The Rise of the Black Plain
Minos Stuart is an ordinary young nobleman with average talent and a few possibilities for his future. Still, when he was about to start his cultivation journey, he was seriously injured, left in a nearly dead state! But due to a turnaround in fate, Minos receives an opportunity of one in one billion when he was recognized by a fragment of the soul from an ancient specialist in the Spiritual World. With this opportunity, Minos will have a new path to follow, full of dangers and adventures, while he will gather the strength to fulfill a promise and his own desires!
The Rise of the Black Plain #Chapter 1: The Inheritance - Read The Rise of the Black Plain Chapter 1: The Inheritance Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 1: The Inheritance
Boom!
Several explosions took place in a few seconds, along with the chaos generated by the people who passed in the area and were now fled in despair. Some students left the Spiritual Academy, several vendors, and many passers-by who would typically pass by this place almost any time of day.
After all, this was the capital of the Brown Kingdom, the City of the Setting Sun. And this was one of the main avenues, but still, some attack was happening right there.
As the crowd dispersed, five cultivators from the Spiritual King stage were fighting 4 of them were attacking the 5th with clear intention to kill.
This person was none other than one of the important generals of the Brown Kingdom, Albert Stuart, who was 130-years-old and was already at level 51, Spiritual King stage, with great possibilities in his future.
However, even for someone talented, fighting four opponents from the same stage was not easy, and soon the general was increasingly at a disadvantage.
"Albert, you should never have had absurd thoughts of getting a mid-level spiritual region as a reward given by the kingdom. Hahaha, as if a newly created noble family like yours could do so."
Not long ago, the kingdom was relocating sovereignty over a region particularly rich in spiritual energy, by the standards of this region, of course. Since the former sovereign family in that region had left the Kingdom Brown, leaving several noble families thirsty for this place.
Finally, due to Albert Stuart's meritorious service, he received that region, and he had expectations of increasing his family's strength in a wealthy place like that. However, this was a resource that his small noble family could not own.
Another attacker added with a smile on his face. "Be happy that we'll not touch your son when you die, hahaha, and yet we'll give him the lands of the Black Plain as your inheritance!"
In question, the region of the Black Plain was an impoverished place, sterile and with a spiritual density considerably low.
"Miserable, don't think I'm going to die without even taking any of you with me."
After saying this, Albert Stuart concentrated all of his spiritual energy presents in his body in a sphere of black energy, while his vitality as Spiritual King that could provide a life expectancy of about 1,600 years was being sucked into an incredible speed, changing his appearance from a young adult to an older man with both feet in the grave in a single instant.
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"Damn, this demented man is going to sacrifice himself. Withdrawal!!!"
At that moment, a big explosion happened in that place, destroying everything along the way in a radius of 20 meters, when three men staggered out while the 4th was thrown in a half-dead state. There were also several objects flying from the place and reaching the surroundings.
Meanwhile, a young man with his childlike features, brown hair, 1.3 meters tall, dressed in a green uniform and holding a backpack on his back, was shocked by the surrounding events when a stone of more than 1 meter wide came towards him.
"AHH!!!"
Unfortunately, he could not escape in time before he was struck. This was Minos Stuart, 9-years-old and the son of the general who had just sacrificed himself.
He was coming to meet his father in front of the Spiritual Academy, after his last day of school, before he could finally start his journey in the world of cultivation.
He then lost consciousness shortly after that. It didn't take long for the situation to calm down, and soon several guards came to control the situation and assist the victims of this attack.
"Eh, isn't that General Stuart's brat?" One of the guards who helped in the rescue asked in a low voice.
"Hmm, and it appears that his situation is grave. It's better to take him straight to General Stuart's mansion. Butler Dillian is well versed in spiritual healing. If not even he could help him, then we wouldn't be either help, take him fast." Another guard said while helping an older man beside Minos' unconscious body.
While Minos was rescued, a hoarse voice suddenly spoke inside his mind. "Boy, your situation isn't the best, tsh, although, despite everything, you also received a chance that many would dream of having."
Minos then began to speak in a fearful voice. "Who are you? Where are you?"
"Don't be so scared, despite being on the verge of death, that's the good part. My name is Henricus Longus, and as for where I am, I am on your mind."
Then the young man asked in disbelief. "Hen... Henricus Longus, the first God of our world?"
"Hmm, it looks like my name hasn't been completely forgotten, but I wasn't the first God, just the first human to reach this level."
Soon after, the young man remembered something crucial. "What did you say? Inside my mind? What do you mean?"
The old voice then answered. "That's right, you are receiving my inheritance, so this fragment of my soul can communicate directly with your mind. As to why this is happening, it is simply because you have met the requirements for receiving the inheritance."
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"But don't get too full of yourself. It just happened due to your location and the fact that your near-death state has changed your Physique. And due to certain reasons, I couldn't just wait for a suitable heir to come to me, so that's why I came to you."
Minos then questioned. "Has my Physique changed?"
