Chaotic Territory

With his attributes almost entirely elevated to the Saint Realm, Karl could now improve on his own even without relying on the system, though such progress was admittedly slow.

With the system, Karl could gain at least one point of progress every day, but without it, Karl would have to split his training, practicing Battle Qi one day and Mysteries the next.

Generally, Saint Realm cultivation focuses solely on the Momentum of Heaven and Earth; if one can comprehend the Laws from it, they will dedicate themselves to the Laws, while Battle Qi is often abandoned once one reaches the Saint Realm.

This is because, upon reaching the Early Saint Realm, Battle Qi has already hit the human limit, and every step forward requires years of accumulation; more importantly, such improvements in Battle Qi seem insignificant when compared to the Momentum of Heaven and Earth.

It is as if ten years of bitter cultivation in Saint Realm Battle Qi brings improvements only comparable to one year of cultivating the Momentum of Heaven and Earth.

Below the Saint Realm, one cultivates Battle Qi and magical power because everyone at that level uses such energy, making the quantity of that energy a key factor in victory or defeat.

But after reaching the Saint Realm, whether it is Battle Qi or magical power, its primary role is to leverage power of a higher order.

Using Battle Qi to leverage the Momentum of Heaven and Earth can be considered using momentum to suppress others.

"Because the cultivation speed is slow and the gains are small, people stop cultivating Battle Qi once they reach the Saint Realm. No wonder Saint Realm experts of the same level struggle to fight against Saint Realm magic beasts."

After sensing the few Saint Realm experts in Chiyan City with his Mental Power, Karl lost interest in interacting with them. Because of the system, Karl continued to cultivate Battle Qi even after achieving the Saint Realm, and with his Saint Body, his progress was even more pronounced.

Although the boost to his strength from Battle Qi was far inferior to that of the Mysteries, to Karl, Battle Qi represented endurance, and the growth of his Saint Body did not happen out of thin air; it also required Battle Qi.

After a brief rest, Karl left Chiyan City and did not stop until he reached the edge of the Chaotic Territory.

"The reason the Chaotic Territory can be crowned with the name 'chaotic' is most likely due to the O'Brien Empire, the Luo'ao Empire, and the Far East Prairie."

Karl's stay in Chiyan City over the past few days was not just for sightseeing; his destination was the Chaotic Territory, and as the O'Brien Empire bordered the Chaotic Territory, it naturally held plenty of information about it.

Chaos was Karl's first impression of the Chaotic Territory. Because the Chaotic Territory bordered the O'Brien Empire, the Luo'ao Empire, and the Far East Prairie, and lacked any famous powerhouses of its own, these three major forces were all eyeing it.

What emperor doesn't dream of expanding their territory? If not for the Magic Beast Mountain Range serving as a natural barrier for the Holy Alliance, Karl believed the emperor of the O'Brien Empire would have already planned to invade it.

After all, although the Church could communicate directly with the Divine Realm, they could not dispatch God Level powerhouses themselves. The O'Brien Empire and the Yulan Empire had God Level powerhouses presiding over them, making them undisputed top-tier hegemons.

"There are currently sixty-four duchies in the Chaotic Territory. Perhaps some of these sixty-four duchies belong to the three major powers."

In Karl's view, such tactics were perfectly normal. One could simply find a reason to exile a direct-line ninth-rank expert, have them occupy a city in the Chaotic Territory, and after doing this a few times, they could unite to form a duchy. Nominally, they might oppose the imperial forces, but in reality, they were just pawns of the empire.

As for why it had to be direct-line members, it was naturally because if non-direct members were exiled to the Chaotic Territory, they might truly be exiled, whereas direct-line members came with a mission—appearing to be people of the Chaotic Territory while remaining agents of the empire.

"The O'Brien Empire, the Luo'ao Empire, the Far East Prairie, the Radiant Church, the Dark Church."

Karl pondered the current situation in the Chaotic Territory; it truly lived up to its name of chaos.

"If I remember correctly, the Far East Prairie mainly relies on herding cattle and sheep and is not good at farming, so their forces are mostly prairie cavalry. When they need food, their main method is to raid, which is why these people are known for their cruelty. The people of the Church wouldn't look kindly on these barbarians."

"As for the Eighteen Duchies of the Northern Territory, they have the Temple of the Ice Goddess behind them." At this thought, Karl's voice paused. The Radiant Church, the Dark Church, the Temple of Earth, and the Chiyan Divine Sect all referred to a specific Sovereign, and clearly, the Temple of the Ice Goddess pointed to a specific God Level powerhouse.

"Perhaps there was once an Ice Goddess on the Yulan Continent?" Karl controlled his thoughts to lean in this direction.

Stopping there, Karl understood that with the existence of such a temple, even empires had to show some respect, let alone churches that had never even produced a God Level powerhouse.

The top forces of the Yulan Continent were dominated by the four great empires, followed by places like the churches that had top-tier Saint Realm powerhouses presiding over them.

The Eighteen Duchies of the Northern Territory and the Far East Prairie had Saint Realm Peak or even Saint Realm Limit powerhouses presiding over them openly, but the Chaotic Territory did not.

"A land area comparable to the entire Holy Alliance with no top-tier powerhouses guarding it—it's no wonder these forces have their eyes on the Chaotic Territory."

Karl sighed for a moment before turning his attention to the map in his hand.

Don't be fooled by the fact that some eighth or ninth-rank experts on the Yulan Continent seem to possess Space Rings; in reality, those who own them are extremely rare. Many kings of kingdoms might not even possess one.

Those who can own a Space Ring are either long-lived veteran Saint Realm powerhouses or forces that have been passed down for many years and have produced Saint Realm powerhouses.

Although Karl was now a Saint Realm powerhouse and could even be ranked among the best on the Yulan Continent, he had only achieved the Saint Realm recently, and since he spent most of his time staying home, he naturally did not have a Space Ring.

"The Chaotic Territory currently has sixty-four duchies, of which the Radiant Church occupies six and the Dark Church occupies five." Karl looked at the map in his hand, which had many forces marked on it; even the Luo'ao Empire and the Far East Prairie had their clear supporters marked to varying degrees.

As for how many duchies the O'Brien Empire occupied, this map naturally did not say. After all, this was a civilian-grade map of the Chaotic Territory sold by the O'Brien Empire, so it clearly wouldn't reveal how much influence it held.

"The Radiant Church, the Dark Church."

Karl's eyes flickered. The situation in the Chaotic Territory had existed for a long time, and the two major churches had long since established themselves there. As the masters of two major divine lineages that required faith and souls, they were always in short supply of pure souls.

The conditions for the birth of a pure soul were unknown, but every single one was enough to drive the Radiant Church mad. Since the Radiant Church had such means, Karl did not believe the Dark Church lacked them.