Becoming a Saint From the Iron Armor Skill

Chapter 503: Chapter 249: Border-Guarding Merit

"Are you asking which Realm’s power is the strongest in the world?"

Xia Lingfeng asked.

Chen Cheng gave a slight nod. "Precisely."

Xia Lingfeng didn’t answer right away. He walked over to a bookshelf, picked up a copy of the *Dao Chapter*, and flipped through it casually. A thoughtful expression appeared on his rugged face.

After a good while, he finally spoke. "A Martial Artist who cultivates the Martial Dao does so to become the strongest."

"To become the strongest, you must undoubtedly cultivate the strongest Martial Dao path."

"When I was young, I asked my master this very same question."

"My master’s answer was that of all the Realms in the world, the Five Elements Realm is the strongest. Once you achieve Five Elements Unity, you can go anywhere under the heavens."

"The Five Elements Realm is the strongest?" Chen Cheng was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Xia Lingfeng to give such an answer.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—these were the five types of the Power of Heaven and Earth Origin. Cultivating any single one to its peak would grant immense power.

The Five Elements of Mutual Generation and Inhibition cycle endlessly, and Five Elements Unity represents the very nature of creation. It was indeed a powerful concept.

But to say the Five Elements Realm was the most powerful didn’t seem right. The *Comprehensive Record of Realm*, which Chen Cheng had just been reading, compared the power of the Five Elements Realm and the Eight Trigrams Realm.

The *Comprehensive Record of Realm* argued that the Five Elements Realm was far inferior to the Eight Trigrams Realm, and Chen Cheng thought there was some truth to that.

However, Chen Cheng couldn’t bring himself to agree with the book’s assertion that the Eight Trigrams Realm was the strongest of all.

The Yin Yang Realm seemed to be on par with the Eight Trigrams Realm, and the various Sword Dao and Killing Realms didn’t seem any weaker than the Yin Yang Realm either.

In Chen Cheng’s opinion, among all the various Realms, the Five Elements Realm was neither the strongest nor the weakest. It was merely average.

As if sensing Chen Cheng’s doubt, Xia Lingfeng grinned. "That’s what my master said. I, however, don’t believe that!"

His expression suddenly turned serious. "In my opinion, of all the Realms in the world, the Five Elements Li Fire Realm is the most powerful!"

Chen Cheng was dumbfounded. That answer seemed even more absurd!

’The Five Elements have relationships of mutual generation and inhibition. The Li Fire Realm is naturally countered by the Gui Water Realm. How could it possibly be the strongest?’

’By that same logic, none of the individual Realms within the Five Elements could ever be the strongest on its own.’

Still, judging by Xia Lingfeng’s expression, he wasn’t just spouting nonsense.

Chen Cheng thought for a moment before asking, "Lord Xia, are you saying there is no single strongest Realm in the world?"

Xia Lingfeng nodded slightly and smiled. "You’re a sharp one, kid. You get it with just a hint."

"The Realms of this world—be it the Five Elements Realm, the Yin Yang Realm, the Eight Trigrams Realm, the Killing Realm, or any other—cannot be simply ranked by strength."

"A Realm’s strength also depends on how far a Cultivator can take it."

"Take the Five Elements Realm, for example. Even if you cultivate all five aspects—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—to the point of Five Elements Unity, you might not be able to defeat someone who exclusively cultivates just one of them to an extreme degree."

"At a certain level, the contest is not about quantity, but quality."

As he spoke, Xia Lingfeng slowly took a few steps back and opened his right hand. A ball of blazing, red-hot Li Fire Aura suddenly erupted in his palm.

"This is the First Layer of the Five Elements Li Fire Realm. Its power is enough to set this room ablaze."

With that, he slowly turned his palm. The very air trembled as the ball of Li Fire Aura condensed, transforming into an incandescent, nearly white-hot fireball.

The air in the room suddenly became scorching hot!

"This is the Second Layer of the Five Elements Li Fire Realm. Its power is enough to incinerate this entire room in an instant."

After speaking, Xia Lingfeng gave a slight wave of his hand, and the fireball quickly dissipated.

He let out a soft sigh and said,

"But this is nowhere near the ultimate power of the Five Elements Li Fire Realm. Above the Second Layer of the Li Fire Realm, there is a Third Layer Realm."

"As for the power of the Third Layer of the Five Elements Li Fire Realm, even I cannot say."

"I’m afraid no one in the world today could say for certain. Not even the Peak Master of Five Elements Peak in the Great Dao Sect has managed to cultivate the Third Layer of the Five Elements Li Fire Realm."

"The Third Layer Realm touches directly upon the Heaven and Earth Origin, which is the legendary True Intent of Heaven and Earth."

"Upon reaching such a state, it is the unity of all things. Perhaps it can no longer be classified as any single, individual Realm."

"In my opinion, any Realm that allows one to cultivate the True Intent of Heaven and Earth can be considered the strongest."

Xia Lingfeng’s explanation surprisingly aligned with what his master, Mr. Zheng, had said.

Chen Cheng thought for a moment, then asked, "But if we’re comparing Realms at the same level, say the First Layer or the Second Layer, there must be a difference in strength, right?"

Xia Lingfeng replied, "Yes and no."

"The power of a Realm sounds mysterious, but it’s really just about mutual generation and inhibition. And even that isn’t absolute."

"Take what happened in the Great Wilderness Mountain Range, for instance. My Five Elements Li Fire Realm naturally countered the Ghostly Wound Old Monster’s Blood Evil Realm."

"But even though we were both at the Second Layer, I couldn’t defeat the Ghostly Wound Old Monster. In fact, I was at a disadvantage because his control over his Realm was far more profound."

"But after you interfered with your Great Power Realm, a flaw appeared in his control over the Blood Evil Realm, which allowed me to turn the tables."

"A clash of Realms is much like any other martial contest. It comes down to timing, geographical advantage, and the human element."

"You’ve seen the Earth List by now. Have you figured anything out from it?"

The question was sudden, and Chen Cheng was once again taken aback. "The Earth List rankings?" he asked in surprise. "Is there some hidden meaning to them?"

Xia Lingfeng nodded. "Of course there is. The rankings on the Earth List are determined by one’s comprehensive strength in the Martial Dao."

"And while assessing comprehensive strength does take Martial Arts Talent into account, the most important factor is actual combat prowess."

"When the Celestial Secret Pavilion determines the Earth List, they primarily rely on a person’s combat record—their battles against other people or their feats in slaying Demon Beasts."

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