Chapter 490

Uploading the Rank Eleven chapter meant that martial arts was now an eleventh-rank evolutionary path.

It was also the highest-level evolutionary path below the Strongest evolutionary path.

“Martial Arts Evolutionary Path’s latest ranking.”

Lin Yuan immediately looked at the “Martial Arts” section in his personal information.

As the founder of Martial Arts, Lin Yuan had permission to see its latest ranking.

As for others, they would have to wait until midnight for all the evolutionary rankings to “update” before they could see it.

“This is...”

Lin Yuan’s expression changed slightly.

Even though he had uploaded the Rank Eleven chapter, Lin Yuan had already anticipated the ranking of the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path.

He assumed it would still be tenth.

After all, the nine evolutionary paths ahead were all Strongest evolutionary paths.

No matter how great the potential of the Eleven-Rank Martial Arts might be, it still wasn’t a Strongest evolutionary path, so it couldn’t compare to those.

However—

When Lin Yuan saw the latest ranking of the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path, he couldn’t help feeling astonished.

“The Martial Arts Evolutionary Path is now fifth in the Human Civilization Evolutionary Rankings!”

“Fifth?” Lin Yuan couldn’t help being surprised.

Although it only rose five places, from tenth to fifth, he knew very well that the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path had surpassed those Strongest evolutionary paths.

“It appears the three Goddesses’ algorithm for ranking evolutionary paths doesn’t place a particularly high weight on Strongest evolutionary paths.” Lin Yuan reached this conclusion.

If it were purely based on potential, the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path definitely wasn’t on par with a Strongest evolutionary path.

No matter how high its potential might be, it still only had the possibility of advancing to a Strongest evolutionary path, whereas a Strongest evolutionary path was already at that level.

Therefore, for the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path to reach fifth place in Human Civilization, there had to be other influencing factors.

“It should be due to the Space-time fusion rule model.”

Lin Yuan thought to himself. The Space-time fusion rule model from the First to Fifth Stages drastically lowered the difficulty for rank-eleven evolvers in Human Civilization to advance, reducing it by several levels.

This impact was probably greater than that of some Strongest evolutionary paths.

“That’s good news.”

Lin Yuan calmed down.

The Martial Arts Evolutionary Path becoming the fifth evolutionary path of Human Civilization would undoubtedly spark another massive surge in the number of Martial Arts evolvers.

This would be helpful for Lin Yuan’s upcoming pursuit of the Ultimate Rank.

Even though, after his journey through the Immortal Realm, the number of evolvers taking the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path already exceeded the total number of evolvers from all nine Strongest evolutionary paths combined, Lin Yuan wouldn’t mind even more people practicing Martial Arts.

“Let’s continue training.”

After pondering for a moment, Lin Yuan went back to cultivating.

Upon returning to the main universe, Lin Yuan vaguely sensed the possibility of further improvement in his Space-time Seventh Stage.

Certainly, it wasn’t about going from the Seventh Stage to the Eighth Stage. With Lin Yuan’s level of life, reaching the Space-time Seventh Stage was already the limit.

As for the Space-time Eighth Stage? Even if he could somehow comprehend it, he would instantly be overwhelmed and destroyed by the vast amount of Space-time fusion rule information.

But he might be able to make progress within the Space-time Seventh Stage, maybe reaching the mid-seventh stage.

Early the next morning, numerous evolutionary path rankings in the virtual world were updated one by one.

“Martial Arts, Martial Arts Evolutionary Path...”

“What’s the big deal with the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path? Did it update its Rank Eleven chapter?”

“In fact, whether or not the Martial Arts has an updated Rank Eleven chapter doesn’t matter much to us. Its ranking won’t really change, and we don’t know its potential...”

At first, many evolvers and high-level citizens in the virtual world didn’t think much of it.

When the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path had uploaded its Rank Nine and Rank Ten chapters, the ranking had risen dramatically, sparking their curiosity, so they bought the newest chapters to see what it was all about.

But now?

The Martial Arts Evolutionary Path was already the tenth in Human Civilization, right below the Strongest evolutionary paths, and the gap seemed insurmountable. No matter how impressive the Rank Eleven chapter might be, could it really surpass a Strongest evolutionary path?

“Fifth! The Martial Arts Evolutionary Path is now the fifth evolutionary path of Human Civilization!”

“What? Did the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path upload both the Rank Eleven and Rank Twelve chapters simultaneously?”

“No, it only uploaded the Rank Eleven chapter.”

“With only the Rank Eleven chapter, it’s ranked fifth in Human Civilization? Surpassing five Strongest evolutionary paths?”

Countless evolvers and high-level citizens of Human Civilization were dumbfounded.

In their understanding, the nine Strongest ones stood above everything else, and their corresponding nine Strongest evolutionary paths did as well. No matter how outstanding a genius or how peerless an evolutionary path might be, unless it could also step into the Strongest evolutionary path, it couldn’t possibly measure up to those nine.

“That can’t be. Sure, the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path has immense potential and might become a Strongest evolutionary path in the future, but how could it surpass the Strongest evolutionary paths now?”

