Jason made no further attempts to fight the other ninth-rank experts in Netherworld Valley.
Having already grasped a Profound Mystery, he needed only enough Battle-qi to reach Saint-level. As for the Saint-level bottleneck, it was quite minor for Jason as a human-the so-called Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiend Bloodline did not make the Saint-level bottleneck much harder to overcome.
Fiends had their own characteristics, different from those of magical beasts.
To adapt to the Abyss's harsh environment, Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends, like most fiends, tended to have high birth and death rates. They matured very quickly, and before reaching Saint-level, their lifespans were far shorter than those of other kinds of creatures.
They reached adulthood in forty to fifty years, during which they absorbed external elements at a tremendous rate and ate enormous amounts of food. To shorten their maturation period, Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends did not nurture their unique "Blood Blades" before reaching Saint-level, and their bodies were also far weaker than those of magical beasts at the same rank.
They could reach the ninth rank upon adulthood, but their lifespan was only a hundred years. Members of the race could use Necromancy to postpone the end of their lives by fifty years at most.
Generally speaking, however, Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends had such short lifespans that they did not have enough time to study Necromancy in depth. Naturally, they lacked the ability to extend their lives by fifty years; even those who managed twenty years were considered talented.
That was right. Aside from exceptionally gifted Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends, most had only sixty-odd years to attempt a breakthrough to Saint-level. They either succeeded or died.
Only after breaking through to Saint-level would Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends nurture a Blood Blade. The strength of their bodies would also gradually rise to the average level of Saint-level magical beasts.
Thanks to this characteristic, Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends in the Abyss could quickly eliminate inferior individuals and concentrate resources on developing the outstanding ones, improving the survival rate of the race.
There was one problem, however: the Yulan Continent had a lower concentration of elements than the Abyss. Even in Bloodshadow Valley, it fell short of the Abyss's average. Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends took about ten years longer to mature, adding to the troubles of the Violet-Eyed Clan, whose chances of breaking through to Saint-level were already low.
Not many Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends had come to the Yulan Continent five thousand years ago in the first place. Over the past three thousand-odd years, Bloodshadow Valley had produced only a little over a hundred Saint-level Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends in total.
(The Infernal Realm's gravity is a hundred times that of the Material Plane, but I couldn't find its exact elemental concentration, so let's assume it's two hundred times as high. Taking the Abyss to be half that of the Infernal Realm, its gravity is fifty times as strong and its elemental concentration a hundred times as high.)
Jason's Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiend Bloodline would shorten his maximum lifespan somewhat, but his Saint-level bottleneck was not much greater than an ordinary human's.
After all, Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends were not an exceptionally powerful race. They were merely a variant of Abyss Blade Fiends, the lowest-ranking fiends in the Abyss. Creatures of the Abyss had a far greater chance of mutation than other creatures, and Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiends were far from the only variant of Abyss Blade Fiends.
And so, Jason devoted himself to secluded training.
Ten years later, Jason was thirty-six and had broken through to Saint-level.
At Saint-level, one truly gained the recognition of heaven and earth and became one with the world. One could fly through the air, and being closer to nature also made it easier to comprehend the laws.
Jason was fighting Ailin. She had reached Saint-level three years before him and was now forty-three. By the usual reckoning, she had only just reached adulthood; on the Yulan Continent, a Violet-Eyed Bladewing Fiend who broke through to Saint-level at her age was considered a genius.
Ailin was more proficient in the Edicts of Destruction and had also grasped part of the Laws of Death, mainly focusing on soul attacks.
Jason was currently concentrating on two kinds of Profound Mysteries, water and death, while he had only just begun studying the Lightning Element.
He had grasped about a third of the Profound Mystery of Roundness. He had also exchanged insights with the family's other Saint-level experts and grasped a small part of the Water Body Technique. As for the Edicts of Death, he called the law he had grasped "Corrosion": it corroded not only physical matter but also the soul. His understanding of the Lightning Element concerned speed, and Jason called it "Lightning Speed."
As for the classic works from his previous life, they had ceased to be of any use. Those memories had mainly helped him comprehend the Water Profound Mysteries, and their help regarding life and death had only been enough to get him started. Perhaps they might bring Jason a hint of inspiration in the future, but they were, after all, only a few thousand years' worth of humanistic philosophy. He could not expect too much.
At last, Ailin's Blood Blade unleashed an enormous blood-red slash, striking Jason, whose Battle-qi was running low, down onto the arena.
The surrounding magical barrier blocked the energy that escaped.
"You're strong. I'm glad to have made a friend who's evenly matched with me," Ailin said, flying down to the arena.
After breaking through to Saint-level, Ailin's voice had become gentler, losing its former rasp.
"I'm honored too." Jason caught his breath.
He had broken through less than ten days ago. His Battle-qi still had the lightning attribute, and he had not absorbed any Power of Death, so naturally he could not bring out the full power of his water and death Profound Mysteries.
After reaching Saint-level, elements of multiple attributes or the powers of the four Edicts could coexist within the body. Of course, coexistence was not fusion; each merely followed its own circulation path. Only Soul Mutation could fuse different powers.
Jason and Ailin's current understanding of Profound Mysteries was greater than Olivier's before his Soul Mutation, but slightly weaker than Linley's at the same stage.
"Are you ready to go into the depths of Bloodshadow Valley and claim the reward for Saint-level clan members?" Ailin asked.
"Yes. I'm planning to go tomorrow. Can you tell me what it is beforehand?"
"Look forward to it. I'm not telling."
Every Rhein or Violet-Eyed who had just broken through to Saint-level could enter the forbidden area deep within Bloodshadow Valley once. It was said to contain a great treasure left behind by their ancestors.
Jason had asked around. It was not some kind of trial, but involved things to aid cultivation and some of the family's secrets. It was a good thing.
Sometimes Jason had also wondered, Could there be a Deity-level old monster who cultivates the Edicts of Death hidden inside, waiting for Saint-level experts to enter so he can control them with Soul Seeds?
But he had observed some of the seniors who had broken through to Saint-level and visited the forbidden area over the past few years, and their personalities had not changed afterward. Besides, what would a Deity-level expert want with so many Saint-level subordinates? For one thing, they would not be much use in battle. For another, a Deity-level expert's control through Soul Seeds was bound to have limits; he could not possibly take in everyone he met.
Jason planned to apply tomorrow to visit the forbidden area deep within Bloodshadow Valley.