15: information

The pitch-black Universe was silent. As the black mist dissipated, Xiang Yan remained on a lonely meteorite. The surface of this meteorite was pitted and covered in cosmic dust, floating silently in the boundless darkness. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, as if in a meditative state like an old monk. There was not a single ripple of energy around him; he seemed like an ordinary person.

After devouring the stars grudge, a massive amount of memory fragments flooded into his mind, crashing against his consciousness like a tide. These fragments were chaotic, filled with all sorts of strange sights, sounds, and sensations, making him feel a bout of dizziness.

Xiang Yan took a deep breath, striving to suppress his churning thoughts as he began to sort through this chaotic information. Like peeling silk from a cocoon, he discarded useless information and gradually extracted valuable content.

Time passed minute by minute, and the starlight around the meteorite changed accordingly. Xiang Yan's brow gradually relaxed. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly snapped his eyes open, a sharp light flashing in his crimson pupils. He had finally finished organizing the information fragments in his mind, and a grand and complex cosmic picture unfolded before him.

Just as Cassius had said, this Universe was named the "Main Universe." It was called the "Main Universe" for three reasons:

First, its vastness. The territory of the Main Universe was boundless and expanding every second, as if it would never end. Countless galaxies were like gems scattered on a black curtain, twinkling with faint light.

Second, its extremely high ceiling. Among countless Universes, the ceiling of the Main Universe was unique and ridiculously high. This meant that within this Universe, infinite possibilities existed, and unimaginably powerful beings were nurtured.

Third, its incredibly broad inclusiveness and diversity. The Main Universe possessed incredible inclusiveness, capable of accommodating all kinds of life forms, energy systems, and civilizations. Here, you could see mechanical civilizations with highly advanced technology, or primitive tribes that revered natural forces; you could sense green planets full of life, or see desolate and dead asteroid belts.

"The Main Universe..." he murmured softly, "what an interesting place."

He closed his eyes again to continue organizing. More information fragments shone in his mind like a galaxy, gradually piecing together an even more magnificent and vast cosmic picture.

Among this vast sea of information, some of the details regarding civilizations in Cassius's account were incorrect.

For example, the will of the stars does indeed influence civilizations, but its influence is only regarding the classification of civilization types; it is not an absolute standard for Rank assessment.

The true way civilizations are classified is by their sphere of influence, as well as their utilization and control of energy within that range.

A first-level civilization corresponds to a planetary system.

A second-level civilization corresponds to a stellar system.

A third-level civilization corresponds to a galaxy.

A fourth-level civilization corresponds to a galaxy cluster.

A fifth-level civilization corresponds to a supercluster.

A sixth-level civilization corresponds to a local supercluster.

A seventh-level civilization corresponds to... (Note: The above classifications are general; some Transcendent Civilizations with special forms of existence are not included.)

Civilizations are classified into four types: Transcendent Civilization, technological civilization, comprehensive civilization, and special civilization.

At the same time, outside the Main Universe, there exist countless sub-Universes, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and their numbers are constantly increasing. These sub-Universes are like bubbles floating in the endless Void Realm, fragile and tiny. Before the powerful civilizations or individuals of the Main Universe, destroying a sub-Universe is like child's play.

The Main Universe itself is a melting pot of life and races, nurturing countless strange existences. New life forms and new power systems are born every moment, and transcendent power is as common as breathing. The Strong Ones are as numerous as trees in a forest, and civilizations are brilliant, shining against each other while also slaughtering one another. Cross-Universe invasions and dimensional conquests are as natural as the Universe breathing.

With such complex life forms and so many power systems, it was difficult to unify the life Ranks of the Main Universe. In an era long ago, a group of the most powerful beings in the Main Universe spent an extremely long time establishing three measurement standards.

Xiang Yan's fingertips lightly stroked his chin, a thoughtful light flashing in his crimson eyes. He learned from the memories of the stars grudge that these three measurement standards were: Numerical Rank Classification, Realm Rank Classification, and Life Level Classification.

Numerical Rank Classification was the most basic and intuitive. The characteristic of this classification method was that if a creature's specific value or values reached a certain standard, they could be called that Rank. This classification had a full hundred million Ranks, detailed to a staggering degree.

But numerical Ranks were ultimately just numbers and could not truly measure a life form's strength. Consequently, in the beginning, it was common for low-Rank beings to use special abilities or external forces to beat up high-Rank ones. Only on the technological side was the measurement relatively accurate, thus becoming the measurement standard for the technological side and some special cases.

