Crossing the Magic Beast Mountain Range

On a pleasant, sunny day, Carl quietly left Tianfeng Prefecture. Before she departed, after carefully selecting them, she granted Level Nine potential to several people in her territory who had good talent and character.

The same treatment was extended to her family.

There was no need to explain where the family's points came from. There was no limit on the number of people, but they had to be at least Level 3 to provide Carl with points.

As for the territory's population, it had grown from just over twenty million to more than fifty million over the past fifty years.

With such a massive pool to draw from, Carl selected only a million people. By now, every one of them was at least a Level 5 Warrior, and most had even reached Level 6.

After all, as long as those million people had survived the past fifty years, each of them had enjoyed at least a 1% cultivation bonus. Some especially talented individuals had even received the maximum boost.

The Wind Shadow Pavilion Carl had founded had only a few thousand places, after all. Those places were meant to identify true geniuses—Carl's hope for leveling up.

However, it was the people who had once been registered residents of her territory who truly provided points.

As she crossed the Magic Beast Mountain Range, Carl saw all sorts of strange magical beasts from the air.

Among low-level magical beasts, the most common were fairly docile animals that showed little change even after becoming magical beasts.

Rabbits, mice, sparrows, and the like, for example. Some grew several times larger after becoming magical beasts, while mid-level magical beasts were considerably more formidable.

These included larger creatures such as dogs, wolves, and leopards. Once fully grown, such magical beasts generally posed a threat to Level 4 through Level 6 fighters.

As Carl drew closer to the heart of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, even the weaker mid-level magical beasts grew scarce. The beasts that roamed the outskirts of the core region were all powerful Level 6 magical beasts, driven by strong instincts.

Packs of wolves. Starving leopards.

High-level magical beasts ranged from the strength of Level 7 to Level 9 humans. Their bloodlines were stronger, and they were more bloodthirsty by nature. Even among gentle magical beasts such as deer, some with high-level bloodlines still struggled to become high-level magical beasts.

They weren't suited to fighting, making it difficult for them to stand out in the Magic Beast Mountain Range.

Among the Level 7 magical beasts Carl saw, lions and tigers were the most common. They were already apex predators in nature. Among Level 8 and Level 9 magical beasts, aside from those with powerful innate bloodlines, many had some dragon blood.

In Carl's eyes, many Level 8 magical beasts resembled dinosaurs from her memories of her previous life. Level 9 magical beasts, meanwhile, were mostly dragons.

Their dragon blood was impure, however. Most were descendants of Saint Realm dragons and ordinary magical beasts.

Carl moved at tremendous speed. For anyone below the Saint Realm, crossing the Magic Beast Mountain Range could be an ordeal, especially in the core region, where even traveling cautiously for a year or more was perfectly normal.

But for a Saint, as long as they didn't foolishly provoke a Saint Realm magical beast on its own territory, such beasts generally wouldn't pay them much attention.

With the Mystery of Wind Element, Carl was already incredibly fast. In just half a day, she crossed the Magic Beast Mountain Range from the Holy Alliance and arrived at the central region of the Yulan Continent.

"The O'Brien Empire and the Yulan Empire."

Carl looked ahead. After leaving the Magic Beast Mountain Range, she would inevitably have to choose between these places.

The Yulan Empire and the O'Brien Empire were quite far apart, but that was only true of their imperial capitals. Their territories actually shared a border. The two sides rarely fought, largely out of mutual respect for their God Level experts.

Carl thought it over, but in the end decided against it. What she needed now was a good place to cultivate. If either the War God or the High Priest had been a God Level expert of the wind element, Carl would have been willing to serve as their vanguard for a while.

This wasn't a matter of becoming arrogant just because she had a Golden Finger. The truth was, it would still take Carl more than two thousand years to become a god. The fact that she might achieve godhood in the future didn't mean she could look down on God Level experts now.

Besides, even if she became a god two thousand years from now, she would only be a Low-level Deity. Above that were Mid-level Gods and High-level Gods, and beyond High-level Gods were experts who had mastered Fusion Profound Mysteries. Even at the pinnacle of godhood stood Paragons. Across the many eras of the Coiling Dragon Universe, there had only been a dozen or twenty of them.

The War God was a fire-element Low-level Deity, while the High Priest was a Life Element Low-level Deity. Their experience would be of little use to Carl, just as the Wind Shadow Pavilion attracted mostly fighters with some affinity for the wind element.

Following in the footsteps of those who came before helped one progress faster and more steadily. That was the purpose of a teacher.

From the empire's border all the way to its capital, Chiyan City, Carl gave off an aura that seemed to hold some mysterious quality. Those with little power could only sense that it was unusual, while anyone with a keen eye knew not to provoke her.

After arriving in Chiyan City, Carl stayed for three days. This was the capital of the O'Brien Empire, where Level 7 fighters could be found everywhere. Level 6 was nothing special.

"Now this is an empire." Carl looked astonished.

During those three days, Carl used her Saint Realm strength to explore many parts of Chiyan City. To her surprise, she found that even Saint Realm experts held official positions in the O'Brien Empire, which greatly astonished her.

In the Holy Alliance, anyone who reached the Saint Realm already stood at the very top. The Holy Alliance had several kingdoms, each with a Saint Realm expert behind it, but they were little more than unseen backers. They rarely appeared in public. Even a Level 9 expert might go their entire life without seeing one. As a result, Saints held immense status in the Holy Alliance, and the side with several Saint Realm experts could dominate the entire alliance.

Many people followed the Radiant Church's rules because of its enormous influence. Individual Saints wouldn't oppose the church over a few restrictions.

But the O'Brien Empire was different. The War God was here.

"Perhaps these Saints are the War God's disciples."

Carl's Mental Power had never been particularly strong. Even after her transformation upon reaching the Saint Realm, it was still a little weaker than that of an ordinary Saint. But Carl could purchase Saint Realm Enhancement Cards for her family members in the territory, so there was no reason she wouldn't use them on herself.

By now, Carl herself had long since completed her transformation.

As for her physique, thanks to Physique Growth, Carl naturally had a Saint Realm body. After fifty years of cultivation, her body alone could even withstand attacks from ordinary Early Saint Realm experts.

Beyond improving her physique, Carl had used multiple Saint Realm Enhancement Cards to raise her Battle Qi talent, Mental Power talent, and affinity for wind-element magic to the Saint Realm level.

And once several of her talents had reached the Saint Realm level, some of her other talents improved as well.

For example, her comprehension and magical talent. After all, a person's talents ultimately came down to their body and mind.