Chapter 37: Ranks of Demonic Beasts

“You just repeated several times things like ‘Black Python,’ ‘Profound Rank Superior,’ and so on. What does that mean?”

After hearing the Bear in the Mountain God Temple say words such as “Black Python” several times, Mo Lin could not help but feel curious.

The Bear was slightly surprised when he heard this:

“What, you don’t even know what ‘Profound Rank Superior’ means?”

Mo Lin narrowed his serpent pupils slightly:

“Am I supposed to know?”

After all, ever since he came to this world, he had neither teacher nor parents.

Everything could only rely on himself to fight for and figure out.

That Gong Yang, who mocked himself as a wild cultivator, at least had jumped ship from a proper government office like the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring.

Compared to Mo Lin, Gong Yang could hardly be called a wild cultivator.

Therefore, there were still many things about this world that Mo Lin did not understand.

The Bear sat up straight, carefully sizing up Mo Lin, clicking his tongue:

“That you could dodge Buddha’s sneak attack, I’m not surprised. That you are a Black Python, I’m not surprised. But that you don’t even know what Profound Rank is—Buddha really is a bit shocked.”

“After all, there aren’t many snake demons who can cultivate all the way to Profound Rank from knowing absolutely nothing.”

Mo Lin remained noncommittal.

The Bear lay back on the lotus platform again, once more assuming the posture of the Maitreya Buddha:

“Seeing that you didn’t disturb my meal earlier, that your strength isn’t bad, and that Buddha happens to be in a good mood, Buddha will reluctantly explain it to you.”

Mo Lin still remained noncommittal.

In truth, based on his understanding of this chatterbox bear, if he were to say one sentence like “I’m not interested in this,” blocking its mouth, this chatterbox bear would probably feel even more uncomfortable.

But Mo Lin was indeed curious about this Profound Rank Superior, so he let the Bear talk.

The Bear crossed his legs, pondering for a moment:

“For fellows like us who want to become demonic beasts, generally speaking there are only two paths. One is to break through the limit of our lifespan and transform into demons upon old age; the other—well, that’s by eating humans.”

“Looking at you, you can be called young even among pythons. You definitely didn’t transform through breaking your physiological lifespan.”

“That means—you ate humans.”

Mo Lin’s heart stirred.

Thinking about it, after he ate Hong Tianfeng, the scales on his snake head started forming into a human face.

Even now, his snake scales were becoming more and more human-like.

Moreover, after eating Hong Tianfeng, he had indeed sensed that he gained the ability to “Transform into a Demon.”

So, only by eating humans could one transform into a demon?

It seemed that in this world, the conflict between humans and demonic beasts was even deeper than he had imagined.

But Mo Lin did not interrupt the Bear.

The Bear continued speaking:

“After eating humans and transforming into demons, we are considered to have stepped onto the path of cultivation.”

“Once on the path of cultivation, for a demonic beast to become stronger, it must cultivate, eat humans, and grind through time.”

“The ranks of demonic beasts, from strongest to weakest, are divided into Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Each rank is further divided into Superior, Middle, and Inferior grades.”

“Yellow Rank demonic beasts can be called Yellow Demons. Profound Rank demonic beasts are called Profound Demons, and so on.”

“If you add in the species of the demonic beast itself, like you, you could be called Black Python, or Profound Snake.”

“Well, how about that, simple enough, isn’t it?”

Mo Lin pondered:

“According to what you’re saying, right now, I’m already standing in the middle tier of demonic beasts?”

The Bear wagged his short finger:

“Not so, not so.

In fact, you can already be called a Demon among Demons—that is, what demon hunters often call a Great Demon.”

Mo Lin frowned:

“I’m only in the third rank, yet I can still be called a Great Demon?”

He could not help but recall that the first Secretary Bird demon he encountered had mistaken him for a Great Demon.

And when Ding Fan and Xu Han were trying to capture him, they seemed to have shouted it too.

It seemed that they all knew about the Heaven-Earth-Profound-Yellow ranking system.

The Bear shook his crossed legs, speaking leisurely:

“In this world, there are not just a few beasts that eat humans and enter demonhood,”

“But those fellows who have just transformed into demons cannot truly be called demons—at most, they can be called Mortal Demons, not even qualifying to enter the ranking.”

“To go from Mortal to Yellow takes at least ten years.”

“In those ten years, among those who can survive under the hands of the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring and other demonic beasts, fewer than three out of ten remain.”

“To go from Yellow to Profound takes at least twenty years.

Among those, only three out of ten survive.”

“And cultivating to Profound Rank Superior naturally requires even more time.”

“In these decades of time, those who can survive under the hands of the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring and other demonic beasts and steadily grow to Profound Rank Superior are less than one-tenth of those who first became demons.”

“So, tell me—don’t you deserve to be called a Great Demon?”

Mo Lin, upon hearing this, fell into thought.

If that were the case, then indeed he was qualified to be called a Great Demon.

However, the Bear’s words left him puzzled.

From Mortal to Yellow required ten years.

From Yellow to Profound required twenty years.

According to the Bear, to reach Profound Rank Superior required at least thirty years of patient cultivation.

But from the time he was born until now, it had only been three years.

Even counting his past life’s age, it still wasn’t enough years to qualify for Profound.

Mo Lin’s heart moved.

It must be thanks to his Devour talent and Shedding ability.

With these two abilities, he could turn everything he ate into his own energy, exchanging food for time, quickly helping him become a Profound Rank Superior snake demon within just three years.

Otherwise, if he had really followed the chatterbox bear’s words and used long years to grind, he would have already been captured by Ding Fan or refined into a Jiangshi by Gong Yang.

The Bear glanced at the pensive Mo Lin, then as if thinking of something, chuckled:

“But honestly, when I learned you were a Profound Rank Superior, even Buddha himself was shocked!”

“Although Buddha doesn’t know how snake demons determine specific age, Buddha can tell you are very young.”

“Buddha originally thought you were at most a Superior Yellow Python, so Buddha made some moves.”

“If I had known you were Profound Rank Superior, I wouldn’t have bothered to make a move on you!”

“After all, within a thousand miles around here, the only one who can steadily surpass Profound Rank is that one.”

Mo Lin was shocked when he heard this.

Even though he had only transmigrated for three years, with his multiple Sheddings, even he himself could not connect the snake he was before with the one he was now.

Mo Lin had thought others should not be able to see anything either, but unexpectedly, the Bear directly exposed that he was still young.

Fortunately, fortunately, even the Bear did not know his exact age.

Otherwise, if it knew Mo Lin’s “real” age was only three years, that bear mouth of his might be dislocated from shock.

Knowing that the Bear could not discern his true age, Mo Lin let out a sigh of relief, while focusing his attention on the Bear’s final words:

“That one?”

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