncertainty regarding whether he can break through to A-level within a year.
On July 30th, Aoki successfully passed the history make-up exam and officially began his summer vacation.
Unable to surpass A-level in terms of magical power, he began to enhance his martial arts and practical combat skills.
Compared to false magical talents, Aoki's abilities in martial arts and practical combat are genuine and very high.
After receiving the main swordsman talent from Miyajima Sakura, it took him only a short time to grasp a hint of the true essence of swordsmanship, which is why he obtained the Zen Sword in the skill column.
Of course, it is also because Aoki himself is quite strong, allowing him to save a lot of time on body and skills polishing, enabling him to progress quickly.
According to Miyajima Sakura, Aoki's current Zen Sword technique is merely at its beginning stages.
If he continues to improve, his martial arts strength will keep growing.
If a martial arts master wishes to reach the martial saint realm, which is level A, he must unite his spirit, energy, and mind.
In kendo, when the Zen sword is raised to the highest level, it signifies that the essence, energy, and spirit have been unified, allowing the energy within the body to begin to manifest naturally, entering the sword master realm.
Miyajima Sosuke informed Miyajima Sakura about the master realm and Zen sword cultivation methods, and Miyajima Sakura subsequently shared this with Aoki.
Since beginning dual-reign training with Aoki, Miyajima Sakura's strength has skyrocketed and now surpasses that of Miyajima Sosuke.
There was a sword master among the ancestors of the Miyajima family.
To prevent delaying Miyajima Sakura's training, Miyajima Sosuke provided all the ancestral experience notes and other materials to her.
The highest state of Sword Zen has many names, among which the most widespread is the unity of God and man, the state of Nirvana.
…
August 3rd. Aoki arrived at the Miyajima gymnasium to register as usual, disregarding Miyuna, who glared at him resentfully, and entered the private training room in the backyard with Miyajima Sakura, who had a flushed face, in his arms.
After an intense training session beneficial to both, Aoki stripped naked and took the Miyajima family's ancestral weapon, the renowned Harusame sword, to meditate with the sword.
On the other hand, Miyajima Sakura didn't waste any time.
Though Aoki took the weapon from her and utilized it, her Zen sword has reached the third level, and she no longer requires weapons for assistance.
Well, the only drawback is that the efficiency might be slightly diminished.
However, the total amount of essence in her lower abdomen can fully compensate for this.
A beautiful girl with an exquisite figure and impressive kendo skills, sat next to Aoki.
Her long purple hair fell loosely, her stunning eyes were slightly closed, the blush on her fair skin gradually faded, and her entire being radiated an aura of peace and tranquility.
If it weren't for the fact that the girl was also naked at that moment, with white liquid dripping from her thighs from time to time, anyone who viewed her would think she was a holy and majestic swordswoman.
Half an hour later, Aoki opened his eyes.
He looked at the girl beside him, breathing gently, then glanced at [Knife Zen (Intermediate)] on his skill bar and decided to practice dual cultivation again.
Since it was temporarily impossible to swiftly increase magic power through dual cultivation, Aoki discovered an overlooked aspect.
The ability of dual cultivation can not only improve physical fitness and accelerate the cultivation of extraordinary strength but also has an effect on the spirit or soul.
However, compared to the other two, the effect is notably minimal.
If the other two aspects had not ceased to grow, Aoki would not have been able to discover it, let alone other beautiful girls who could practice dual cultivation only from time to time.