Over a dozen Level 7 nobles—some perhaps Barons, others Viscounts—would have their commoners counted as part of Spark City's jurisdiction once they recognized Carl's rule.
After more than a decade, Spark City's population had quickly reached its natural limit. After all, Spark City was only an ordinary city; beyond it lay fortified strongholds and provincial capitals.
With Carl coordinating things as best he could, six million was the maximum population the city could support. Everyone else had to live in nearby towns and villages.
By that reckoning, Spark City could now control just over twelve million people.
Under normal circumstances, selecting a million Level 3 Warriors from a population of over twelve million would be like choosing one person out of every twelve. That might seem difficult, but this was the Yulan Continent.
Apart from a small number of women who were naturally weaker than men, most people reached Level 3 Warrior strength by the age of thirty. Once they did, Carl's support kicked in. They received not only better living conditions but also a hidden boost to their cultivation.
These benefits not only encouraged them to work hard to become Level 3 Warriors, but also helped them cultivate faster once they reached that level.
As a result, most people struggled to make progress from beginner to Level 3 Warrior. Yet once they broke through to Level 3, their cultivation speed increased dramatically. Many started training at six or seven, only barely becoming Level 1 Warriors at fifteen or sixteen and Level 2 Warriors in their early twenties. It was only before turning thirty, at the peak of their physical prime, that they could reach Level 3.
After becoming Level 3 Warriors, however, they usually reached the strength of a peak Level 3 or Level 4 Warrior by their mid-thirties. That was enough to serve as a squad leader in the Security Team, commanding ten people. If they kept cultivating, they could usually reach Level 5 before turning fifty, qualifying them to lead a mid-level team in Spark City.
A mid-level leader in the Security Team could command only a hundred people, but every one of them was at least a Level 3 Warrior. In the army, that same leader could command three thousand soldiers—a formation strong enough to send Level 6 Warriors fleeing. Only experts above Level 7 could handle it.
Spark City had now turned a new page. After more than a decade of development, the territory's population had grown to over ten times its former size. That larger population also gave rise to more exceptional individuals, and talents were becoming increasingly common.
With the territory's support, these geniuses—who could reach Level 7 Warrior strength through their own efforts alone—were able to progress even further. While others could only reach Level 5 before fifty, they had already attained Level 6 by then, and the most gifted could even reach the threshold of Level 7.
For more than a decade, Carl's policies in Spark City had barely changed. Level 3 Warriors could still take the Security Team's entrance examination, and anyone who passed received a massive boost in status. Carl could afford to do this because he controlled the territory's iron mines and had purchased rare mineral resources through the Mall, giving him a solid economic foundation.
After all, Level 3 Warriors in Carl's territory received treatment comparable to that of Level 4 Warriors elsewhere. With benefits like that, anyone who became a Level 3 Warrior had no desire to move to someone else's territory.
This was Carl's calculated strategy, and it had led to a growing number of Level 3 Warriors emerging within the territory. Level 3 Warriors from other places had also heard the news and come to join them.
Carl's territory now had only one million positions available. Nearly sixty percent of those spots were filled by Level 3 Warriors, a quarter by Level 4 Warriors, and a tenth by Level 5 Warriors. The remaining positions went to Level 6 and Level 7 Warriors, along with a tiny number of Level 8 Warriors.
As the territory grew stronger, so did the points Carl earned. He now gained nearly twenty thousand points each day. Even after subtracting the cost of his daily auto-training and the expenses required to maintain the territory, he still had more than fifteen thousand points to spare.
On average, Carl accumulated thirty thousand points every two days. He saved most of them, but still spent a considerable amount on the territory's residents.
When it came to improving aptitude, Carl didn't focus solely on his own family. He never skimped on those who performed exceptionally. If their aptitude wasn't good enough, he bought them better aptitude. Once they reached Level 8 strength, he raised their aptitude straight to Level 9. As for anything beyond that, Carl didn't yet have the ability to improve it.
Even so, Spark City's strength was changing rapidly. Of the eight people who had reached Level 7 Warrior strength back when the settlement was still Spark Town, even the weakest had now reached the mid-level of Level 8. Most of the Level 6 Warriors had reached the middle or upper levels of Level 7.
The visiting nobles were mostly Level 7 Warriors themselves, and after joining Spark Town, the vast majority of them had reached Level 8.
Nearly twenty Level 8 Warriors—that was what gave Lin Taros the confidence to fight on the battlefield. Even with some of them needed to defend Spark City, Lin could still lead more than ten Level 8 Warriors.
With ten Level 8 Warriors at his command, Lin Taros had not reached Level 9 strength, but his standing was still among the very highest. That changed completely just two days ago.
At last, a Level 9 Warrior had emerged among Carl's descendants.
The Spark Duke and the Black Stone Count—these were the foundations of Spark City's power within the Resistance Army.
After Carl's eldest son successfully reached Level 9 Warrior strength, his power was more than enough to kill a Level 8 Warrior with ease. He quickly earned the Black Stone Count's reputation on the battlefield. After more than a decade of turmoil, the Resistance Army had steadily gained more Level 9 Warriors, reaching nearly fifty at its peak.
Even at its height, a kingdom would have considered that a formidable force. That was all the more true of the Anlan Kingdom, which was now in decline.
Three years after the Black Stone Count broke through to Level 9, Carl's grandson Colin also successfully reached Level 9 Warrior strength. At Carl's behest, Colin joined the battlefield and quickly demonstrated the might of a Level 9 Warrior. The Golden Grand Duke even bestowed on him the title of Black Iron Count.
With one duke, two counts, and three marquesses or higher in the Taros Family, few people still dared to underestimate the Spark Duke, who had never entered the fray.
When the bells rang to mark the new year, the Anlan Royal Family, which had held out for nearly twenty years, finally chose to abandon its resistance. The darkness had grown ever more hopeless, and the Anlan Royal Family—who had enjoyed the privileges of royalty for hundreds, even thousands of years—had no choice but to admit that the Anlan Kingdom could no longer be saved.
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