Development

Spark City's excellent living environment over the past few years has led many to move here voluntarily upon hearing of its benefits. Today, the population governed by Spark City has reached over eight million, making it a top-tier major city in every sense.

However, for a Level 2 Territory, the system only recognizes a population of one million. Karl has no way to register all the residents, and those he can register in the system are either Level 3 Warriors or youths with decent talent.

This has resulted in the one-million-person quota being completely filled, yet the actual number of people providing points is only a little over eight hundred thousand.

Of those eight hundred thousand, ninety percent are Level 3 Warriors, with a small number of Level 4 Warriors and some Level 5 Warriors. All of them can receive the cultivation bonuses passively provided by the territory; while small, it still gives them a glimmer of opportunity to rise.

As for Level 6 Warriors, they are a losing investment for Karl. They provide very few points daily—only 0.8—yet Karl must provide them with the full cultivation bonus, which is a staggering ten percent, costing him 10 points every day.

In the short term, this is a losing business, but looking at the big picture, as long as these Level 6 Warriors can gradually break through to become Level 7 Warriors, they can become the backbone of Spark City. For those who perform exceptionally well, Karl doesn't mind purchasing the Advanced Aptitude Enhancement Talisman, which costs a whopping thirty thousand points, to give them a future chance of reaching the Level 9 Warrior realm.

Why is the City Lord's Mansion so festive today?

It is simply because the City Lord, Lin Taros, has successfully advanced from a Level 7 Warrior to a Level 8 Warrior. Behind this, however, lies the reality that Spark City lacks high-end strength.

The current situation is largely due to other Level 9 Warriors in the Anlan Kingdom showing respect to Karl.

After all, Karl has not yet announced that he has entered the Saint Realm.

When it comes down to it, Karl's strength is in the weakest tier of the Saint Realm. He is only ten times stronger than a peak Level 9 Warrior. While this strength gives him an overwhelming advantage against Level 9s, he would be the one being crushed if he faced others at the Saint Realm level.

With the situation in the Anlan Kingdom rotting to this extent, Karl does not believe this is merely an internal change within the kingdom; after all, in the memories of the Yulan Continent to come, the Anlan Kingdom does not exist.

And right next to the Anlan Kingdom lies the famous Fenlai Kingdom.

There is more than one Saint Realm expert behind the Fenlai Kingdom. Since Karl's current strength requires time to develop, staying low-key is a good choice.

With the official establishment of Spark City and the deterrence provided by Karl as a peak Level 9 Warrior, other experts of the same level have tacitly accepted its development. Over the past three years, the daily points provided to Karl have grown from a few hundred to several thousand, and now, they are approaching ninety thousand per day.

With more points coming in, Karl naturally doesn't mistreat himself. After maxing out his daily idle progress, he purchases many items useful for the Saint Realm level, and only then does he allocate the remainder to his family and territory.

For instance, aptitude enhancements have been used not only by all the Level 7 Warriors in the family but also by members willing to train hard. Even residents who perform well in the territory are not ignored by Karl; he bestows blessings and cultivation bonuses as deserved.

Under such cultivation bonuses, Karl believes that Level 8 Warriors in his family and territory will spring up like bamboo shoots after rain. Eventually, there will come a day when the development of his family and territory reaches the Level 3 standard.

[Family] Promotion to Level 3 Requirements: Level 9 (0/100), Saint Realm (0/5)

[Territory] Promotion to Level 3 Requirements: Level 9 (0/100), Saint Realm (0/5)

[Mall] Promotion to Level 3 Requirements: [Territory] and [Family] promoted to Level 3, Host strength raised to [Peak Saint Realm]

Once the family and territory are promoted to Level 3, Karl can fully activate cultivation bonuses, providing a ten percent speed boost to the entire population, while also being able to designate a few members for a one-hundred-percent bonus.

For Karl, the family and territory are tools to comprehensively improve his own cultivation speed. Based on the changes brought about after breaking through to the Saint Realm, Karl has gradually figured some things out.

For example, a 1% cultivation speed bonus doesn't just increase speed by 1%; it raises the ceiling. Whether it is physique, spirit, cultivation speed, or comprehension ability, everything is improved.

However, this bonus is of little use to Mages. Even with the cultivation bonuses, there are very few Level 3 Mages in the entire territory. And a Level 3 Mage, aside from having a theoretical status comparable to a Level 4, is not guaranteed to win against a Level 3 Warrior in a real fight.

Aptitude Enhancement Talismans are divided into primary, which can raise one to the Level 8 Warrior standard, and advanced, which raises one to the Level 9 standard. Karl can preview the Mall and knows that once the Mall reaches Level 3, he will be able to purchase the Top-tier Aptitude Enhancement Talisman, which is sufficient to raise one to the standard Saint Realm level.

Although the price of aptitude enhancement increases as the level goes up, for Karl, whose territory is developing, it is just a drop in the bucket. He has already used them himself, and his aptitude has fundamentally improved from a Level 6 Warrior to the current Level 9 Warrior level.

With the standard of a Level 9 Warrior, plus the transformation brought about by breaking through to the Saint Realm, Karl's cultivation talent has gradually begun to catch up to the early Saint Realm. During his daily training, aside from the system's automatic idle progress, he can also gradually increase his own Battle Qi, which has given Karl great encouragement.

"Standard Level 9 Warrior talent is probably around the early-to-mid Level 9 stage. Relying on the cultivation bonuses I can receive from my family and territory, plus the transformation from breaking through to the Saint Realm, I am likely close to the level of a normal early Saint Realm expert."

Karl pondered in his heart. The early-to-mid Level 9 stage is the effect brought by the Level 9 standard enhancement talisman. Since Karl can now receive full bonuses, he maximizes them by 20%, making his cultivation talent exceed the late Level 9 stage, though it is still a tiny bit short of the peak Level 9 stage.

"With this level of talent, I estimate that my strength will reach the late Level 9 stage, but I won't be able to break through to the peak Level 9 stage."

At a price of one hundred thousand, it is not expensive for Karl to gain another Level 9 Warrior. If he had seven or eight Level 9 Warriors, even if Karl didn't show his face, they would be enough to occupy a province-level territory.

After all, the advantage of the Mall is simply too great. He can afford to be cautious for now. Once his strength reaches the Peak Saint Realm, he will be able to purchase the Top-tier Aptitude Enhancement Talisman. At that time, Saint Realm experts will begin to emerge from his family and territory in an endless stream.

At that point, below the God Level, who could compare to his power?

Harboring beautiful fantasies about the future, Karl clicked on the family attribute panel and used an Advanced Aptitude Enhancement Talisman on the only Level 8 Warrior.

"Train hard. In the future, the Saint Realm may not be out of reach."