"That's right. You should know that there are five notes for the Physique: Common, Warrior, King, Saint, and Divine; originally, you had one of the King-grade, but due to the incident, it was changed to a mutant Common-grade, which can continually evolve into the Divine-grade. This must-have happened because you had a Physique with somewhat unusual ability, and after the incident, an anomaly was created in your body, generating this rare phenomenon."
"As for the geographic factor, this region was very rich in spiritual energy in my time. That was one reason I created my Spatial Kingdom close to this place. But I didn't expect the surrounding energy to become so thin after only a few million years... In my days, this place could create Spiritual Sages, but now... Not even Spiritual Emperors could be created in this region."
"This ended up making it difficult for me to find a suitable heir since to receive my inheritance, the individual needs to have a Divine-grade Physique. And since people are not born with such a Physique, finding someone like that in a place like this was almost impossible, since no one talented enough would stay here..."
Meanwhile, the 9-year-old child listened carefully to the words of this historical figure, so the old voice continued. "Boy, my inheritance will give you tremendous potential since your talent will be even higher than the Golden talent. However, you must make a promise."
The talent in this world was classified into five rows. It was White, Blue, Black, Silver, and Golden. It is said that talent is equal to understanding, which is one of the two requirements to advance through the stages of cultivation. The other was the accumulation of spiritual energy.
With talent, you can progress without bottlenecks to a particular stage of cultivation, depending on what classification your talent was. For Golden talent, for example, the first bottleneck an individual encounter is at the level of a Spiritual Demigod, and there is a greater than 50% probability that the individual with such a talent will reach this level.
"About what?" Minos asked curiously. Then he heard. "When I was still alive, I had an innate divination skill, and because of that, I once had a prophetic dream about a very distant future in which this world would face a great external threat."
"Few know this, but the truth is that we aren't alone in the universe, and we are lucky that we have never been found by them before. But don't be so scared, their cultivation is also like ours, it's limited to level 100. However, they are much more numerous. For example, while we find a lot when we have 3 or 4 Gods at the same time, these forces even have 10 or 15 of them simultaneously."
"So, after my dream, I started creating my inheritance, since I couldn't solve the problem in my days, as there wasn't enough spiritual energy in the environment. Don't misunderstand. The problem is that this energy is very widespread in the world, and we cannot absorb even 30% of the total. This is also a biological limitation. However, there are still spiritual plants and medicines that can do this, and it is through these resources, we reach level 100."
"You may not know it, but when you reach level 100, cultivators can double the space and create spatial regions, which we call Spatial Kingdoms. These kingdoms can absorb the energy of heaven and earth and concentrate on the inside, creating true cultivation sanctuaries."
"To prepare this place, I dedicated the last 1,000 years of my life to doubling space five times and creating a kingdom that could store a tremendous amount of energy after a few million years."
"Anyway, a few decades ago, the kingdom finally matured completely. So, this is the main part of my inheritance. You must use this space to improve the average level of cultivation on this planet. When it comes to how to do this, after digesting the much information that you will also receive, I believe that you'll have a good sense of how to accomplish this."
"This is all boy, don't let me down, or this whole world can be enslaved. Finally, I think that because of your current state and my inheritance, you may end up being unconscious for a few years, but that will not be such a big disadvantage."
Minos then responded sincerely. "I will do my best not to waste this chance."
The old voice then said goodbye. "Good luck. I hope you succeed."
...
Meanwhile, outside Minos' mind, his body was continually being healed by the efforts of the butler Dillian. However, there was no sign of the young Stuart waking up.
And so, six years passed in the blink of an eye.
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Chapter 2: Awakening
In the last six years that Minos was unconscious, the butler Dillian has applied several special medicines to the body of his young master while trying to find outside help to awaken him.
However, there wasn't much success. Even Minos' absent mother, who visited him quite irregularly, also tried to help him as she could, but unfortunately, it seemed that something else was preventing him from waking up.
During this period, some changes occurred after the attack on General Albert Stuart. For example, the Red Valley region, one of the best places to cultivate within the Brown Kingdom, which should be passed on to the general's family, was then allocated to one of the largest noble families in this kingdom. The Silva family was a tremendous military force, second only to the royal family.
The Silva's pressured the king to change the mandate passed on those lands to the Stuart family since there was no such need since Albert Stuart was already dead and his only son had never made any contributions and was still struggling to survive.
In this way, the Silva's obtained the property of the Red Valley after months of talks.
While for Minos, he was 'graced' with the poor lands of the Black Plain, which despite the large area, was a place with the lowest spiritual density, the smallest population, and consequently, the worst economy in the entire kingdom.
And having a sovereign who had been unconscious for years, despite not making the situation worse, those who lived on the Black Plain could still feel a certain dislike for Minos. After all, they couldn't show discontent with the king's orders, leaving only the weakest link…
Anyway, now Minos Stuart was 15 years old and had already lost five years of cultivation, since cultivation started at ten years of age, the best time to start cultivating.
At 15, the most talented youths in this kingdom were already between levels 20 and 29, which was the Spiritual Beginner stage, the third stage of cultivation. In contrast, Minos was only in the first stage, Body Foundation, level 0, the level of an ordinary person who has never cultivated in his life!
