Breakdown of these levels

Martial artists were separated into different ranks. Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow. Heaven Rank was the highest and Yellow Rank was the lowest. Yellow Rank was usually classified as martial artists that just entered the martial arts world. Normally, they would be able to handle one or two commoners. For those Yellow Rank who were a bit more powerful, they would be able to handle up to five people at most.

The Black Rank was somewhat more powerful. They would be able to handle up to ten people without a problem. Even if their opponents were Yellow Rank experts, they would be able to handle five of them.

When it came to the Earth Rank, they could be called powerful because they possessed internal strength. It was sufficient for them to handle ten Black Rank experts. It was because of this that the trio were able to become Qinglong Hall’s generals. As for the other three halls, they also had a few Earth Rank experts. Only the Black Tortoise Hall had a half-step Heaven Rank expert.

The difference between Heaven Rank and Earth Rank was that Heaven Rank experts possessed internal energy. Their internal energy was a lot more ferocious compared to internal strength. Internal strength could only be used in two different ways, fist or palm strike. However, internal energy originates from the body’s Qi and could be used on any part of the body. It can be used to injure a person or guard their own body.

However, there were different stages in Heaven Rank. During the initial stage and middle stage, the internal energy could only be used within the body. But at the late stage of Heaven Rank, they would be able to release the internal energy outside of their body. It was said that even bullets would not be able to pierce them.