"Ten thousand years might seem like a long time, but for Saint Realm experts, living that long is easy—as long as they aren't killed," Hodan said with a faint smile.
"May I ask how long Saint Realm experts can live at most, sir?" Carl asked curiously.
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"I don't know that myself. The longest-lived person I've met only lived for a little over a hundred thousand years. The longest I've heard of was around a million. As for whether anyone has lived longer, perhaps there have been, perhaps not," Hodan said, shaking his head.
At his words, Carl felt a little relieved. Time was a wonderful thing. At the rate Starfire City provided points each day, it would take only a few years to buy her family members a high-grade aptitude upgrade, enough to raise them to the strength of Level 9 Warriors. With the family's cultivation bonuses, they might even have a chance to reach the Saint Realm.
Even if they only just entered the Saint Realm and could make no further progress, their long lifespans meant there might be a way forward someday. If all else failed, once she became a god, she could have her family's disciples refine Divine Sparks.
After all, only when her family and territory reached higher levels could they provide her with better cultivation bonuses.
"But if Saint Realm experts can live for a million years, then even at the rate you mentioned—one appearing every hundred years—there should be tens of thousands of them. Yet I've rarely heard of Saint Realm experts on the Yulan Continent. They seem to be very scarce here." Carl Talos asked.
Carl knew full well how few Saint Realm experts there were on the Yulan Continent.
The Yulan Continent was only a Material Plane. Before reaching the Saint Realm, a talented cultivator might go from an ignorant youth to a Saint Realm expert in just a few decades. But once they reached that level, advancement took dozens or even hundreds of times longer. Which of the current peak experts on the Yulan Continent hadn't cultivated for thousands of years?
Cultivation was slow, and the Yulan Continent also had a Plane Overseer. After stagnating for a century or more, many ambitious Saint Realm experts eventually chose to head for the higher-level Divine Planes. Nine out of ten of those who went there would die in the various conflicts raging across the Divine Planes. Of the lucky few who survived, most couldn't afford the right to return to a Material Plane.
And that was only part of the reason. More than eight thousand years ago, the Yulan Continent had suffered the War of World Destruction. According to the historical records, there had been several other continents beyond it, but they had all been sunk during the war. Then, more than three thousand years after the War of World Destruction, powerful beings from another plane had invaded.
The Yulan Continent was only a Material Plane, and Material Planes usually gave rise to only a small number of Low-level Deities and very few Mid-level Gods. At least without going to the Divine Planes, the cultivation environment in a Material Plane was far inferior to that of the Divine Planes.
That was also why Plane Overseers were usually only Mid-level Gods.
The powerful beings who crossed over from elsewhere during the War of World Destruction and the invasion from another plane had been among the most powerful High-level Gods. If the beings behind those two wars hadn't been unmatched even by gods, the Yulan Continent would have been shattered long ago.
Carl knew all this, but couldn't let on. She could only be considered a lucky wild Saint Warrior who had crossed into a higher realm. In the eyes of outsiders, she was far inferior to established powers with sufficient resources and inherited knowledge.
So although veteran Saint Realm experts knew certain things, Carl couldn't act as if she did. She understood that perfectly well, which was why she asked a question she already knew the answer to.
"Why? Of course, because they all went to other planes," Hodan replied with a smile.
With someone who might be a Paragon on the Yulan Plane, Hodan, who had once been able to throw his weight around in the Material Plane, now had no choice but to faithfully fulfill his duties as a Plane Overseer. Still, he believed that those who reached the Saint Realm would understand the scarcity of resources in a Material Plane after cultivating for a few hundred years. By then, he could persuade quite a few of them to join his family.
According to the experience of Plane Overseers, those who reached the Saint Realm on their own in a Material Plane could become Low-level Deities within a thousand years of entering a Divine Plane without much difficulty. They would probably reach the Mid-level God stage within ten thousand years. And those who could become gods on their own while still in a Material Plane had a very good chance of reaching the High-level God stage within a hundred thousand years.
After all, Hodan was a member of the Renards Family, a powerful family with a Chief God Envoy. Aside from the geniuses who could cultivate on their own to the Saint Realm or even become gods without help, there was nothing else in a Material Plane worth their attention.
As for guarding the plane, if not for the being who might be a Paragon, Hodan would have ruled the entire Yulan Continent long ago. Then every Saint Realm expert would have been a potential recruit for the Renards Family.
It was a breeding ground that could provide the family with a steady stream of powerful middle-ranking members, given enough time.
Thanks to Hodan's explanation, Carl learned more of the Yulan Continent's secrets. After all, her knowledge of the continent had come only from the original story, whereas this was the real world.
Carl had lived for more than two hundred years and had never believed that her world was merely a book. She was more inclined to believe that the world had always existed, and someone in her previous life had simply glimpsed part of it and written down some of its stories.
And any story was incomplete. Now that Hodan was willing to tell her the secrets known only to the Yulan Continent's highest powers, Carl was naturally delighted.
But no matter how extravagantly Hodan described the Divine Planes, when he finally invited her to go there, Carl still refused.
"Lord Hodan, I'm sure you're a great god-level expert, while I'm merely a junior who has just entered the Saint Realm. I haven't even mastered the Momentum of Heaven and Earth yet. With my current strength, going to a Divine Plane would only bring you shame."
Without any backing, Carl naturally had to say what he thought Hodan wanted to hear. Although the Coiling Dragon World had few resources that could accelerate cultivation, they did exist.
There were such treasures on the Yulan Continent, too—for example, that spatial rift.
But to enter it, Carl would have to wait until she reached the Peak Saint Realm.
Hodan had grown used to being turned down. After all, he hadn't expected someone who had only just entered the Saint Realm to dare go to a Divine Plane. He had only wanted to give her an early heads-up.
"Very well. But once you reach the Peak Saint Realm, if you want to go to a Divine Plane, you can come find me in the Northern Ice Plains."
With that, before Carl could reply, Hodan vanished from the spot.
Looking at the empty stone table, Carl felt little stir within her. The Divine Planes might be wonderful, but they weren't somewhere she should venture just yet.
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