However, this slight delay wasn't so bad. After all, he received large amounts of knowledge from a level 100 specialist! His talent, which was initially classified as Black, but after receiving all the understanding of a God, surpassed the Golden classification!
With that, he would only face a bottleneck in cultivation, which would be to reach level 100, having more than a 50% chance of achieving this level.
So, the only problem now was for Minos to wake up and gather the right amount of energy. Of course, there is a limit for each level and the body, so he couldn't just absorb the divine medicines of the Spatial Kingdom and become a God.
If he tried something like that, then his body would explode immediately!
But even so, with his current understanding, it would only be a matter of time.
...
And so, time passed, and then finally, the now young teenager's unconscious body began to show signs of awakening, when he finally opened his eyes and began to observe the place where he was.
This was his room, and it looked the same as he had left it on that fateful day.
There was a bookcase filled with books ranging from medicines, pills, geopolitics, and much other essential information that he learned when he was at the Spiritual Academy.
Other than that, it also had a big closet, a study place, and his bed, Minos although noble, he was a very simple person, so his room wasn't full of useless things.
At that moment, Minos began to think about everything that happened, from his father's death to the inheritance of the God Henricus Longus, when he thought with tears in his eyes.
"My father sacrificed himself after being ambushed... Unfortunately, I can't do anything now. I must focus on cultivation and start planning how to increase this planet's average level of this planet... My revenge will naturally happen when I reach the necessary level."
Minos seemed very calm and severe, in fact, even though he was unconscious for six years and still had to have the mentality of a 9-year-old child, but that wasn't the case. After inheriting a significant amount of information from the long life of a God, who reached just over 50 thousand years, Minos now had a personality quite mature for his present age.
"From the knowledge I inherited, there seem to be 11 stages in cultivation, subdivided into ten parts for each stage. It is Body Foundation, Transition, Spiritual Beginner, Spiritual Warrior, Spiritual General, Spiritual King, Spiritual Emperor, Spiritual Saint, Spiritual Sage, Spiritual Demigod, and God."
"As for vitality, it doubles at every stage from the post of Spiritual Beginner, reaching just over 50,000 years for a God."
"Not only does vitality increase considerably, the amount of energy in each stage increases in a factorial order, for example, someone at the apex of the 7th stage, level 69, but 7 times more energy than someone at the apex of the 6th stage, level 59, and a level 100, a God, has 11 times more energy than a level 99 demigod!!"
"In addition, someone could fly by becoming a Spiritual Emperor, live temporarily in the form of a soul, if your body is destroyed, and then someone could rebuild it or possess someone from the rank of Spiritual Saint. A person could travel through space from a Spiritual Sage and finally build spatial kingdoms at level 100."
"Tsh! And those older men from the Spiritual Academy were full of themselves because there were Spiritual Kings in the kingdom. They are ignorant..."
"As for my Physique, hahaha, I was fortunate. Although it has regressed from King-grade to Common-grade, it will now be much easier to attain the Divine-grade due to its mutagenic factor. And it looks like it also specializes in energy storage..."
"Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, I must store up to 5% more energy in each cultivation level, and it will continue to increase, and when my Physique reaches the Divine-grade when I will have up to 40% more energy than someone normally would have."
"This is great. Although it takes longer to move forward, I will be much stronger than those on the same level as me!"
At that moment, the door to Minos's room opened, and a middle-aged man entered the room. This was Dillian, the butler of the late General Stuart. He was 150 years old and was at level 45.
As soon as he saw the young man sitting on the bed, he immediately ran towards him, as if a miracle had happened. "Young master, did you just wake up? How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, grandpa Dillian. I just woke up. I feel as good as after a long night's sleep." Minos answered sincerely. After all, Dillian had accompanied his father for many decades, even before he was born, and during his life, Dillian was the second person that he could count on while his father was still alive.
"Good! Young master, after so long, I was afraid that you might never wake up." Said the butler with a severe face.
"Hmm, how long has it been since the attack on my father?"
"It was six years, young master. After the master passed away, you were brought here, and during those years, I was doing everything possible to try to help you wake up. Mrs. Maisie also tried very hard to find help."
"Did my mother do this? As if she cared, in my nine years, if I saw her five times, it was a lot. I thought she would enjoy the relief of not having to come and see me during this period." Minos said with a mocking face as he spoke of his absent mother.
The middle-aged man then countered. "Don't say that, young master. Mrs. Maisie has many responsibilities on her shoulders. The power behind her has high expectations for her."
"Tsh, this is just her excuse. But forget that, tell me about what happened in the last six years."
Then the butler and the young man started arguing for a few hours about the events that had occurred while he was unconscious.
"So, this is how it is… For now, we can only accept this situation since we have no way to retaliate. But it isn't all bad. The Black Plain can perhaps be improved."
When Minos said this, he immediately thought of visiting the Spatial Kingdom and finding out precisely what he can do. After all, it's one thing you heard something from someone. It's another thing to see it right in front of you.
He thought seriously. "I have to enter the Spatial Kingdom to get to know the situation there before I start dealing with the Black Plain. I must also start cultivating after getting some resources. I want to see exactly the effects of a talent that surpasses Golden."
