Mysterious Visitor

Spark City, City Lord's Mansion.

The City Lord's Mansion was brightly lit, and the servants all wore expressions of joy. The entire estate was bustling with gorgeously dressed nobles who had migrated here of their own volition from various places after seeing Spark City's low taxes and excellent public order.

The city had been established here for six years. Time is the best medicine, but it is also the sharpest blade.

The situation in the Anlan Kingdom was deteriorating by the day. Six years ago, regional officials within the kingdom began to ignore royal decrees. Later, seeing that the royal family lacked any strong countermeasures, they even harbored thoughts of independence. Now, six years later, two of the original three provinces of the Anlan Kingdom had already been carved up by several dukes, reaching the point where they were ready to draw blades against one another.

With the situation so dire, various methods of increasing taxes were inevitable. The most unfortunate among them were the nobles who dealt in grain and iron ore; the light punishments involved conscription, while the heavy ones resulted in the total annihilation of their clans. Even the able-bodied youth of the two provinces were being conscripted wave after wave.

The situation was dire, and the royal capital was no better off. Under these circumstances, Spark City imposed no new taxes and conducted no conscription. In fact, the current defensive forces were composed of residents who had joined voluntarily, as the benefits were truly excellent.

With Spark City as a point of comparison, those with the means naturally wanted to migrate. This allowed Spark City to grow from a population of over one million to over six million in just three years, and even the surrounding towns had populations of at least three to four hundred thousand.

Under the governance of Spark City, the total population had already exceeded ten million.

Although it could not compare to those provinces with hundreds of millions of people, these ten million-plus people were well-fed, well-clothed, had support in their old age, and had care for their young.

Over the past three years, the population that recognized the rule of Spark City had reached as high as eight million.

Among these eight million residents, the number of Level 3 Warriors was over seven hundred thousand. Although the number of Level 4 Warriors had decreased sharply, there were still over fifty thousand, and the combined total of Level 5 and Level 6 Warriors was over six thousand.

These people could all enjoy the passive amplification effects of the territory provided by the Karl System, even if it was only a meager one percent.

Karl believed that within ten years at most, among the eight million residents who recognized Spark City's rule, there would be at least one million Level 3 Warriors.

A Level 7 Warrior could break an army of a thousand, and to become a regular soldier, one had to be at least a Level 1 Warrior. A thousand Level 3 Warriors joining forces would likely be no weaker than a peak Level 7 Warrior.

While the increase in low-level combat power was gratifying, today's banquet was held solely because of the City Lord.

City Lord Lin Taros had successfully broken through to become a Level 8 Warrior three days ago. It might seem like a difference of only one level, but in the kingdom, a Level 7 Warrior could burn through everything and still not touch the title of Viscount. However, a Level 8 powerhouse, as long as they protected a territory, would be granted the title of Viscount by the royal family without hesitation.

A Viscount might seem like only the second tier of nobility, but in reality, this title was enough to stop ninety-nine percent of the people in the world.

Today, the City Lord's Mansion was filled with joy, and the traffic outside was like a flowing river. Anyone who knew even a little about this City Lord understood that by stepping into the Level 8 Warrior realm, his lifespan would increase again. This meant that he would continue to rule Spark City. This was their true provider; they weren't afraid of giving gifts during celebrations, they were only afraid that the City Lord might remember who didn't show up.

The traffic was so heavy that the carriages alone almost blocked the entire estate. The guards and servants brought by the nobles didn't even have the qualifications to enter the mansion and could only wait outside. The number of these servants and guards combined was no less than a thousand, which showed the current prosperity of Spark City.

However, while the outside of the mansion was filled with joy, deep inside the mansion, in the courtyard belonging to Karl, an old man sat across from him, imitating Karl as he drank tea.

This was an old man with a full head of white hair and a white beard. He looked extremely aged, and only his sky-blue eyes gave people an unusual feeling.

"Hehe, I came uninvited. I hope you don't mind, sir." The white-haired old man said with a chuckle.

"Greetings, senior."

Seeing the visitor blocking his path, Karl dared not be careless and quickly said respectfully.

"Oh? You recognize me?" The white-haired old man said, somewhat surprised.

"I do not. It is just that for a senior to be able to arrive without a sound, you must be a great powerhouse." Karl complimented him calmly.

Of course, Karl knew who this old man was, but he had kept his own breakthrough to the Saint Realm hidden and had never known any friends at the Saint Realm level. If he suddenly said he recognized this God Level powerhouse, it would look suspicious no matter how one viewed it.

Moreover, even for an ordinary Saint Realm powerhouse, unless the person in question came personally, one would not easily mention them. After all, for a God Level powerhouse, their divine sense—if not covering the entire Yulan Plane—could at least easily cover the mere Yulan Continent.

Under the divine sense coverage of such a God Level powerhouse, even if not face-to-face, as long as his name was mentioned, or even just alluded to, the person would likely notice.

Just like that uncrowned king on the Yulan Continent, Karl didn't even dare to think about him. After all, he knew that a Sovereign level powerhouse could kill an Asura level powerhouse standing at the peak of the gods with a single thought. Who knew if they had the ability to know what others were thinking with a single thought?

Seeing the young man in front of him being so respectful, the white-haired old man lost his desire to tease him and became very straightforward.

"You can call me Hodan. I came here today mainly for you." The white-haired old man, who was Hodan, said with a chuckle.

"Please, senior, enlighten me." Karl's expression remained unchanged, and he became even more respectful.

Below the God Level, all are ants. He had no background, and if he offended Hodan with a bad attitude, he might be thrown directly into a Divine Plane to fend for himself.

"Hehe, you need not worry. Let me ask you, Karl: over the countless years on the Yulan Continent, there have been so many geniuses. Even if there was one every hundred years, there would have been a thousand over ten thousand years. Yet, how many Saint Realm powerhouses are there on the Yulan Continent now? An empire has only a few dozen." Hodan continued with a chuckle.

"Can Saint Realm powerhouses live for ten thousand years?" Karl asked, somewhat surprised.

At the Saint Realm level, one is theoretically immortal, but since one has not become a God Level being, one relies only on the transformation of the body and soul to obtain that near-immortal ability. Karl himself was not clear on exactly how long a Saint Realm powerhouse could live.

After all, he had successfully broken through to the Saint Realm. As things stood now, as long as he wasn't killed by someone, he would definitely not fall before reaching the God Level. He wasn't worried about his own lifespan, but rather his family.

There were conditions for upgrading a family as well. Upgrading from level one to two only required reaching a certain strength, but upgrading from two to three required specific demands on the family's overall strength.