As he continued to read the guide, he also learned about the grades of worlds. He learned that there were small worlds, large worlds, and great worlds.
Small worlds are incapable of producing beings at the fourth mortal coil and above because they lack the resources and power. Large worlds can easily produce beings at the fourth mortal coil up to the sixth mortal coil. Finally, great worlds have beings at the seventh mortal coil and above.
When Sword Flash saw this mode of classification, he found it amusing that it was done on the basis of the strength of the inhabitants of worlds, not the size of worlds, as the categories led him to believe.
It was also stated that the world of Ethera is one of the great worlds in the universe. This puts it at the top of the food chain in the universe.
Unfortunately, the world of Ethera isn't the only great world in existence, and most great worlds are war mongers that like to subdue, absorb, or consume other worlds in order to grow stronger.
This was stated together with a warning to every member of the league of world eaters not to think that they are the strongest and to remain cautious in every interaction with other worlds.
The leadership assessment that he was given was used as an example of a world that got cocky and ran into a force that they couldn't possibly deal with.
Apparently, a large world had found a small world and chose to invade it without bothering to investigate it. This large world didn't know that the small world was already in contact with the world of Ethera.
When the small world was invaded, they reached out to the world of Ethera for help. The world of Ethera will respond by sending the Blood Skull sect to defend the small world.
If the Blood Skull sect succeeds in repelling the large world, they would gain the right to organize an attack on the large world. And if the Blood Skull sect fails, a more capable force will be sent to repel the invaders.
Either way, the large world is doomed now that it has come under the gaze of the world of Ethera. There is no way it will be saved.
Not even another great world will save it. If another great world intervenes, they are more likely to fight with the world of Ethera on how to distribute the large world rather than fight to save it.
So what is uncertain right now is how that unlucky large world will end. But it is certain that they are doomed, and it is certain that their fate is because they were not cautious enough.
After this example was used to warn him, he was admonished again and told to be careful. A particular line in the guide chilled him to the bone.
The line said, "If you're captured by another world or become compromised, the Ethera tree can choose to wipe out your existence in order to save itself."
"The Ethera tree can still erase you even if you haven't gene captured yet and are only at risk of being compromised. This is because the Ethera tree doesn't want its existence and its coordinates to fall into the wrong hands."
"The Ethera tree is a living thing, and it will do everything to prioritize its safety and continued existence. So the Ethera tree would rather kill you than risk itself. If you care about your safety, I suggest that you be cautious, just like the Ethera tree, and always prioritize your safety."
"If you think that invading a world is your business and yours alone, you will be very wrong. Anything you do outside of the world of Ethera risks the safety of everyone in Ethera."
"If we can eat other worlds, other worlds can eat us. So be always careful."
Sword Flash mulled over this warning many times. Then he continued reading the guide.
After he was done reading the guide, he began reading the information about the leadership assessment. What he read made him sigh in pity.
He didn't like the difficulty of the task and some of the particulars. But he didn't complain because it wouldn't change anything.
Since he had everything that he came for, he tucked the guide away and began his journey back to the sect.
When he returned to the sect, he went to get Thunder Drake so that they could begin refining the nascent soul pills. The two of them went to a secret location deep within the secret realm. This was where the rank 6 artifact of the sect was stored.
When they arrived at the location, the two of them worked together to open the door of the giant hall. The door of the giant hall opened to reveal a room full of blood.
The entire hall appeared to be a pool of blood. This was because the rank 6 artifact occupied all the space in the hall.
The two of them floated above the pool of blood and looked at it in admiration for a while. Then Sword Flash used his divine sense to caress the surface of the pool. As he did this, the still pool of blood began to shake and riot.
The blood in the pool began to gather itself into one large ball. This large ball grew to reach the ceiling of the hall. So it was taller than Sword Flash and Thunder Drake, even though the two of them were floating in the air.
Soon, the large ball began to transform. It grew large tentacles and became an octopus made entirely of blood.
The octopus said to them, "Isn't this a little troublesome, Sword Flash? It wasn't long ago when you came here with your master to see me. Now you've grown strong enough to match my power."
"Unfortunately, you can't wield me. You don't have a blood physique. You didn't even cultivate the Blood Art cultivation technique of the sect."