As for entering the Spatial Kingdom, he had a strange ring on his index finger, on his right hand, such a ring was left with Minos by the soul fragment during the receipt of the inheritance.
The ring was invisible to anyone other than Minos, and it was also the means of entering and leaving the Spatial Kingdom regardless of where he was. Almost like a teleportation item.
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Chapter 3: Entering the Spatial Kingdom
Night fell in the capital of the Brown Kingdom. Meanwhile, a young man in a certain mansion was looking very serious. This was Minos. He was mentally preparing to enter the Spatial Kingdom as soon as butler Dillian left.
At that time, the middle-aged man was still planning for the trip to the Black Plain, which was supposed to happen in the next few days.
When Minos finally realized that he could have his privacy, he then activated the ring on his right hand. With just one thought, the young man disappeared from where he was.
Almost instantly, Minos noticed his entire surroundings change when he began to enjoy the beautiful landscape in front of him.
It was a huge place, which couldn't be seen the limits. In fact, even though it was already night in the Brown Kingdom, this place was still clear, as if it were a very distant place. It also had a concentration of spiritual energy that was hundreds, if not thousands of times, greater than the spiritual density of the City of the Setting Sun.
There were thousands of trees of all types, with some even emanating a certain pressure. However, for someone without cultivation like Minos, there was no way for him to differ exactly the power contained in each plant in this place.
Anyway, there was also a large lake, which appeared to be near an open area where there was a large house.
Walking for a few minutes, he saw various types of medicines, which by his knowledge, could even help Spiritual Sages!
'Too bad, it will be a long time before I can use these resources...' Minos thought as he walked the place.
Finally, he arrived at the house. It looked like a beach house, with a large space between it and the lake, giving the feeling of being an ideal place to cultivate peace.
Entering the house, the young man saw many rooms. There were at least 20 of them, with several bathrooms spread out, three large meeting rooms, one with a table with more than 10 seats, and the other two with chairs and sofas. Everything was well decorated, but a specific room caught Minos' attention.
According to the memories received from the inheritance, there were 3 spatial rings in that room. In these rings, there were weapons, spiritual crystals, techniques specialized in cultivation, moving, attack, soul, healing, etc.
"Hmm, as far as I know, techniques are classified: White, Blue, Black, Silver, and Golden. And what differs it, are basically the conversion of the user's spiritual energy into the techniques, which respectively use, 40%, 50%, 70%, 100%, and 200%, of the energy used to activate the technique."
"That is, while for the same amount of energy, if someone releases an attack technique classified in Blue, and another person releases another attack technique classified in Golden, then the second manages to release a technique 4 times stronger than the first!"
"The techniques can also be subdivided into phases, according to this, it is better to learn a technique that has the same number of phases, as the number of steps that you still lack for the 11th step, since using such techniques gives an increase in power even greater in the final stages of cultivation."
In addition, in this world, cultivators were limited by their stages of cultivation, adding only 1 technique to each stage. That way, cultivators had to choose each one well because although there was the possibility of changing the techniques, you would have to choose one with fewer phases, which would be disadvantageous at the highest levels.
The phases of a technique referred to its characteristics. For example, if a technique were limited to a certain area, that area would only increase if the cultivator raised his mastery phase over that technique. Before that, no matter the cultivator's level, characteristics like this would be forever limited by the phase that it was in.
"Finally, the first technique has to be one specialized in cultivation, since a cultivator cannot gather spiritual energy without its. After that, people usually choose an attack in Transition and a defensive in the Spiritual Beginner..."
"Anyway, it seems that almost all techniques are classified as Golden or Silver. While for these weapons... Unfortunately, I will not be able to use these weapons until I reach at least level 60. Before that, I wouldn't be able to handle it."
While checking all the spatial rings, Minos found an 11-phase cultivation technique, classified as Golden, called Solar God Breath. It had a unique special effect, doubling the speed of collecting free spiritual energy in the air during the day, with an exponential increase of such a characteristic in later phases.
"Hmm, Solar God Breath, huh... You will be my first chosen technique."
After that, Minos spent more time collecting a few items of the lowest ratings in this place since he couldn't use nor go around with items so valuable without having the strength to have such a right.
He also chose a cultivation technique for his butler Dillian since he would certainly not have something as well rated as a Silver-grade or a Golden-grade technique.
Finally, he decided to spend the next few hours cultivating his newly learned technique until he reached level 1.
...
"At this rate, I should be able to reach level 10, beginning of the Transition, in less than 1 month..."
"As for these spiritual crystals, there are millions here, but they are all of a high-level, my body wouldn't be able to withstand the amount of energy it has until I reach, at least, the Spiritual Saint stage."
The spiritual crystals in question are subdivided into 3 types in the Spiritual World, ranging from low, medium, and high concentration, growing in energy such that the high concentration is 10,000 times richer than the low concentration and 100 times than those of the medium concentration.
Low-grade crystals are indicated for people between levels 20 to 49, medium-grade for levels 50 to 69, and high-grade for people above level 70, which are levels at which the body can support the energy contained in each type of spiritual crystal.
