Daily Life

Saint Realm, Karl had pondered this for many years and reached a conclusion.

Thirty times the Mental Power as a natural talent, along with superior elemental affinity—this was the talent belonging to the Saint Realm.

As long as no accidents occurred and one trained steadily, it was enough to reliably break through to the Saint Realm during one's prime.

This did not mean that one could not become a Saint Realm magus without meeting this talent requirement; being slightly inferior was acceptable, but it would simply require more time.

In other words, it was a grind.

Karl had also used Aptitude Enhancement Talismans of the ninth rank, the Saint Realm, and the eighth rank on members of his family.

He had long since understood the gaps between these levels.

A ninth-rank Aptitude Enhancement Talisman boosted one's level to the threshold between the early and middle stages of the ninth rank.

Possessing ninth-rank aptitude, if one cultivated normally, one could reliably step into the early stage of the ninth rank at around one hundred years old, and then, after another hundred years or so, enter the middle stage of the ninth rank.

According to Karl's estimates, with this level of talent and constant, uninterrupted cultivation, one could reach strength approaching the late stage of the ninth rank at around four hundred and fifty years old.

As for the Saint Realm, the cultivation difficulty for warriors was lower; in about fifty years, one could stably enter the ninth rank, and at least until the late stage of the ninth rank, there would be no difficulty.

But beyond that, starting from the late stage of the ninth rank, the intensity increased, and it generally took several decades to a century to reach the peak of the ninth rank.

This was why, among Karl's several disciples, the strongest only had the strength of the late ninth rank, while those who were only granted ninth-rank aptitude mostly possessed strength only at the early ninth rank.

"Twenty-something times the growth of Mental Power, superior elemental affinity—this kind of talent might support you in becoming a ninth-rank grand magus, but it might take hundreds of years to have a chance to reach the peak of the ninth rank."

A ninth-rank grand magus whose strength could reach the peak of the ninth rank was already a seed for the Saint Realm; it was just a matter of needing time to passively comprehend the Momentum of Heaven and Earth to step into the Saint Realm.

Soon, Karl arrived at the patriarch's residence.

Having developed through several stages, the Taros Family had long since expanded from a single mansion into an entire compound.

This compound could simply be called a vast expanse of high-rise buildings. With Karl's mansion as the core, a large area was left vacant on the periphery; Luo'an's mansion was located there, clearly intended as the future residence for the family's Saint Realm powerhouses.

As for the further periphery, that was for important family members. If the core area consisted of individual manors, then this area consisted of large courtyards.

And the owners of these large courtyards all possessed ninth-rank strength.

Beyond those courtyards were some high-rise buildings, where only those in the family with strength above the seventh rank could live.

"This is most likely the idea of that kid, Lin."

Indeed, this compound had clearly been planned, and many places had been renovated.

The scope of this compound was no smaller than half a small town.

The patriarch's courtyard.

It was also the place closest to the core. Karl's figure appeared in the main hall like a ghost, startling Lin Taros, who was drinking tea, so much that he jumped.

Only a bang was heard as the teacup fell directly to the floor.

"Look at you, scared by just a little movement; you have no bearing of a patriarch at all."

Seeing this scene, Karl felt his anger flare up.

Hundreds of years had passed, and this personality trait had never changed.

To put it nicely, one could call it steady; to put it bluntly, it was cowardly.

Even when he participated in the war back then, it was because Karl had forced him to go.

Without high-intensity tempering, how could he have advanced to the ninth rank so quickly?

"Father."

Lin was completely unable to voice his grievances at this moment. When he was a child, Karl liked to scare him, making him timid, and even after growing up, he prioritized stability above all else, never taking risks.

The benefit, naturally, was living a long life. Even when he joined the army in his youth, it was entirely due to his good judgment, and he would run away the moment he saw things going south.

Later, when he began to hold power, he naturally feared accidents even more after enjoying a comfortable life.

After all, the situation on the Yulan Continent was none of the business of ordinary people, and they had no ability to influence anything, but for some people in high positions, it was definitely not peaceful. Otherwise, there wouldn't be room for so many assassin organizations to survive.

Organizations like the Saber, the Black Rose, and the Faceless were all top-tier assassin organizations on the Yulan Continent.

However, it was said that the Faceless later offended the Saber and vanished overnight, giving some powerful figures on the entire continent a chance to breathe.

As for the Black Rose, it was said to be composed entirely of female assassins and also had a great reputation on the Yulan Continent, but compared to the straightforward assassinations of the Saber, the Black Rose preferred to use beauty to seduce their targets.

This also led to the Black Rose's reputation being firmly suppressed by the Saber.

"Father, why have you returned?" Lin asked cautiously.

"I returned mainly to see Luo'an. You kid aren't bad; a Saint Realm powerhouse has appeared among your descendants." Speaking of this, Karl was also very satisfied.

With the first Saint Realm powerhouse, there could be a second and a third in the future. Originally, he had held no hope for the family's rise, but now it could be considered as seeing the clouds part to reveal the sun; there was finally a chance.

"Also, what is going on with your strength? You're still at the late stage of the ninth rank."

Karl sensed it for a moment, and his expression suddenly turned cold.

Compared to more than twenty years ago, Lin's strength had hardly changed.

Before he left, Lin had already reached the late stage of the ninth rank, and now, he was still at the late stage of the ninth rank.

Generally speaking, being able to reach the late stage of the ninth rank is like having smoke rising from one's ancestral grave, but Karl had improved Lin's aptitude a long time ago.

Even if it is indeed difficult to improve once reaching the late stage of the ninth rank, it shouldn't be this slow.

In Karl's perception, if Lin's strength were to be quantified, it would be at the level of ninth rank (75%), whereas before Karl left, Lin's strength was already around the ninth rank (70%).

The ninth rank has four levels: early stage, middle stage, late stage, and peak.

If one were to use percentages based on Karl's past cultivation experience, then 1-33 is the early stage of the ninth rank, 34-66 is the middle stage of the ninth rank, and 67-99 is the late stage of the ninth rank.

Only by going a step further from 99% to reach 100% can one be considered at the peak of the ninth rank, and the peak of the ninth rank is the limit of Battle Qi, the key to being able to step into the Saint Realm at any time.

This is a slow and steady process; as long as one has the talent, reaching the peak of the ninth rank is only a matter of time.

Lin clearly has this talent, but the progress is too slow.

In the past, there was nothing Karl could do about his slow cultivation; he only had the talent of a sixth ranker at that time, and being able to break through to the seventh, eighth, and ninth ranks relied entirely on the help of the system. He wanted to cultivate back then, but a whole year of cultivation couldn't even compare to a single day of the system idling.

This is what happens when talent is insufficient; once you reach a height you shouldn't have been able to attain, this situation arises where relying on yourself results in absolutely no progress.