Closed-Door Cultivation

Within the Radiant Church, the five peak powerhouses each have their own affiliations. For instance, Luo Ye comes from the Ascetics; after reaching the Peak Saint Realm, he took charge of all Ascetics and serves as their leader. Similarly, Lei Ming is also a Peak Saint Realm powerhouse, currently commanding the Fanatic Legion as its commander.

Then there is Wusennuo. As a dark-element warrior, he should not have been accepted by the Radiant Church, but because he is a Peak Saint Realm powerhouse, he was placed in charge of the Religious Inquisition upon joining. As for Steller, while also a Peak Saint Realm powerhouse, he is the one who has spent the least amount of time at this level among the five, and his strength is the weakest; he only manages the Special Deacons.

As for the final Peak Saint Realm powerhouse, that is naturally the current Pope of the Radiant Church. With the authority of the papacy, he is capable of controlling all institutions within the Radiant Church, and even the angels can often be commanded by him.

This also means that for the Pope, even if one or two more Peak Saint Realm powerhouses were to appear, it would merely be a matter of handing over the leadership of one or two institutions to them. When it truly matters, he is still capable of issuing direct commands.

Whether it be the Ascetics, the Fanatic Legion, the Inquisition, or the Special Deacons, the Pope has granted the leadership positions to these Peak Saint Realm powerhouses, yet he can completely bypass these individuals when necessary, or even command them all simultaneously.

Therefore, to a Pope, being able to trade a few institutions composed of Priests for a Peak Saint Realm powerhouse is an absolute bargain. For this reason, whenever a new Saint Realm powerhouse appears within the Holy Alliance, the Radiant Church will always attempt to extend an invitation. Failure is of no consequence, but if they succeed, the Church might gain another Peak Saint Realm powerhouse years down the line.

However, the success rate for such matters is extremely low. Those who can achieve the Saint Realm are all proud and arrogant individuals; while they might be submissive at Level 9, once they step into the Saint Realm, they view all the heroes of the world as nothing more than people waiting to be slaughtered.

Steller's invitation naturally failed as expected. For ordinary Saint Realm powerhouses, their lifespans are long, and unless they are pursuing the God Realm, many things they once cared about gradually fade away as time passes after living for so long in the Saint Realm.

It is much like many Saint Realm powerhouses who were once hot-tempered; once they truly achieve the Saint Realm, they realize that battles between Saint Realm powerhouses are incredibly difficult.

From the Early Saint Realm to the Mid Saint Realm, progress is obvious, and comprehending the Momentum of Heaven and Earth is not considered difficult for a Saint Realm powerhouse; it is merely a matter of time and effort.

But once one's strength reaches the Peak Saint Realm, one begins to come into contact with the truly top-tier power of the Yulan Continent, and one realizes that instead of fighting each other, one could choose to head to a Divine Plane, or remain in the Yulan Continent to prepare for the Necropolis of the Gods, which opens every thousand years.

Heading to a Divine Plane carries extremely high risks with unknown rewards. Only the Radiant Church and the Dark Church possess complete information about the Divine Plane to this day, allowing them to exchange contributions to the Church for a relatively stable passage.

As for other Saint Realm powerhouses, a Divine Plane is nothing more than an unknown vortex.

Conversely, the Necropolis of the Gods, which opens every thousand years in the Yulan Continent, carries high risks but also significant rewards. For example, treasures like the Life Pearl and Soul Gold Pearl, which are useful to all Saint Realm powerhouses, or materials needed by Saint Realm powerhouses to craft extremely powerful weapons or armor—and after reaching certain levels, there is even the hope of obtaining a Godhead.

For these Saint Realm powerhouses, a Divine Plane is a place of cultivation from which one might never return. Those looking toward the Divine Plane naturally do not need to maintain relationships with other Saint Realm powerhouses, but those who wish to enter the Necropolis of the Gods are different.

For these eternal Saint Realm powerhouses, while a thousand years is a long time, as long as they do not die, they will eventually have a chance to obtain a Godhead. To obtain a Godhead, relying solely on oneself is not necessarily enough, which means they need friends.

This leads many Saint Realm powerhouses to choose to set aside their grievances unless they were already bitter enemies. After all, compared to the lofty goal of the God Realm, minor frictions between Saint Realm powerhouses are nothing.

Steller's arrival and departure did not affect Karl himself. He continued his painstaking cultivation every day, though the daily cost of his idle training increased significantly. The lowest-tier Battle Qi cultivation required a full 3,000 points per day, while the cultivation of the Wind Element cost as much as 10,000 points. As for physical growth, the cost was even more terrifying, reaching 30,000 points per day.

Calculating it this way, Karl consumes 43,000 points every day. This is just for himself; adding in the maintenance of his territory, Karl's daily consumption is over 50,000 points. It is only because he established Tianfeng Prefecture that Karl can register higher levels for the residents of his territory.

But even so, Karl is often still living off his savings.

"At the current rate of consumption, I will run out of resources in fifty years at most."

Karl quickly calculated the answer in his mind. During the Spark Town era, his point consumption was barely manageable. After establishing Spark City, the territory reached the second level, and only then did he have enough surplus; over the past thirty years, Karl had accumulated quite a few points.

However, the subsequent purchase of [Wind Element] and [Physical Growth] consumed nearly half of his points, not to mention that Karl had set aside a portion of points that must be kept in reserve. This resulted in his daily income being negative if he were to cultivate at full capacity now.

"When the boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally go straight. I'll just cultivate for fifty years first."

According to Karl's estimation, in fifty years, his progress should be able to reach 21,009. This is an all-around improvement; although it is not as exaggerated as becoming twice as strong for every point of progress, a progress of over 20,000 will at least bring him several hundred times the improvement.

"By then, even if my strength isn't at the Saint Realm Limit, I will be among the very top of the Peak Saint Realm. At that time, finding a few Saint Realm subordinates won't be impossible."

Karl's eyes flickered, and he quickly made his decision.

After Karl chose to go into seclusion, the development of Tianfeng Prefecture remained very rapid.

With Karl's daily expenditure on maintaining the territory, the birth rate of the entire Tianfeng Prefecture increased significantly within just a few years. The establishment of the Wind Shadow Pavilion also attracted some Level 9 Warriors to defect; it is easy to enjoy the shade under a big tree, especially when that tree is a newly ascended Saint Realm powerhouse.

In the eyes of these Level 9 Warriors, a newly ascended Saint Realm powerhouse not only needs manpower to help develop their influence, but because they are new, while their lifespan is long, they have lived for a shorter time and possess more humanity. For Level 9 Warriors, this might make it much simpler to seek guidance.

The Saint Realm powerhouses of those ancient forces have lived for so long that their eyes can only see powerhouses of the same level. For some Level 9 experts who want to defect, even if they joined, they would not be valued.