As to why those below the Spiritual Beginner stage cannot use crystals in cultivation, this is because, in the Corporal Foundation, cultivation is centered on preparing the body to support the future power of the spirit and in the next stage, the Transition, spiritual development takes place, which can be strengthened from the next step.
"I'm going to have to find a way to get these low-concentration crystals for when I reach the Spiritual Beginner stage. And even if my father left a decent amount, 6 years have passed, and I still need them to do business in my territory."
"I think I should go back, or grandpa Dillian may notice that I'm missing. Although I trust him, I will talk about this heritage later in the future. At least I will wait until we move to the Black Plain. As for this region, I think I can try to improve the overall quality of the terrain and increase the spiritual energy of the place with the help of the Spatial Kingdom."
"Well, I have to ask grandpa Dillian to gather the information that can help me plan what to do."
After that, Minos went back to his room and slept through the night.
...
When he woke up in the morning, the butler Dillian had already left to settle pending matters. According to the cook, who had prepared Minos' breakfast, the butler had left the message that everything would be ready for the trip in the afternoon.
As the Stuart family was a newly promoted gentry, with only the late general and the young Stuart, there were no large numbers of beasts or carriages for long-distance travel, so there was a need to rent this service.
And despite not having large quantities of things to take, there were still about 20 servants and 10 guards who had remained even after Albert Stuart died. So, Dillian needed time to collect all the necessary carriages.
...
Time passed, and soon the afternoon arrived when 12 carriages were traveling along the south side of the capital, heading towards the Black Plain, which was about 4,000 kilometers away, being very close to the Brown Kingdom border with two other kingdoms of equivalent strength.
The trip in question was supposed to take less than a week using carriages pushed by spiritual beasts that resembled horses. They were 3rd stage beasts, covering up to 1,000 kilometers a day.
...
Meanwhile, in a Silva family palace, two older men played chess while drinking tea in the City of the Setting Sun. One of them had a calm look on his face, as if there were no worries, while he was dressed in a completely silver robe.
This older man had white hair and a big beard. His name was Otis Silva, the current patriarch of the Silva family, being in the Spiritual King stage, level 57.
The other was Willian Silva, level 52, one of those responsible for the death of Albert Stuart, at the behest of the older man in front of him. He was dressed in a black robe and had gray hair, while he expressed a thoughtful face that would make anyone walk away.
"Patriarch, the brat Stuart left the city a few hours ago, heading towards the inherited territory, the Black Plain, with all the remaining servants and guards. He also seems to have fully recovered a few days ago."
"Should we attack them while they are traveling?" He asked doubtfully as he drank his spiritual tea.
"There is no necessity. I heard that the boy had awakened, but he is already 15 years old and hasn't even started to cultivate. And now he is going to a place that can barely produce Spiritual Warriors."
After making a move, old Otis then continued. "Even if he has his father's talent, it would still take decades, or even more than a century, to reach Albert's cultivation, while we are already above level 50, and continue to strengthen ourselves. And we still have a big family with hundreds of experts."
"Even if he wants revenge, his chances are very small. Forget him and his followers. Even the butler Dillian would have no hope of harming us."
After that, the two continued to play until the patriarch won the round of chess. Then the two older men said goodbye, while old Otis remained in the room, looking at the side porch when he thought with a smile on his face. "With the Red Valley in our hands, the Silva family will be able to grow substantially in the coming decades. Hahaha, not even the Miller bastards, with all their financial might, will be able to block us!"
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Chapter 4: Black Plain
After three days of traveling to the western part of the Brown Kingdom, while twelve carriages carrying Minos Stuart and his subordinates, they were now just over a day away from their destination.
At that moment, inside the most elegant carriage, there was a middle-aged man and a teenager actively talking.
They, of course, were Minos and the butler Dillian. The young Stuart was understanding the general situation before he reached the Black Plain. Obviously, they were talking about the broader issues, such as the average strength of the region, the kingdoms near the border, and other relevant information that could already bring the young sovereign closer to understanding the reality of that region.
Of course, they didn't have the most accurate data on local problems since a regent appointed by the king governed the region. Thus, they would only get their hands on the crucial data when they took over local command, which could only be done after arriving in the largest city on the Black Plain, the Dry City.
"Grandpa Dillian, what are the trade options for the Black Plain?"
"The Black Plain isn't expected to export almost anything nowadays, since there is no agricultural production, and as for mining, the region consumes what little it has. Also, with the current spiritual concentration, the production of spiritual crystals must be very low. As for imports, they must do business mainly for food."
"Therefore, the Cromwell Kingdom, which is south of the Brown Kingdom, must be the largest food supplier in the Black Plain region, since this region borders this kingdom."
"The Cromwell Kingdom also has prosperous agriculture, which supplies some neighboring regions, including ours. They are also the main trading partners for the Stone Island, which lies northwest of where we are going."
"The Stone Island is very important for all the coastal kingdoms in this region because due to the rich mineral reserves and the great quality of its spiritual blacksmiths, the island has a considerably rich economy. But despite having an excellent economy, they hardly produce food in their territory and are, therefore, dependent on other kingdoms to suppress their food demand. That is why the Cromwell Kingdom is its primary partner."
