Source of the Bloodline

The Yulan Continent has a long history, and many noble families have been submerged in the passage of time. Families capable of maintaining their noble status for long periods often had a Saint Realm powerhouse appear in their lineage.

Much like the offspring of divine beasts versus non-divine beasts, the probability of them being Saint Realm is high, unless a rare case of atavism occurs, allowing them to become a divine beast.

The human race is the same; while it may seem they lack a bloodline, in reality, a person's aptitude is their bloodline.

A commoner Level 9 Warrior must have had a Saint Realm powerhouse among their ancestors, though it is difficult to trace such ancestry.

After all, a person has a father and a mother, and both parents have their own parents. It is like a web of layers; even after many years, a person who seems perfectly ordinary might possess the bloodline of the Taros Family.

Other descendants of commoners might have a chance at atavism, allowing them to become Level 7, Level 8, or even Level 9 Warriors. In particular, Level 9 Warriors have the chance to cross that threshold and achieve the Saint Realm.

However, Saint Realm powerhouses rarely perform the miracle of reviving a withered tree. Unless they are a young prodigy, the source of many families' bloodlines is limited to what the ancestor had before they stepped into the Saint Realm. After all, how could children born before the parents reached the Saint Realm have their aptitude improved?

This is why Saint Realm powerhouses create their own factions; the purpose is often, at the start, simply to elevate their family.

After all, if a faction is powerful, it is easier to acquire good resources for their descendants to use.

Karl has also envied others, as his own bloodline source was strictly defined from the day he obtained the system.

For his descendants, he is the source of the bloodline, and at most, they can only revert to the bloodline of their mother's lineage.

This resulted in Karl's own talent being no higher than Level 6. Of his four sons, only the eldest, Lin Taros, mastered power and was unwilling to lose it, so he practiced diligently. As for the other three sons, their lack of talent caused them to be buried by time long ago.

Among Karl's grandchildren, besides the eldest, only the second son's child, Colin, is quite good. He is a budding talent who practices diligently, and his aptitude is decent.

As for the great-grandchildren, Karl had already begun his system-based cultivation by then. Otherwise, it is unlikely that a Level 7 Warrior would have been born among the great-grandchildren. Without the lifespan brought by a Level 7 Warrior, Karl's earlier generations of bloodline would likely have been buried in the past, and in that case, Karl probably wouldn't be as invested in his family as he is now.

After all, just to upgrade to a Level 3 family now requires a hundred Level 9 experts, and five Saint Realm experts.

According to Karl's estimates, he needs to provide the family with at least two hundred Level 9 Aptitude Enhancement Talismans and ten Saint Realm Enhancement Cards.

The same resources, if provided to his territory, would yield greater benefits because Karl has a larger pool of people to choose from, often allowing him to select those who are already excellent.

For example, among Karl's current direct disciples, except for his first disciple Ogliev and his sixth disciple Linghoray, who were chosen directly when they were Level 7, the remaining five were only taken as disciples after they had already stepped into the rank of Level 9 Warrior.

However, family members are different. The Taros Family currently has over a dozen Level 9 Warriors, but the only ones who can be granted a Saint Realm Enhancement Card by Karl are his eldest son and Colin.

As for Leiluo, Liya, and Linna, whom he once favored, their cultivation began to slacken after their strength reached the early stage of Level 9. With the support Karl provided, they should have at least reached the middle stage of Level 9.

To avoid wasting his points—since Saint Realm Enhancement Cards are truly expensive, and Karl's points flow out like water while trickling in—he screens candidates for the Saint Realm Enhancement Cards over and over again.

The middle stage of Level 9 is Karl's minimum standard for support; otherwise, even if their aptitude is improved, such a massive investment might go down the drain.

After all, even with the all-day cultivation speed boost provided after an aptitude improvement, if they still cannot reach the theoretical limit, then even if their aptitude is raised to the Saint Realm level, they will likely get stuck at the peak of Level 9 or even the late stage of Level 9 with no further progress.

"It seems that once one gets on in years, one starts farming. While others raise flowers and plants, I've gone and started raising people."

Looking at the family genealogy, which had added two more generations in the last fifty years, the Taros Family could now be considered to have been passed down for fourteen generations.

Fourteen generations is actually quite a lot for a family with a Saint Realm member. After all, Saint Realm powerhouses have long lifespans, and their descendants often engage in intermarriage to strengthen their respective bloodlines.

But clearly, although Karl is a Saint Realm powerhouse and his descendants include over a dozen Level 9 Warriors, they can currently only marry into minor noble families. It is evident that in the eyes of the great noble families, unless the Taros Family produces a second Saint Realm powerhouse, or they are marrying into the earlier generations of the bloodline, the investment is not worth it.

After all, once Karl achieved the Saint Realm, his history was likely dug up by everyone. He struggled as a Level 6 Warrior for his first hundred years, and his strength only improved rapidly after that; he is a classic case of a late bloomer.

As for Karl's clansmen, only a few close relatives are similar to Karl. These people are actually the result of Karl's resource support, but most remain ordinary. After all, when Karl had children, he was only in his twenties, and even for his youngest child, Karl was not yet forty.

"An iron tree blooming?"

Karl felt a sudden, inexplicable chill.

Even though Karl believes that if he were willing to remarry, plenty of nobles would offer up their most excellent daughters, for the current Karl, beauty can no longer erode his heart. After hundreds of years of cultivation, beauty is merely a roadside weed.

After all, between having a harem of beauties and achieving eternal life, any normal person would know how to choose.

Perhaps it is precisely because Karl holds this view that he finds it difficult to understand those who only start marrying after hundreds of years. After all, over such a long time, having seen so much and having higher standards, some things he might have been obsessed with in the past are now seen very clearly.

"Perhaps it is time to go to that place."

Karl's gaze rested on the east, where the territories of the O'Brien Empire and the Yulan Empire lie, and in that direction, there exists a treasure trove for cultivation.

No one would believe that in fifty years, a kid who luckily stepped into the Saint Realm could possess strength comparable to the Saint Realm Limit. With Karl's current strength, he is confident he can easily withstand the attacks of the spatial turbulence that has been accumulating for who knows how long.

Karl will not forget that the family and the territory are ultimately for his own growth.

From the Saint Realm to the God Level, Karl believes in himself.

"Even without the boost of cultivation, I have the ability to stand at the pinnacle of the gods."