"But there's still one thing I don't quite understand."

Shen Qian frowned and said, "I have met many powerful people, but it seems that not every martial artist's literary rank is so obviously displayed. However, whether it is the third senior brother or the fifth senior brother, the traces of literary rank on their bodies are very obvious."

"That's because only high-level literary ranks can have a substantial impact on martial arts, and high-level literary ranks... are very rare."

Wu Wei patiently explained, "Although the literary ranks are divided into nine stars, according to general understanding, as long as you reach four stars or above, you are considered to have a high-level literary rank. Each time, more than a million martial artists enter the Sea of ​​Learning, but the number of people who can actually obtain a literary rank of four stars or above may not exceed a thousand."

"High-level literary ranks are so rare?" Shen Qian was taken aback upon hearing this.

"The vastness of the sea of ​​knowledge far exceeds your imagination. You may even search for hundreds of miles and find nothing. Most martial artists, even if they gain something, mostly obtain some second-rate or incomplete literary titles."

Wu Wei shook his head and said, "And on this basis, finding a literary position that suits you is even more difficult."

“Your senior brothers are not ordinary people. Even the five-star sword envoy rank in Lingxiao can be described as rare. As far as I know, no more than three people have obtained the 'sword envoy' rank in the last hundred years, and one of them has already broken through to the King-Marquis level.”

"Could it be the Heavenly Swordsman?" Shen Qian wondered.

Seeing Wu Wei nod, Shen Qian finally understood why Ling Xiao had obtained the "Sword Envoy" title. The Heavenly Swordsman was the king and powerful figure he admired the most, so it was normal for him to copy the other's path.

At the same time, Shen Qian frowned slightly. The literary rank left behind by the "White Emperor" must be a high-star literary rank. Literary ranks are hard to find, let alone such a special high-level literary rank.

Hopefully, the White Emperor or the King of Words left some clues; otherwise, all we can do before sinking is try our best.

"Was King Zhouyi also a 'literary official'?" Shen Qian thought of the "great enemy" lurking in the shadows and began to gather intelligence about him discreetly.

“Of course there are,” Wu Wei said with a smile. “And it must be a literary rank of eight stars or higher, but I don’t know exactly what it is, because Zhou Yi Wang entered the sea of ​​learning not in modern times, but perhaps one or two thousand years ago.”

Scholarly rank of eight stars or above...

Shen's expression was solemn. Although he had some guesses, he couldn't help but sigh.

In terms of cultivation, status, knowledge, vision, or any other aspect, King Zhouyi has already reached the pinnacle. If given a choice, Shen Qian would rather fight ten Dukes of Tianning than face an enemy of this caliber.

Unfortunately... he had no choice from the very beginning.

"Minister, you previously said that this academic trip would be very dangerous for me. There must be some other special reason, right?"

Putting aside his chaotic thoughts, he stepped forward and asked again.

From Wu Wei's words, Shen Qian had basically learned about the Sea of ​​Learning, but it didn't seem like a life-or-death situation. At least for Shen Qian now, most of the secret realms that would be extremely dangerous for ordinary people were no challenge for him.

"Do you really think that Xuehai entered in his true form?"

Wu Wei asked a question that carried a deeper meaning.

"Not the real body?"

Shen Qian was immediately taken aback.

“I’ve already told you that ‘the sea of ​​learning’ is an ocean of knowledge, existing between the real and the unreal. Now let me ask you, can you grasp ‘knowledge’ with your bare hands?” Wu Wei chuckled.

Speechless before sinking, Wu Wei's words were indeed very reasonable; the physical body simply cannot directly contain "knowledge."

"So it entered a soul form?" Shen Qian frowned, already realizing something.

"To be precise, it is a reflection of your three souls and seven spirits; it is not wrong to understand it as a 'soul body'."

Wu Wei nodded, "This is why we generally do not encourage martial artists below the high level to enter. Although the minimum requirement is the intermediate level, only a very small number of exceptionally talented intermediate martial artists or those from royal families are allowed to enter."

"Mountain and Sea can already make the soul manifest and condense into a spiritual core, so the main force that enters is usually Mountain and Sea."

"Although the spiritual core has not yet been condensed at the advanced martial artist stage, martial artists at this level have honed their spiritual power for many years. Therefore, their souls will be much stronger than ordinary people. At least they will not collapse after absorbing a large amount of 'knowledge' because they cannot withstand it."

"Then... how does the combat power of the soul form compare to that of the physical body?" After understanding, Shen Qian asked the question he was most concerned about.

At his level, it's possible to let one's soul leave the body, but Shen Qian had never tried it before.

Firstly, it's unnecessary, and secondly, without the protection of the physical body, the inherently fragile soul will only face higher risks.

"Naturally, it is far inferior to the original form."

Wu Wei shook his head. "After all, human warriors cultivate their physical bodies from the very beginning. Once they only manifest their souls, most warriors will only have 20 to 30% of the combat power of their physical bodies. In addition, they will lose the bonuses from supernatural powers, martial arts, and weapons."

"Of course, after condensing the spiritual core, the Mountain and Sea Realm can generally unleash half of its original combat power, so it is usually recommended to wait until after the Mountain and Sea Realm before entering the 'Sea of ​​Learning'..."

As Wu Wei gave his detailed explanation, he began to drift off into thought.

He was assessing the combat power of his "soul body".

Many people only start cultivating their spiritual power after reaching the advanced level of martial arts, but Shen Qian is different. He cultivates ancient techniques and even began honing his spiritual power before reaching the initial level of martial arts. His spiritual power is definitely much stronger than that of martial arts practitioners of the same level.

Furthermore, with his spiritual power having reached a level where he could break through the three restrictions at any time, Shen Qian was confident that even without the enhancement of his physical body, in his soul form alone, he would be an absolute powerhouse in the mountains and seas.

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