"As for the Black Plain, it doesn't have much contact with the Stone Island since there isn't a great demand for spiritual equipment in its territory."
"To the north of the Black Plain is the largest kingdom in territory that borders the Brown Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Waves. This kingdom has many activities because of its large territory, so it is very active in the regional economy."
"As for contacts with the Black Plain, I have no information about that."
"So Grandpa Dillian, what is the main activity of the Black Plain?"
The middle-aged man replied with an uncertain face. "In fact, as far as I know, the region's sovereign must earn resources mainly from the residents through taxes. If there are other activities, I don't know."
The Black Plain region, despite having the smallest population of the Brown Kingdom, still had about 50,000 inhabitants. Most of these people didn't have an extraordinary talent, usually common White or Blue talent, and so, for them, staying in a region like this was the best.
This is because, when reversing to take risks in a place where there are individuals 1,000 times stronger than you, it is best to live in an environment where the strongest ones aren't dozens of levels above you. It was a matter of limitations.
Thus, a population resided mainly in the Dry City, and this demanded some services provided by the kingdom. That is why the local sovereign could collect taxes from citizens on the grounds that they would need the money to provide the basic conditions for living in that place.
The Black Plain also didn't have to transfer funds to the kingdom. This was because the region had very little revenue, and if it still had to send its few spiritual crystals to the king, then there would be no profit. In fact, the situation was bad enough that no nobleman wanted to come to this place.
Such was the situation that the place wasn't independent because nobody wanted this burden!
As for the current regent, he was just a public agent who had received the king's order to administer the region while the sovereign was absent. But even he wasn't happy to be sent to a sterile place like this for six years!!
Hell, his cultivation would be delayed if this continued!
"When I was at the Spiritual Academy, the teachers said that the average strength of the surrounding kingdoms was 4th stage, while the strongest specialists were in the 6th stage, Spiritual King. Is there anything else, grandpa Dillian?"
"Hmm, that's right. In these kingdoms, the sovereign and some ancestors are generally around levels 58 and 59, which are the strongest in the region. These older men are generally over 500-years-old, with some bordering on 1,000-years-old. But despite more than 1,600 years of life expectancy for a Spiritual King, they have little chance of reaching the next stage without having to leave their kingdoms for decades or even more than a century."
"This is because the spiritual energy of this region is well dispersed, and those most talented families have left this place for thousands of years ago."
"As you may have heard, talent is often passed on from parents to children through their genes. As such, the talent of the average individual in the north of the Central Continent has waned over time, with only a few thousand with Black talent nowadays. As for Silver talent, it must be very few in number, and these people leave this region quickly, sometimes even before they are 'discovered' by any power in this areas."
"And as talent is necessary to avoid bottlenecks in cultivation, which appear between the end of one stage and the beginning of the another, the leaders of the region are stuck at the final levels of the Spiritual King, because they have Black talent, which makes it possible to cultivate without bottlenecks until the 5th stage, with only a 50% chance of reaching the 6th, and still less of reaching the 7th."
"As a result, without powerful external resources or a higher level of spiritual density, these experts cannot ignore these bottlenecks in cultivation."
"Therefore, hardly any sovereign will have the cultivation of a Spiritual Emperor in these parts of the Central Continent, since leaving their kingdoms is very dangerous for their families and themselves."
"As for the Black Plain, since it is a low-level spiritual region, the strongest ones must be at Level 39, Spiritual Warriors. Unless, of course, if there are external forces sent from other regions."
"But even though I am not specialized in fighting, the safety of the young master shouldn't be a problem for me since I am at level 45, and there should be no greater threats than that."
When Minos heard this, he thought of the Golden-grade cultivation technique that he had picked up from the Spatial Kingdom for the butler Dillian. However, he decided to wait until they reached the Black Plain to deliver to him. Since he would certainly have to explain where this technique came from, and he didn't want to explain it now.
Soon after, the carriages stopped for them to rest. The sun was already setting on the horizon, and by the distance, they were from the Dry City. If they continued to travel, they would end up arriving at dawn at their destination. Thus, they decided to wait until the next day, improvising a camp near the road.
Minos hardly had much time to cultivate in these last three days, but he still managed to reach level 2. And as the differences between the initial levels were very small, no one noticed the advance in the strength of the young Stuart since he was also not trying to expose that.
Finally, night fell, and the next morning Minos would arrive at his new home, where he decided to build his forces. With the knowledge inherited from the God Henricus Longus, Minos knew several ways to strengthen a region. He just needed to investigate the Black Plain situation to finish his planning thoroughly.
He had already decided to transform his new home into his own kingdom, creating a powerful force that could compete with even the greatest empires in this world!
...
Hours passed when the young Stuart finally saw the Dry City in the distance. It was a place that lived up to its name. Dry!!
The environment around the city was completely arid, with almost no trees throughout the city.
It was a small town, with many common houses and some commerce located in the central region. There was also an average mansion, right in the middle of the city. This was the seat of the local government and also the future home of Minos.
