A Place to Call Home

The Chaotic Territory had long been caught in a state of constant warfare. As a result, the civilians trapped in the fighting yearned for a powerful leader who could guide them out of chaos and into a peaceful life. The two churches owed their foothold in the Chaotic Territory to their Saint Realm experts as well.

"The Radiant Church has five Peak Saint Realm experts, but that doesn't mean they only have five." Carl knew full well that she had gone from a new Saint Realm expert to a Peak Saint Realm expert in just a few decades, making her one of the strongest on the continent. She owed that to the system.

An ordinary Saint Realm expert, on the other hand, needed at least several hundred or even a thousand years to advance from a new Saint Realm expert to comprehending the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

Carl hadn't spent all these years in seclusion. She had also spoken with several Saint Realm experts. Setting aside those top geniuses, it generally took a Saint Realm expert three to five hundred years to fully comprehend the Momentum of Heaven and Earth. It could take several more centuries after that to grasp a Mystery.

Saint Realm experts enjoyed extraordinarily long lives. Though this longevity was a gift from heaven, it also meant that cultivating at the Saint Realm level took an extremely long time.

Those who could reach the Saint Realm Limit within four or five thousand years were all exceptionally formidable. The Radiant Church's pope, for example, had already been cultivating for more than two thousand years.

"First, I'll find that cultivation treasure trove. I can worry about what comes next afterward."

Carl made a plan. She would find that stretch of Spatial Turbulence—the only place on the Yulan Continent where one could come into direct contact with the Laws.

"Magic Crystals."

Carl murmured the words. Compared with Linley's time, she was nearly two thousand years early. The changes those two thousand years had brought were nothing short of earth-shattering. Even with powerful experts stationed throughout the region, the Chaotic Territory was still changing by the day.

"I remember that place being quite close to Black Crow Mountain." The only plan Carl could think of was to retrace Linley's route. It was also the clearest path forward.

But Carl had no grudge against the Radiant Church. If anything, their relationship was relatively friendly, so she had no need to hide her identity.

The blazing sun hung high overhead, and waves of heat blanketed Black Stone City. With her Mental Power, Carl could easily see the city's entire layout.

A troop of City Guards patrolled Black Stone City, moving about in a listless, lackadaisical fashion. Quite a few had simply taken shelter beneath the city walls, unwilling to be scorched by the sun.

"This accursed weather! It's unbearably hot during the day and freezing at night." A burly man in battered armor muttered a curse. Behind him were nine companions—one small squad from a City Guard battalion.

"What're you looking at?"

When the burly man saw some civilians nearby, his expression immediately turned cold, and he began cursing at them.

Several civilians shrank back fearfully at the sight.

Once they had all fled, one of the soldiers muttered, "This damn rotten world. Working under that greedy fat pig has made my elders look down on me. They say I'm worse than a dog or a pig."

"Damn right. If I weren't trying to keep my wife and son fed, I'd never have taken this job!" one of his companions chimed in.

The fat city lord was notorious throughout Black Stone City. The heavy taxes he levied every month meant that many civilians could barely keep themselves fed, no matter how hard they worked. The soldiers who had joined the City Guard so they could feed themselves and their families had instead become the city lord's accomplices.

They cursed the despicable city lord too, but they didn't dare resist. His son was a peak seventh-level warrior, which was enough to let him dominate a small city like this.

Carl flew silently high above the city. This was the sixth city she had seen over the past few days. She had originally been looking for Black Soil City, but after witnessing the city's banners change hands so many times, she had gradually come to understand.

In a place like the Chaotic Territory, civilians had almost no sense of belonging. One person might be the city lord this month, only for someone else to take over the next. As a result, civilians had few demands of their rulers. All they wanted was enough to eat.

If their situation was poor, as long as they weren't starving to death, they did little more than grumble.

"This will do."

After searching here and there, Carl finally gave up. She would simply find a place to settle and develop it step by step. There was no reason she couldn't find that Magic Crystal vein eventually.

As soon as Carl made her decision, the fat, pig-like city lord—who was in one of the rooms of the City Lord's Mansion, enjoying himself with a concubine—instantly breathed his last.

The comely woman beneath the city lord, who had no idea which number concubine she was, felt his heavy body pressing down on her. Her coquettish smile, which she had been putting on for his sake, vanished when she sensed his lifelessness. Her face went pale.

"Ah!"

The City Lord's Mansion in Black Stone City could be called a city within a city.

Carl descended from the sky. The three thousand or so soldiers immediately turned pale. Anyone who could fly through the sky was either a Mage, a person of great status, or a powerful Saint Realm expert.

Many keen-eyed onlookers saw that the expert descending from the sky wore neither a Mage's robe nor carried a staff. They immediately realized that she was most likely an extremely powerful Saint Realm expert.

Black Stone City's army had only two battalions, each with eighteen hundred men. One was the City Guard, responsible for patrolling the outer city. The other was the Royal Guard, responsible for protecting the entire City Lord's Mansion. The city lord had used half his forces to protect himself, which showed just how afraid of death he was.

With three thousand six hundred men watching, the pressure emanating from Carl forced every one of them to their knees. They formed a vast, dark mass.

"I am Carl Talos. I intend to establish the Sky Wind Kingdom here. Are you willing to become the first soldiers under my rule?"

"Carl Talos?"

The Chaotic Territory was separated from the Holy Alliance by the entire Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and the O'Brien Empire. Perhaps people in the Chaotic Territory would know Carl's name several centuries from now, but these people clearly didn't.

Still, none of those present were fools. To establish a kingdom, one needed at least Saint Realm strength.

Everyone immediately brightened with excitement. Under the rule of a Saint Realm expert, the Sky Wind Kingdom would enjoy lasting peace. No one wanted to offend a Saint Realm expert, especially one who had just founded a kingdom.

After all, if someone came to provoke them right after the kingdom's founding, it would be like showing contempt for a Saint Realm expert.

"Join my army, and your pay will triple. I'll also reduce the taxes in my territory as much as I can."

Taxes were the main source of income for a territory. Without them, there would be no money to support an army unless one paid for it out of one's own pocket.