“Exactly. Having the potential to become a Strongest evolutionary path doesn’t mean it already is one.”

The rank-eleven evolvers of Human Civilization were also shaken. Even those hidden rank-eleven evolvers who had remained under the radar before the Starsea Calendar had trouble believing it.

An Eleven-Rank Evolutionary Path that surpassed five Strongest evolutionary paths to become the fifth in Human Civilization?

“Could the three Goddesses have made a mistake?”

“Mistake? How could the three Goddesses be wrong? As soon as there’s a shift in the rankings among the Strongest evolutionary paths, the nine Strongest ones would’ve known right away.”

“If the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path is ranked fifth, it must be tacitly approved by the nine Strongest ones.”

After a brief period of bewilderment, the ancient rank-eleven evolvers of Human Civilization quickly calmed down.

Questioning the three Goddesses being wrong wasn’t realistic. Even if the three Goddesses were wrong, could the nine Strongest ones have also been mistaken?

So much time had passed without any change to the ranking of the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path, indicating there was no error.

“Since the Strongest ones are aware and still placed the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path at fifth, it suggests that there’s something exceptionally influential within the Rank Eleven chapter?”

“I’m buying the Rank Eleven chapter right now to see.”

“Me too.”

The rank-eleven evolvers of Human Civilization immediately began purchasing it. They were extremely curious about what extraordinary secrets lay within the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path, which had climbed to fifth place with only an Eleven-Rank chapter.

“Wait, there’s a rule model?”

“There are so many mainstay-level fusion rule models?”

“And there’s also a Space-time fusion rule model?”

“No wonder... No wonder...”

Those who initially bought the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter with mixed feelings fell silent at once, diving into frantic study.

Numerous mainstay-level fusion rules, plus the Space-time fusion rule model, were akin to a heaven-reaching path. Even those rank-eleven evolvers who had reached Fifth Stage in Space-time comprehension were deeply affected, immediately going into seclusion.

Somewhere in the virtual world, in a mysterious space, the nine Strongest ones of Human Civilization sat on their thrones.

“Regarding putting the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path in fifth place, you five have no objections, correct?” Xuanyuan Strongest one looked calmly at the other five, speaking softly.

The Goddess of Wisdom had specifically asked for his opinion on whether to use the final merit points to determine the ranking, out of consideration for the Strongest ones’ pride.

Allowing an Eleven-Rank Evolutionary Path to surpass five Strongest evolutionary paths could be awkward for those five.

“No objections.”

The five Strongest ones shook their heads.

“The Eleven-Rank Martial Arts chapter indeed brings more benefit to Human Civilization than a single Strongest evolutionary path.”

Having the ability to reach Rank Twelve allowed them an accurate judgment of the Martial Arts Evolutionary Path.

The evolutionary rankings of Human Civilization considered only the path’s overall impact, and the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter would have a profound effect on all evolvers in Human Civilization.

On this front, it indeed outdid certain Strongest evolutionary paths.

“But we need to be wary of other alien races.”

The Void God Strongest one suddenly spoke. The Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter contained numerous rule models that could greatly aid any advanced life form, whether of Human Civilization or not.

“Rest assured, I’ve used the ancestral weapon to reinforce the transmission channels again and again.”

Xuanyuan Strongest one nodded.

To purchase the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter and obtain all its rule models, one had to go through the official Human Civilization virtual world. Xuanyuan Strongest one had reinforced this path repeatedly to prevent leaks.

As for whether people could spread it after buying it... even if someone fully comprehended the entire set of rule models, they couldn’t simply pass them on. Understanding it is one thing, but relaying it is another.

It’s akin to how the nine Strongest ones of Human Civilization all had Sixth Stage Space-time comprehension but still couldn’t refine the rule models from the First to Fifth Stage.

Unless one reached Lin Yuan’s level of rule comprehension, even if they saw everything, they wouldn’t be able to articulate it fully. They could only keep it for their own use.

Therefore, if other alien races wanted to acquire the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter, the only way was to infiltrate Human Civilization, disguise themselves as human evolvers, and buy it from the official virtual store.

But that was extremely dangerous. Human Civilization’s virtual world was incredibly stringent in detecting alien identities. Out of a hundred alien infiltrators, maybe not even one would pass the initial checks.

Those alien spies or assassins that did get through were basically “dead men walking,” who had long accepted that they might be discovered and destroyed, leading to the demise of both their avatars and real bodies.

The Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter was most useful to rank-eleven powerhouses, yet an alien rank-eleven infiltrating Human Civilization was unthinkable. Every single rank-eleven human was a known individual under the watchful eye of the Strongest ones. It was impossible for a completely new rank-eleven to slip in undetected.

As for sending their own “absolute geniuses” to infiltrate? Most alien races would be unwilling to risk having their top geniuses lose both avatar and real body just to gain the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter.

“Perfecting the Rank Eleven Martial Arts chapter suggests that the Milky Way Star Lord is close to attempting the Rank Twelve breakthrough.”

Xuanyuan Strongest one spoke expectantly, smiling.

...

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