Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 29 Introduction to the Celestial Ranks

"Okay, one last question."

Huo Yuhao nodded in agreement with Qian Daoliu's explanation, then asked, "Big Horn, the starlight unicorn that guided me into the Spirit Realm, previously instructed me to absorb the spirit rings you produced, and stated directly that 'your Spirit Eye Martial Soul will evolve into an existence surpassing the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul.' What does this mean? What is the connection between the Spirit Eye and the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul?"

Qian Daoliu smiled slightly: "This needs to be explained starting from the celestial ranks of angels. However, this system is too complicated, and I will explain it slowly later. For now, you only need to know one thing: the Spirit Eye is the closest thing to the Seraphim. It is a martial soul that is only one step away from the true form of a mythical creature. As your martial soul continues to merge with various powers and become stronger, you will get closer and closer to the incomparably noble image of the Seraphim."

Huo Yuhao keenly noticed that when Qian Daoliu mentioned the word "angel," his tone became noticeably more respectful and solemn, and even his pronoun changed from "you" to "you (formal)."

Perhaps sensing that Huo Yuhao hadn't had enough, Qian Daoliu paused before continuing, "Angel Martial Souls are a broad category, but there are still different levels within them. Qian Nixiu, the third-generation Hall Master of the Spirit Hall, once published an article called 'The Theory of Heavenly Rank,' which divided Angel Martial Souls into three levels and nine grades, known as the 'Heavenly Rank.'"

"In the 'Order of the Celestial Order,' angels are divided into three levels: the upper three levels—the divine hierarchy, namely Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones; the middle three levels—the hierarchy of the Son, namely the Archangel, Virtues, and Powers; and the lower three levels—the hierarchy of the Holy Spirit, namely the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. The higher the rank of an angel, the more their form deviates from human nature."

"This is the real reason why Da Jiao said that the Spirit Eye Martial Soul is qualified to evolve into a Martial Soul that surpasses the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. The upper limit of the Six-Winged Angel, or Holy Angel Martial Soul, is fixed from the moment it has a human form. They exist as a bridge between the Mother of All Spirits and mortals. It is precisely because of this that the Spirit Hall was able to..."

Qian Daoliu stopped abruptly halfway through his speech, as if reminiscing about something, before continuing, "The true form of a Seraph is a giant golden vertical pupil with six pairs of enormous wings burning with golden flames on its back. This is the true six-winged angel. The six-winged angels that people often talk about can only be called three-winged angels in essence. However, all of this is meaningless now. Nowadays, the angelic martial souls circulating in Douluo Continent are probably no longer even archangels. Only the most ordinary angelic martial souls may still exist in the world."

At this point, Qian Daoliu's tone was clearly tinged with regret. After listening to Qian Daoliu's explanation, Huo Yuhao's doubts were basically dispelled.

After chatting casually with Qian Daoliu for a while, Huo Yuhao stopped idly and continued to seize every moment to cultivate. He had just broken through to level eleven and needed to continue to consolidate his realm.

Nothing happened that night. As dawn broke, Huo Yuhao finally emerged from his cultivation. Although his talent had improved somewhat with the help of dietary supplements and fortuitous encounters over the past few years, he was still far behind the true geniuses. He could hardly even come close to them. The entire night of cultivation had only allowed him to barely stabilize his cultivation level.

However, Huo Yuhao took it all in stride. Cultivation speed is relative. Although he couldn't compare to a prodigy like Brother Long, who reached level 50 in his teens and might be aiming for Soul Saint before the age of 20, he was still better than when he first awakened his soul power. If he was walking on two legs back then, he was now at least riding a four-legged carriage, even if he hadn't ridden the Earth Dragon Cart.

Being content with what one has, or rather, having something is better than having nothing, is a rather optimistic principle for Huo Yuhao.

After a few days of peaceful rest at home, Huo Yuhao prepared a variety of delicious meals for Huo Yun'er. He also packed up almost everything he needed to take with him. The combination of the soul-conducting heat lamp and the glazed tiles worked very well, allowing Huo Yuhao to cultivate spices stably. Although Huo Yuhao was unaware that this was actually a technology called greenhouse, he had indeed devised a similar device in order to obtain a stable source of spices.

After setting a timer to detonate a level-two soul-guided cannonball, Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er finished packing and walked out of the mansion through the back door. The sound of the soul-guided cannonball was so distinctive that it immediately attracted all the people responsible for keeping watch at the back door. Many of the watchful forces cursed inwardly, wondering which force was so unruly as to use a soul-guided cannonball to blow up the door. Were they trying to monopolize the wealth in this mansion?!

Huo Yuhao naturally didn't bother to find out about the previous owner of the mansion and the underhanded dealings of various forces in Xingluo City. After blasting his own front door into the sky with a level-two soul-guided cannonball, Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er went out as easily as if they were going for a spring outing in the countryside.

Upon arriving at the gate of Xingluo City on foot, a carriage had already arrived, seemingly waiting for their arrival. Huo Yuhao boarded the carriage, and after exchanging names with the driver to confirm their identities, they embarked on their journey to Shrek Academy.

The speed of the Earth Dragon Cart is actually not much different from that of a horse-drawn carriage, but the rental fee of the Earth Dragon Cart is more than three times that of a horse-drawn carriage. If you want to rent a horse-drawn carriage to go from Xingluo to Shrek Academy, the cost is less than one gold soul coin, while if you want to rent an Earth Dragon Cart to go to Shrek, the minimum cost is three gold soul coins, and there are also many more consumption options that are not originally available with a horse-drawn carriage.

If it were Huo Yuhao in normal times, let alone a dragon carriage, he wouldn't spend a single penny on even an ordinary horse-drawn carriage. After all, these two things are actually slower than he can run on his own two legs, so it would be a complete waste of money for him.

However, considering that his mother was not a Soul Master and had been suffering from a chronic illness, Huo Yuhao made a quick decision and rented a Dragon Cart, which was known for its stability and safety. It should be noted that the Dragon Cart was always pulled by a Dragon, a production-type Soul Beast with strong endurance and a relatively gentle temperament.

Although most of the earth dragons pulling the earth dragon carts are only a pitiful ten years old, they are still ten-year-old soul beasts, which are not comparable to ordinary horses. After all, even a ten-year-old wind baboon can breathe out a white light wave in one breath! Unless there is a soul master in the team, ordinary mountain bandits would not be willing to rob people riding earth dragon carts unless they are starving.

The *Celestial Order*, originally written by Dionysius, an early medieval Middle Eastern scholar, established a three-tiered, nine-rank system of angels, from angels to seraphim, known as the "Celestial Order." This theory of three tiers and nine ranks of angels was accepted by early Christians. Pope Gregory I (6th century) wrote in his commentary on the Gospels: "Those who take angels as their examples will approach the realm of God." This is known as the "theory of angelic imitation," which is tantamount to the Church's acknowledgment of the *Celestial Order*.

However, after 745, the Church basically abandoned its recognition of the "Celestial Order Theory." Nowadays, neither the Church nor angelology deals with the ninth order theory. However, the ninth order theory is incredibly useful in literary works, and our angelic martial spirit still adheres to it.

(End of this chapter)