The streets had a good movement, with several people passing by and with few carriages. In fact, besides those of the Minos group, there were only two others in the whole city. Some individuals passed on their spiritual beasts, but they were low-level beasts.
At that moment, the group of Minos finally arrived at the mansion in the middle of the city.
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Chapter 5: Passing the Command
When Minos got out of the carriage, he saw some guards lined up beside the mansion's entrance gate. This place wasn't as big as his previous mansion in the kingdom's capital, but it was a good size.
It had two floors beyond the first floor. It was white, which meant that the place didn't attract much attention in this region, other than that it was like the city, very simple and very dry, there wasn't a single plant to decorate the place, just an empty lot in front of the building, along with a big fence and a gate.
Then, a slightly overweight middle-aged man with some white hair on his head, unshaven and dressed in a white robe, started walking towards the gate, where the ranks of guards were watching the situation in question.
In fact, in the past two days, most of the officers on duty in the Dry City were already preparing for today. After all, after six years, they would finally meet their sovereign!
As for what they expected... It didn't truly matter who was in charge here. With all the problems in this region, there wasn't much to do, and therefore, many of them didn't care much about it.
It was just a person with a different name giving them orders.
However, there were a few who were concerned. After all, even if they can't improve, these people, at least, wanted to maintain their current status. But regress... That was the worst. So, a few were concerned whether this sovereign could deal with local affairs or not since he apparently had no experience.
And to make matters worse, as far as they knew, he hadn't even started cultivating yet. As far as they knew, he might as well be good for nothing!
Anyway, the man who was slightly overweight introduced himself. "Welcome to Dry City, my name is Nelson Skinner, and I've been taking care of the Black Plain region for the past six years, by the orders from King Brown. I was ordered to wait for the arrival of the sovereign and then pass on the commander of the region to him."
"Please accompany me to my old office. I will show you the most important things for you." After hearing this, Minos and Dillian followed Regent Skinner into the mansion.
"Young master Stuart, after I received the news of your recovery, I made all the arrangements to facilitate the change of command. I have already made sure that all-important information is passed on to you today."
...
After a few hours of conversation, Nelson Skinner finally left the mansion with a wide smile on his face.
He could finally get out of this hole!
He couldn't even wait another minute to leave. In fact, since dawn, all his belongings were already properly stored, and his carriage was already on edge to go at any time. As soon as he left the mansion, he left without looking back, hoping he would never have to return to this place.
...
Inside the mansion, Minos was meeting the secretary who worked for the regent during the previous period and the leader of the Dry City guard.
The secretary was called Mia, she was 27 years old, level 23, Blue talent. She had a beauty that can be considered common, but even so, she pleased the eyes, especially with her well-pronounced curves.
The commander of the guard was called Pyke, he was 53 years old, level 35, Blue talent. He was tall, over 1.9 meters, and had sharp eyes. There was also a medium scar on the right side of his face.
Both were born and raised in the Black Plain region. Mia started working for the local government five years ago, while Pyke had already worked in the guard under three regents sent by the king in the past 25 years.
He was definitely the person who knew this region the most, being someone who could surely help the young Stuart a lot.
After meeting them and other members of the local administration, Minos stayed in his new office, with only the butler Dillian to discuss some of the information they had received.
In that time, they obtained some relevant data regarding the reality in which the region of the Black Plain was.
For example, the current Dry City had about 30,000 inhabitants and, with an annual tax of 1 low-level spiritual crystal, there was an income of about 30,000 crystals per year.
In addition, the crystal mines in this region produced an amount of about 24,000 low-grade crystals, but the government was left with only 25% of the total since workers and other costs demanded the rest of the amount. Thus, the region yielded about 36,000 low-grade crystals per year.
But it also cost 12,000 crystals a year, relative to the 30 guards and city management officials, generating a profit of just 24,000 crystals.
However, in the current city's safe box, there were only 1,000 crystals!
Undoubtedly, the former regent had taken everything else, as the tax collection had taken place a few days ago, and therefore the safe box should be full. With that amount, the government could only function for one month!
Minos also discovered that the region of the Black Plain had about 200,000 km2 of area, which was of no use, despite being a plain that could be almost completely prepared for planting. However, it was completely sterile and wasn't suitable for agriculture.
There was also a lake at the eastern end of the territory, which supplied the region. There were some rivers, too, but they didn't draw much attention until then. They were only used together with the coast to obtain seafood, which was traded within the Dry City, but this didn't have a large volume of business. It was an activity done only to ensure the survival of the fishermen's families.
There was mining in the territory, but it was a very low amount of crystals involved, which wasn't worth worrying about.
Finally, Minos asked the butler Dillian a question with a serious face. "Grandpa Dillian, how many crystals do we have left of what the father had left behind?"
"Young master, after spending the past 6 years and the recent move, there are about 30,000 low-grade and 500 medium-grade crystals left."
The young man sighed and then said. "Well, although it's not much, it's enough to get started. Then I want to take a look at the land around the city, and I want to create a group to help me with agriculture. I think I have a way to improve the soil. I just need to confirm this before I'm sure."
