Yulan Continent had a long history, and many noble families were swallowed up by the passage of time. Those families that managed to preserve their noble status for generations had often once produced a Saint Realm expert.
It was much like the descendants of divine beasts and ordinary beasts. They were most likely only Saint Realm level, unless a rare case of ancestral reversion allowed them to become divine beasts.
The human race was the same. They seemed to have no bloodlines, but in truth, a person's bloodline was their aptitude.
If a commoner became a Level 9 Warrior, then one of their ancestors must have been a Saint Realm expert, though it was difficult to tell which one.
After all, a person had a father and a mother, and each of their parents had parents of their own. It was like a web of generations. Perhaps, many years later, even the most ordinary person might have some Talos blood in their veins.
The descendants of other commoners might have a chance to revert to their ancestors and become Level 7, Level 8, or even Level 9 experts. Level 9 experts, in particular, also had a chance to cross that final threshold and achieve the Saint Realm.
But Saint Realm experts rarely bothered with the business of reviving a family's fortunes through descendants. Unless they were prodigies, many families' bloodline origins could be traced to before their ancestors became Saint Realm experts. After all, how could the children born before their parents entered the Saint Realm have their aptitude improved by that breakthrough?
That was why Saint Realm experts established their own factions. Often, their original purpose was simply to improve their families.
After all, a powerful faction could obtain better resources for its descendants more easily.
Carl had envied others before. After all, from the day he acquired the system, the origin of his own bloodline had been set in stone.
He himself was the source of his descendants' bloodline. At most, they could revert to the bloodline on their mother's side.
As a result, Carl's own talent was only Level 6. Of his four sons, only his eldest, Lin Taros, had mastered enough power that he feared losing it and devoted himself to cultivation. The other three had poor talent and had long since been buried by time.
Among Carl's grandchildren, aside from his eldest son, only Colin, the son of his second son, had turned out well. He was also a promising, hardworking cultivator, with decent aptitude.
As for his great-grandchildren, Carl had already started cultivating with the system by then. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for their generation to produce even a Level 7 Warrior. Without the extended lifespan a Level 7 Warrior enjoyed, the first few generations of Carl's bloodline would have vanished into the past. In that case, Carl probably wouldn't have cared so much about his family as he did now.
After all, even reaching Level 3 as a family required a hundred Level 9 experts, while reaching Saint Realm level required five.
By Carl's estimate, he would need to provide his family with at least two hundred Level 9 Aptitude Enhancement Talismans and ten Saint Realm Enhancement Cards.
The same resources would bring greater returns if invested in his territory, since Carl had more people to choose from and could often pick those who were already exceptional.
For example, among Carl's current direct disciples, only his first disciple, Ogliev, and his sixth disciple, Linghoray, had been selected when they were Level 7. Carl had taken on the remaining five only after they had reached Level 9.
His family members were different. The Taros Family now had more than a dozen Level 9 Warriors, but only two of them had earned a Saint Realm Enhancement Card from Carl: his eldest son and Colin.
As for Leiluo, Liya, and Linna, whom he had once thought highly of, they had grown lax in their cultivation after reaching the early stages of Level 9. With the support Carl had given them, they should have been able to reach at least the middle stage of Level 9.
He didn't want to waste his points. Saint Realm Enhancement Cards were simply too expensive, especially since Carl's points drained away like water but trickled in at a snail's pace. He had to scrutinize again and again anyone he considered worthy of receiving one.
The middle stage of Level 9 was Carl's minimum standard for those he supported. Otherwise, even after improving their aptitude, such a massive investment might go to waste.
After all, improved aptitude also provided a constant boost to cultivation speed. If they still couldn't reach their theoretical limit under those conditions, then even if their aptitude was raised to Saint Realm level, they would most likely stall at the peak or late stage of Level 9.
"Looks like getting older has turned me into a farmer. Other people tend flowers and plants, while I've gone and started raising people."
Looking at the family tree, Carl saw that two more generations had appeared over the past fifty years. By now, the Taros Family had been passed down through fourteen generations.
Fourteen generations was actually quite a lot for a Saint Realm family. Saint Realm experts lived long lives, and their descendants often intermarried with other families to strengthen both bloodlines.
But although Carl was a Saint Realm expert and had more than a dozen Level 9 descendants, the only families willing to intermarry with them now were minor nobles. In the eyes of the great noble families, unless the Taros Family produced a second Saint Realm expert, it wasn't worth investing in them—unless they married into the family within the first few generations of its bloodline.
After all, once Carl had reached the Saint Realm, people had surely pored over his history. He had struggled as a Level 6 Warrior until he was a hundred years old, and only then had his strength begun to rise rapidly. He was a classic late bloomer.
Among Carl's clansmen, only a few of his close relatives had achieved results comparable to his own. In truth, that was due to the resources Carl had invested in them. Most of the rest were still quite ordinary. After all, Carl had been only in his twenties when he had his children, and even when his youngest child was born, he was still under forty.
"Could a dead tree blossom?"
Carl shuddered for no apparent reason.
Carl was sure that if he wanted to remarry, plenty of nobles would offer him their finest daughters. But by now, beauty could no longer sway him. After centuries of cultivation, beauty was no more than a roadside flower.
After all, between a harem of beauties and a long life, anyone in their right mind knew which to choose.
Perhaps that was why Carl couldn't understand people who didn't marry until they were several hundred years old. After living through so many years, they had seen so much and raised their standards. Things they once might have obsessed over were now easy to see through.
"Perhaps it's time to go to that place."
Carl turned his gaze east, toward the territories of the O'Brien Empire and the Yulan Empire. A cultivation treasure land lay over there.
No one could believe that, in just fifty years, a boy who had only barely entered the Saint Realm could gain strength comparable to the Saint Realm Limit. But with his current strength, Carl was confident he could easily withstand the attacks of the Spatial Turbulence that had been building for who knew how long.
Carl would never forget that his family and territory were ultimately for the sake of his own growth.
From the Saint Realm to God Level, Carl believed in himself.
"Even without the boost to my cultivation, I can still stand at the pinnacle of godhood."
Before you continue