After carefully considering his abilities, Carl turned his attention to her status panel.
There had not been much change. Under cultivation, a Physique Growth progress bar had appeared, along with an ability called [Primary Saint Body].
According to the [Novice Tutorial], this so-called "Primary Saint Body" was another ability that devoured points. The problem was that if he did not keep investing in it, the Saint Body would gradually lose its effectiveness. And keeping up the investment would clearly be a considerable expense.
After all, according to the "Novice Tutorial," when he gained the Saint Body, his physical body would reach the Saint Realm level. It was a physique that could contend head-on with newly advanced Saint Realm experts through physical strength alone. But once someone truly entered the Saint Realm, who would be foolish enough to focus on cultivating only Battle Qi?
Take Saint Realm magical beasts. In theory, newly advanced ones had a paper strength comparable to humans in the Mid Saint Realm. In practice, though, magical beasts capable of entering the Saint Realm were far more intelligent than ordinary people. Their long lifespans brought unimaginable wisdom—otherwise, why would people say that the clever were as cunning as demons?
Give those newly advanced Saint Realm magical beasts just a little time, and they could quickly comprehend their own Momentum of Heaven and Earth.
In that case, with a Saint Realm body, Saint Realm Battle Qi, and Saint Realm Momentum of Heaven and Earth, a magical beast that had mastered the latter could, all told, match an ordinary Peak Saint Realm expert in true strength. Humans in the Saint Realm lacked the same level of physical strength, after all.
As for Saint Realm magical beasts with stronger bloodline gifts and tougher bodies, they were stronger than ordinary Peak Saint Realm experts without comprehending Mysteries, but only by a limited margin. After all, the ultimate power in this world was still the Laws.
After comprehending the Wind Element, Carl realized that the gap between Peak Saint Realm experts was enormous. Some had only just begun to comprehend Mysteries, while others were on the verge of mastering them.
Judging by the system's progress, Carl was at one millionth of the way toward comprehending the Wind Element. As for those Saint Realm Limit experts, Carl did not know exactly how far they had progressed, but they were said to be on the verge of godhood. Their progress was probably over ninety-nine percent—perhaps they were only one millionth away from mastering the Mysteries.
The difference was so great that Carl had considered drawing clear distinctions between Peak Saint Realm experts. But then he remembered that he had never even met another Saint Realm expert, and quietly let the idea go.
"Looks like I can't keep shut away and making things up as I go. It's time to get out and see the world."
Based on his Battle Qi cultivation and his one-millionth progress in comprehending the Wind Element, Carl's strength only just reached the threshold of the Peak Saint Realm. But with his Saint Realm body, at least in close combat, he was now a hundred times stronger than before.
After all, the body of a Level 9 Warrior was comparable to that of a Level 6 Warrior. Once someone entered the Saint Realm, their physical strength generally would not fall below that of a Level 8 Warrior. Even Mages who did not train their bodies much would gradually reach that level after becoming Saint Realm experts.
The gap between a Level 8 Warrior and the Saint Realm was not directly a hundredfold. But the improvements in physique brought gains in speed, reflexes, strength, defense, and stamina, each of which was at least sixty or seventy times greater. Taken together, those improvements could raise overall strength a hundredfold.
"If I'm not mistaken, the First Generation Ultimate Warrior's body must have improved a hundredfold in every respect. That's how he could match some veteran Peak Saint Realm experts as soon as he entered the Saint Realm. Once he fully comprehended his Momentum of Heaven and Earth, even Saint Realm Limit experts would have to steer clear of his physical strength."
"And I remember the Child of Destiny gained only about a sixtyfold boost when he became a Dragonblood Warrior."
A sixtyfold increase in every aspect added up to far more than a hundredfold overall. But at the Saint Realm level, the value of that boost naturally diminished considerably. After all, speed was about flying—who would be bounding around on the ground at the Saint Realm level? As for reflexes, unless someone could appear beside a Saint Realm expert in an instant, no matter how fast they were, the expert could still react.
In Carl's view, the only truly useful aspects of a Saint Realm body were raw strength and defense. But a sixty- or seventyfold increase meant that Carl's close-combat attacks were that much stronger. Anyone who was not a hundred times stronger than him would have no choice but to avoid meeting those attacks head-on.
And with his defense increased sixty or seventy times, Carl could even withstand attacks from people a hundred times stronger than he was.
"Rather than saying my strength has increased a hundredfold, it's more that those a hundred times stronger than me have to treat me as an equal."
Carl understood the situation clearly. He realized that once he reached one percent progress in comprehending the Mysteries, his Saint Realm body alone might make him no weaker than an ordinary Saint Realm Limit expert.
"And all of this is just the improvement brought by the Primary Saint Body."
Carl glanced at the Saint Body ability.
[Primary Saint Body (1/5,000,000)]
Five million points of cultivation progress. At one point a day, just looking at the progress bar made Carl's head spin. It would take thirteen thousand six hundred and ninety-eight years. He had only lived three hundred years so far, and he would have to live through that span another forty-five times before he could even come close.
That endless progress bar was why Carl said the ability seemed powerful, but would gradually lose its effectiveness without a steady investment.
"There are no useless abilities. I just wasn't looking far enough ahead."
Carl slowly came back to himself and looked up at the sky. It was not only the sky above the Yulan Continent, but also its highest point.
There were three publicly known God Level experts on the Yulan Continent. The first was the High Priest of the Yulan Empire, who had become a god during the War of World Destruction more than eight thousand years ago. The second was the War God of the O'Brien Empire, who had Refined a Divine Spark and had limited room to grow. The third was Hodan, the Plane Overseer, but he came from a Divine Plane and could not be counted as a local God Level expert.
From what Carl knew of the two God Level experts, the High Priest had become a god on her own. She was a Life Element God Level expert capable of comprehending the Life Law, which clearly showed how exceptional her talent was. But with so little information about what lay beyond the God Level on the Yulan Continent, she had become trapped in a cycle of solitary cultivation. With no idea what lay ahead, she could only continue groping her way along the Path of Life. As for why she had not left the Yulan Continent, Carl already had an answer.
Before you continue