Carl had improved in nearly every aspect to the Saint Realm level. Now, even without relying on the system to cultivate, she could improve on her own, though her progress was truly slow.
With the system, Carl could make at least a little progress every day. Without it, she would have to split her cultivation into separate disciplines, practicing Battle Qi one day and the Mysteries the next.
Ordinary Saint Realm cultivators only focused on Momentum of Heaven and Earth. If they managed to comprehend the Laws from it, they would devote themselves to cultivating those. As for Battle Qi, they stopped cultivating it once they became Saints.
That was because, upon reaching the Early Saint Realm, Battle Qi had already reached the human body's limit. Every further improvement took years of accumulation. More importantly, compared to Momentum of Heaven and Earth, the gains from improving Battle Qi were insignificant.
It was like spending ten years painstakingly cultivating Saint Realm Battle Qi only to gain as much as one year of hard work on Momentum of Heaven and Earth.
Below the Saint Realm, people cultivated Battle Qi or magical power because everyone at the same level used those forces. The amount of energy they possessed could therefore be a decisive factor in battle.
But after reaching the Saint Realm, whether it was Battle Qi or magical power, its main purpose was to leverage a power of a higher order.
Using Battle Qi to leverage Momentum of Heaven and Earth was a way of crushing others with sheer force.
"Cultivation is slow, and the improvement it brings is minor, so people stop cultivating Battle Qi once they reach the Saint Realm. No wonder Saints of the same level struggle to fight Saint Realm magical beasts."
After using her Mental Power to sense the few Saints in Chiyan City, Carl had no desire to speak with them. Thanks to the system, she had continued cultivating Battle Qi even after reaching the Saint Realm. Her progress had become even more noticeable after she gained a Saint Body.
Although Battle Qi did far less to improve her strength than the Mysteries did, it represented endurance for Carl. And the growth of her Saint Body didn't happen out of thin air; it also required Battle Qi.
After a brief rest, Carl left Chiyan City. She continued until she reached the edge of the Chaotic Territory, where she finally stopped.
"The Chaotic Territory is probably called chaotic because of the O'Brien Empire, the Luo'ao Empire, and the Far East Prairie."
Carl hadn't stayed in Chiyan City for the past few days just to look around. Her destination was the Chaotic Territory, and the O'Brien Empire, which bordered it, naturally had plenty of information about the place.
Chaotic was Carl's first impression of the territory. It bordered the O'Brien Empire, the Luo'ao Empire, and the Far East Prairie, and had no famous powerhouses of its own. As a result, all three great powers had their eyes on it.
What emperor didn't dream of expanding his borders? If the Holy Alliance weren't protected by the Magic Beast Mountain Range, Carl could easily believe the O'Brien emperor would have considered invading it.
After all, though the Church could communicate directly with the Divine Realm, it couldn't send out God Level powerhouses. The O'Brien Empire and the Yulan Empire had God Level powerhouses guarding them, making them undisputed top-tier hegemonic powers.
"There are now sixty-four principalities in the Chaotic Territory. Some of them probably belong to the three great powers."
The tactic seemed perfectly ordinary to Carl. They could find some excuse to banish a ninth-level expert from the imperial family, who would then seize a city in the Chaotic Territory. After doing that a few times, they could unite those cities into a principality. Officially, it might claim to oppose imperial power, but in reality, it would be the empire's vanguard.
As for why the banished expert had to be from the imperial family, that was obvious. If someone outside the family was exiled to the Chaotic Territory, they might truly be abandoned. A member of the imperial family, on the other hand, came with a mission. On the surface, they belonged to the Chaotic Territory, but in truth, they still served the empire.
"The O'Brien Empire, the Luo'ao Empire, the Far East Prairie, the Radiant Church, and the Dark Church."
Carl considered the situation in the Chaotic Territory. It certainly lived up to its name.
"If I remember correctly, the Far East Prairie mainly raises cattle and sheep and isn't good for farming. Its forces are mostly made up of grassland cavalry. When they need food, they usually take it by force, which is why they're known for their cruelty. The churches wouldn't want anything to do with those barbarians."
"As for the Eighteen Duchies of the Northern Territory, they have the Temple of the Ice Goddess behind them." At that point, Carl's voice suddenly trailed off. The Radiant Church, the Dark Church, the Temple of Earth, and the Chiyan Divine Sect all referred to a particular Sovereign's faction. But the Temple of the Ice Goddess clearly referred to a specific God Level powerhouse.
"Could there once have been an Ice Goddess on the Yulan Continent?" Carl guided her thoughts in that direction.
She didn't dwell on it. Carl understood that with a temple like that in existence, even the empires had to show it some respect, let alone churches that had never produced a God Level powerhouse.
The Yulan Continent's top powers were the four great empires. Next came places like the churches, which had top Saint Realm powerhouses guarding them.
The Eighteen Duchies of the Northern Territory and the Far East Prairie each had publicly known Peak Saint Realm or even Saint Realm Limit powerhouses protecting them. The Chaotic Territory had none.
"A territory with land almost equal to the entire Holy Alliance, yet no top powerhouse to guard it. No wonder these forces have set their sights on it."
After musing for a moment, Carl turned her attention to the map in her hands.
Although it seemed that some people of levels eight and nine on the Yulan Continent also possessed Space Rings, in reality, very few people had one. Even the kings of many kingdoms might not own one.
Those who did possess a Space Ring were either long-lived veteran Saint Realm powerhouses or forces with a long history and a Saint Realm powerhouse somewhere in their past.
Although Carl was now a Saint Realm powerhouse, and her strength ranked among the best on the Yulan Continent, she had only reached the Saint Realm recently. She had also spent most of her time keeping to herself, so naturally, she didn't have a Space Ring.
"There are now sixty-four principalities in the Chaotic Territory. The Radiant Church occupies six of them, and the Dark Church occupies five." Carl studied the map in her hands. It marked many forces, including the Luo'ao Empire and the Far East Prairie, with at least some of their known supporters clearly indicated.
The map naturally didn't say how many principalities the O'Brien Empire occupied. It was a civilian map of the Chaotic Territory sold by the O'Brien Empire, so it obviously wouldn't reveal how much influence the empire had there.
"The Radiant Church. The Dark Church."
Carl's eyes flickered. The Chaotic Territory had been divided for a long time, and the two churches had established themselves there ages ago. As the heads of two divine systems that needed faith and souls, they could never get enough pure souls.
No one knew how pure souls came into being, but every one of them was enough to drive the Radiant Church into a frenzy. And since the Radiant Church had a way to obtain them, Carl didn't believe the Dark Church lacked one.
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