Perhaps, in the system's eyes, reaching the Peak Saint Realm meant one already possessed a certain level of strength and could branch out in several directions.
Among them, the first was the path of the elements. With Carl's current resources, she could even cultivate all eleven elements at once, but clearly, she didn't have many choices right now. She could only add one more.
The second was the path of self-improvement, since Carl had spotted an option for physical cultivation in the Mall.
[Name: Physique Growth] [Price: 50000000] [Description: Your body will grow without end]
The price was ridiculously high. After all, the Mystery of Wind Element cost only ten million, while Physique Growth cost a whopping fifty million.
Still, Carl could at least consider paying that price.
She had been in this world for three hundred years. Even with the years of decline that followed the original story's peak popularity in her previous life, her memory had improved tremendously. Yet many things from her past remained hazy and unclear. Perhaps that was because of the changes brought about by a different world, but Carl still remembered certain important things clearly.
As she remembered it, one way to transcend the Coiling Dragon Universe had already been confirmed: gather the four elements of earth, wind, water, and fire, and become four Low-level Sovereigns of the same rank. That would allow one to achieve the Mysterious Yellow Body and uncover the secrets of the universe. That was why Carl had chosen the ultimate attack path without selecting Destruction Rules. At least she could leave herself something to hope for.
Aside from transcendence, and setting Soul Mutation aside, Carl was just an ordinary human. She had no advantage over others of the same rank on the Yulan Continent, where powerful bloodlines had once existed.
For instance, the human side had produced four kinds of Ultimate Warriors, including the Dragonblood Warrior. Likewise, powerful magical beasts possessed exceptionally strong bloodlines. Though those bloodlines also limited them, there was no denying the beasts' strength.
By the Yulan Continent's conventional wisdom, a magical beast that had just entered the Saint Realm could match a mid-stage Saint Realm expert in strength. Those with stronger bloodlines could even rival experts at the Peak Saint Realm.
A stronger body raised the ceiling of one's strength. Carl understood this perfectly. Even if this advantage could be sufficiently compensated for after becoming a god, a powerful body remained an advantage of the highest order.
In Carl's somewhat hazy memories, there seemed to be a powerful expert with an exceptionally strong body who had attracted a Sovereign's attention while still only a Low-level Deity.
"A powerful body means I'll be stronger than others of the same rank. Once I reach my own limit, that added advantage will raise my ceiling above theirs."
Carl thought it over for a moment, then glanced at the other Elemental Laws. In the end, she set her sights on Physique Growth.
Fifty million points vanished. Even Carl, with her vast resources, couldn't help feeling a pang of regret. As she resolved to hasten the growth of her territory's forces, she watched helplessly as the item for Physique Growth in the Mall turned into a crimson point of light and slowly drifted toward her.
The moment [Physique Growth] gradually merged with her, Carl felt her body change.
"Stronger."
A full-force Battle Qi strike from a Level 6 Warrior was nearly equal to the raw physical strength of a Level 9 Warrior. Even though a Saint Realm expert's body underwent a transformation and their physical strength increased, their raw physical strength still couldn't reach the Saint Realm level.
But after Carl merged with [Physique Growth], she caught the change in that instant: her body was growing at an astonishing rate.
Before long, Carl felt her body's strength break through the Level 9 threshold and officially reach the Saint Realm.
Clenching her fist, Carl carefully sensed the changes in her body.
"A Saint Realm body can unleash more Battle Qi. With my current physical strength, even using Battle Qi alone, I'm no weaker than a mid-stage Saint Realm expert. And if I add my own Momentum of Heaven and Earth to that, I'm probably on par with someone at the Peak Saint Realm."
Carl murmured to herself, unable to contain her excitement. As expected of an item worth fifty million points, it not only raised her ceiling but also gave her a tremendous boost in strength right now.
After all, the Coiling Dragon Universe had a fundamental principle: energy.
A Low-level Deity could regard Saint Realm experts as ants because even a fraction of a Low-level Deity's power exceeded what a Saint Realm expert could accumulate over a lifetime.
But at the same level, even a Saint Realm Limit expert would have a hard time instantly killing a prepared Saint Realm expert—unless the gap between them was truly enormous.
This was the effect of the Coiling Dragon Universe's fundamental principle at work.
For example, if a newly ascended Saint Realm expert could unleash ten units of Battle Qi, then ten units of Battle Qi could counter their attack. The same principle applied to mid-stage Saint Realm experts.
For instance, if a mid-stage Saint Realm expert unleashed one hundred units, then only energy of the same level could counter it. So, to oppose a mid-stage Saint Realm expert, the human side needed someone at least extremely close to that stage. The magical beast side, however, was different.
A Saint Realm magical beast had a powerful body. Even one that had only just entered the Saint Realm could unleash stronger Battle Qi thanks to its physical strength. With the body and Battle Qi reinforcing each other, it could unleash an attack on the same level as one hundred units.
This principle meant that a Saint Realm expert with an attack power of ten would unleash an attack of ten. The defender had two ways to block it. The first was to meet the attack head-on with another attack of ten, wearing down the opponent's strike. The second was to form a defense around themselves. That defense didn't need to provide ten units on its own; the combined strength of Battle Qi and the body only had to reach ten.
So, to truly defeat a Saint Realm expert, one had to meet at least one condition.
One's attack had to exceed either the opponent's attack or their defense. Only then could one wear down the opponent's defenses and still have energy left to strike them.
Carl's body had now reached the Saint Realm level, but that didn't mean she had accumulated more Battle Qi. It meant she could unleash more Battle Qi at once.
For instance, before, a full-power strike from Carl consumed a tenth of her Battle Qi and unleashed ten times its power. Now she could easily use a strike that consumed three tenths of her Battle Qi. Its power would be more than thirty times greater.
What's more, a stronger body meant Carl would expend less energy to withstand attacks of the same strength. She could also endure stronger attacks.
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