The Winter Rain Mountains spanned an area of 1,500,000 square kilometres. It was filled to the brim with all sorts of flora and fauna, the vast majority of which were either Wood Attributed, Water Attributed, or Ice Attributed Fae and Fae materials.
The Falling Snow River also flowed through this mountain range, a lower section of the river with significantly less spiritual essence, but a portion that was still just as strong as the spiritual essence released by this Monster carcase.
The area that the Falling Snow River affected as well was on a much larger scale, and the area that spiritual essence was affected by was much larger in comparison. With this small section alone, four Clans managed to produce Rank 4 Fae Masters after less than a thousand years. It was pretty low considering how long it had been, but the stability of the region was pretty good in contrast with other places.
Since Arthur and the others were moving out of the Winter Rain Mountains, and away from the Falling Snow River, the quality and growth of the flora and fauna had decreased significantly. Travelling East, towards the White Dominion Sect, meant that the amount of Wood type and Water type spiritual essence was lowering and the aggregate amount of spiritual essence in the air was the lowest that any of the others had felt before....
The ancient trees, which could grow more than fifty metres tall had shrunk, the tallest that any of them could see only around half that size. Wild Fae materials, while uncommon near Parachenko Village, could still be found in groups after a days worth of foraging.
In this region, one would be lucky to find one or two after an entire days worth of searching. And the quality of said Fae material, would be even lower than that of the Winter Rain Mountains....
"Oi Iryna! There is a pack of Dire Wolves approaching! Take them all out!".
Parvan's voice echoed out over the sound of wheels and bison grunts. An indistinct reply could be heard coming from one of the front carriages, and a figure flickered out, transforming mid-air into an enormous spider, shooting thin beams of poison towards the oncoming Dire Wolves.
Within a matter of minutes, the entire wolf pack had been completely annihilated. Nothing but the faint scent of sizzling flesh and mourning howls could be heard from the retreating wolf pack.
"Thank you!", Parvan's voice echoed out once more.
"You're welcome!", came the immediate reply.
Despite the fact that both of them were once previously excited about leaving the Winter Rain Mountains in order to venture out into the wider world, they couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed about the quality and strength of spirit beasts and roaming thieves in the outside world.
Most of them were just Rank 1 Fae Masters with low-tier talents. Those that were talented were usually at the peak of Rank 1, with one or two being Rank 2 Fae Masters.
However, none of these Fae Masters had any Fae higher than Rank 1. The quality of spiritual essence was just too low to support the formation of Fae, or Fae materials for that matter. Most of them just relied on their Origin Fae, and practically all of them had no idea what Attributes, or Sovereign Boundary Physiques were.
When Arthur heard the others speak, he chuckled slightly, taking another bite out of his wolf skewer.
"Despite the fact that Human Heaven possesses the largest size out of all of the Thirty Three Heavens, less than half of the world is above land. Due to the existence of Fae Grounds, spiritual essence tends to gather around these unique locations. Regions like this one, between the White Dominion Sect and the Winter Rain Mountains are just too far away from the Fae Grounds to support the existence of spiritual essence. Fae Masters aren't exactly uncommon here, but any self-respecting Sect or Clan would completely ignore these locations when desiring to settle. It would only harm their foundations, and lower the quality of their descendents if they did so....".
Arthur took another bite of his skewer.
"As such, you won't see any talented Fae Masters or Sects or Clans in these types of regions. They are quite common within Human Heaven and about 30% of all land within Human Heaven are similar to this type of Empty Region. Here.... martial arts and mortal born weapons reign supreme....".
The others nodded slightly, but Arthur kept going.
"But don't underestimate some of the mortal kingdoms within these Empty Regions. Usually they have some kind of connection to an actual Sect or Clan, through marriage or through talented descendents of some kind. If one can find an Ocean Vein Tree Fae, or something similar, then they can create a spirit vein beneath their residence. Their descendents can still be talented, and flourish even in these Empty Regions....".
The way that Arthur spoke supposed that he had great knowledge of the Azure Envy Continent, and to some degree, Human Heaven.
Arthur didn't deny it, and alluded to the diary that he had given Elder Zarek.
"I found more than just the diary. Mostly maps and some journal entries. My knowledge on the Azure Envy Continent is.... not bad, but the rest of Human Heaven is extremely incomplete. At the very least, I know where we should avoid, and what places are considered relatively safe....".
It had been half a year since they left the Winter Rain Mountains.
Almost three quarters of an entire year since Arthur destroyed the Kovacs Clan.
Without the support of the Nightfall Origin Essence Liquid Pond, Arthur's cultivation had slowed, albeit to an acceptable level.
First-tier talents, theoretically, should all be able to become Rank 4 Fae Masters within a hundred years worth of time. Niklos, with the support of Fae, had managed to do so within sixty years, which wasn't good, but wasn't necessarily bad.
Second-tier talents should theoretically all become Rank 3 Fae Masters, although there were limiting factors, like Fae and resources to consider as well.
Those with Sovereign Boundary Physiques possessed talents that exceeded the first and second-tier, and without a doubt, would reach Rank 5 within a hundred years. So long as nothing happened to them in-between their cultivation....
Without a Sovereign Boundary Physique, and with a first-tier talent, it would take roughly 100 years for a Rank 5 vapour origin essence Fae Master to become a Rank 5 zero origin essence Fae Master. That was without Origin Essence Liquid Ponds, origin essence regeneration Fae, or Vein Limit Fae.
With something like the Bone Development Fae, or the Consciousness Expansion Fae, it would be quicker, although the estimated time wouldn't be so easy to calculate....
The reason why it would take 100 years, is primarily due to the scarcity of Rank 5 Fae. Within the Kovacs Clan, there wasn't any Rank 4 Fae, other than the few that were passed down by the Kovacs Clan Founder. It just wasn't possible within the Winter Rain Mountains, even with the Falling Snow River to supplement them.
Rank 5 Fae Masters were unable to show their true strengths, unless they had Rank 5 Fae to make use of. Their Attribute Control Skills were either incomplete, or unable to express themselves to their fullest potential.
As for Immortal Fae?
Unless you were a Rank 6 Fae Immortal, forget about trying to use Immortal Fae. They needed Immortal Origin Essence in order to be used, so even someone at the peak of Rank 5 couldn't use them.
Which means Arthur couldn't use the Winter Solstice Salamander yet either...
Arthur let out a deep breath, lying back down on his makeshift bed, staring up at the starry night sky above them.
It had been six entire months since then.... Six months and he hadn't gone from being a vapour topaz origin essence Fae Master, to a liquid topaz origin essence Fae Master.
The eighteen year old just shrugged his shoulders, closing his eyes and focusing inwards. His brows furrowed as he gazed at the Law Image within his Mind Origin Essence Sea.
The faint image of Wood Laws could be seen, alongside the Shamrock Leaf Flame Essence right beside it. Arthur's Wood Laws constantly fluctuated, changing shape and form as if it was gradually adapting to a new found power.
If Arthur didn't do anything, within the next six months, the Boundless Forest Yearning would completely devour the Flame Essence, improving the Law Image, and forcibly pushing his first level of Wood Laws towards the second level!
Gluttonous Roots!