Thus, the second type of classification, Realm classification, emerged. Compared to the tedious Numerical Rank Classification, Realm Rank Classification focused more on the transformation of the essence of life, dividing the power levels of life forms into different Realms. Each Realm had its unique characteristics and abilities. Although low-Realm beings could still kill high-Realm ones in this system, as long as one was 2-3 Ranks higher than the current level, they could form a massive advantage over the lower Realm. Thus, it became the most widely used measurement standard. According to the information obtained, there were about ten thousand of these Realms.

However, some problems still arose because some existences still couldn't be included, such as the stars grudge, the will of the stars, Xiang Yan who had fused with the Evil Sword Immortal, and other guys with extremely special forms of existence.

Thus, the third type of classification appeared: Life Level Classification.

This classification could be called the most rigorous, pure, and authentic classification in the entire Universe. Without the help of external forces, the suppression of the higher over the lower was nearly absolute. Furthermore, even for life forms at the same level, the gap between the ceiling and the floor was ridiculous.

For example, an ordinary person and a certain cosmic warrior race would be considered life forms of the same level. No matter how ridiculous the gap in their combat power was, as long as they left their respective environments, they would both be finished.

The Life Level Classifications from low to high were: Mortal Class, stellar calamity, Starry Sky Traveler, Self-Star, Erupting Supernova, Forbidden Zone Walker, Galactic Shore, End of Time, Hyper-Dimensional Observer, single universe, Multi-Dimensional Spacetime, Mythical Legend, Immortal True God, Eternal Ancient God, and Supreme Primordial God.

These names themselves represented the primary characteristics of that life level.

For instance, the first level: Mortal Class.

Life forms existing within specific environments are all called Mortal Class. Not mentioning the floor, the ceiling is Surface-Wiping. (Note: Wiping the surface of a planet that hasn't even reached first-level civilization.)

The second level: stellar calamity.

To put it simply, this level is a group of starry sky bandits. They use special methods to initially break free from environmental restrictions and drift through the Universe. When they encounter a planet with life, they engage in two activities: either robbery or claiming the territory as their own. The output floor is casually changing continental plates, and the ceiling is Planet-Bursting.

Do not underestimate this Planet-Bursting. In the Main Universe, a place full of all kinds of monsters and ghosts, it is very common for a planet to be as large as a real-life star. (Note: This Planet-Bursting refers to planets without special power reinforcements or special protection.)

The third level: Starry Sky Traveler.

Most environments in the Universe can no longer restrict them, and they truly begin their exploration of the Universe. As long as they don't seek death, basically no one will want to bother them. The gap between the upper and lower limits is also very large. After all, can the difficulty of an ordinary person traveling to a tourist attraction in China be on the same level as traveling to a war-torn Middle Eastern battlefield?

Whether they are dead or alive after the trip, and if they are alive, whether they are missing limbs or returning fully loaded—that is also a question.

The levels after that get more exaggerated the further they go; one can tell just by looking at the names how exaggerated they have become.

Their level of terror is staggering. Setting those aside for now, regarding Xiang Yan, after comparing with the information, he already knew that he was currently at the third level, Starry Sky Traveler.

At this point, Xiang Yan couldn't help but marvel at his own luck.

Because normally, the will of the stars is an absolute darling of the Main Universe, destined to be at the Self-Star level upon birth. As long as there are no accidents, the lowest future achievement floor is single universe. Having inherited everything from the stars grudge, while he might not be able to replicate it perfectly, becoming a Hyper-Dimensional Observer would be no problem. If he were willing to strive for it, single universe wouldn't be a dream.

And the stars grudge at that time, under the empowerment of the will of the stars, as long as it had chosen to flee and hide for a while, it would have surely become a Starry Sky Traveler. At that time, forget Xiang Yan being finished, he would have at least been beaten back to his infancy.

Fortunately, the stars grudge was blinded by hatred at the time and gave away its life for free, allowing him to pick up a huge bargain.

However, Xiang Yan was still a bit fearful. According to the content in the memories, that will of the stars named "atheran" was also a cunning old fox. It had probably anticipated that its dear son would go and throw away its life, so it had set up a safety mechanism where one wouldn't get a single cent unless they completely devoured its dear son.

But thanks to nature's gift, he had not only obtained precious information but also knew how to walk his path forward.