"I also want them to collect information about array masters. I want to buy a large array to put around the city to increase the concentration of spiritual energy. But for now, I just want information about that since we won't be able to pay for such a service for now."
"As well as information about spiritual blacksmiths. I want to know exactly who and where to look when we have enough crystals."
The arrays in question were formations that could convert spiritual energy into other forms of energy, concentrate spiritual energy in certain areas, create protected regions, etc.
Although this world didn't develop technologies, people could still have a comfortable lifestyle if they had enough crystals. For example, there were simpler arrays that emitted light. Others were used to release heat and many other forms that could facilitate daily life in this place.
As for the array masters, these were individuals who focused on cultivating specific techniques related to the arrays.
Generally, they weren't warriors, as they don't cultivate attack, defense, and moving techniques, focusing most of their maximum 10 techniques on the support of the arrays. However, they were very influential throughout the Spiritual World.
As blacksmiths, they were almost the same as array masters, with the difference that they specialize in techniques that aid in the production of spiritual equipment.
So, the butler Dillian was extremely shocked by what he had just heard. "Way to improve? Young master, I want to trust you, but I don't think this land could be improved."
"In fact, there is a reason why this place is called the Black Plain. This is related to the fact that in this environment, for a long time, any plant planted will slowly die and turn completely black before finally turning to dust."
"Many experts have tried to solve this problem, but they all ended up failing." Dillian said with a pity face.
Minos then decided it was time to tell Dillian about his inheritance. "Grandpa Dillian, there is actually a reason for me to say that."
"Six years ago, I lost my father and almost died, but I was also given a great opportunity. I was recognized by the God Henricus Longus and received his inheritance."
"With that, I got a lot of knowledge and also a special place left by him with many items that can help us now and in the future. In fact, when I was unconscious, I was also related to receiving this inheritance." After saying this with a straight face, Minos threw a scroll of gold paper in Dillian's direction.
The butler then looked at that when he suddenly thought. "This is... Hmm... It can't be!!!"
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Chapter 6: Revealing the Inheritance
"This... This is a Golden-grade cultivation technique!!! Unbelievable, I never thought that something like this would appear in my hands in my entire life! Hell, even King Brown cultivate only one classified in Silver."
"This is incredible, young master! It would be best if you started cultivating this technique as soon as possible. Even if it has only 6 phases, it's still much better than the techniques that are with me. With it, the young master will be able to become a Spiritual King in a few decades!"
While the butler Dillian was very excited about the Pushing the Air technique, he suddenly realized that Minos wasn't kidding when he said he had received the inheritance of a God.
After all, in this region of the Central Continent, there would be no techniques so well classified, and the young Stuart's mother couldn't have something so good as well. All that remains is the explanation that a great specialist had chosen him. Whether or not this specialist was the god Henricus Longus made no difference to Dillian.
Minos watched the pleased expression of the middle-aged man in front of him when he continued. "Grandpa Dillian, this is just one of the many techniques I received. I also inherited the knowledge of Senior Longus and the Spatial Kingdom. In this realm, there are many high-level cultivation resources, but for now, it cannot be used since our levels are very low."
"However, there are still ways for the Spatial Kingdom to help us improve this region. I just need to find out what exactly is the problem with this place."
"As for the technique Pushing the Air, it's for you. I'm already cultivating another technique, which is also classified in Golden-grade and has 11 phases."
Dillian was surprised when he heard this, especially in the part that Minos said he was already cultivating. That's because he hadn't noticed. "Is the young master already cultivating? I didn't even realize it, even traveling with you for more than 3 days. Is the young master already at level 1?" He said with a smile on his face.
Minos then replied. "I started to cultivate before we left the City of the Setting Sun. I'm already at level 2, and I should be able to reach level 3 in the next two days."
Dillian looked even happier after hearing that. Minos would be even more talented with such speed than his father, so it wouldn't be long before the young Stuart had the strength to protect himself, even without outside help.
"Very well, young master. If the general were still alive, he would certainly be extremely proud of you. Even if he weren't the type to go to parties, he would definitely throw a banquet in honor of the young master if he knew about it."
Dillian spoke with great confidence. He had met Albert Stuart more than 80 years ago when the young Albert had helped the future butler in a life and death situation.
After that, Dillian decided to follow Albert. The two traveled together, going through all kinds of situations that made them become great friends. So, the butler knew him very well.
Minos then felt a weight in his heart when he heard this. He lost one of the few people he loved right in front of him.
Because of that, he was determined to obliterate those responsible for this!
After feeling sad for a moment, he questioned. "Grandpa Dillian, do you know who is responsible for what happened? At that time, even though I saw part of the attack, the attackers were all hiding their identities."
The middle-aged man then responded with a face of few friends. "During the six years that the young master was unconscious, I did some research, but I didn't discover the exact identity of those people. All I know is that two killers were hired. As for the remaining two people, I can't figure out where they were from."
"But, because the Silva family stole the Red Valley while the young master was disabled, I suspect that they're involved. Perhaps even the Miller family, since they also disputed the land after the master died."
"Hmm, for now, we'll not mess with that matter. We're very vulnerable now, and if we started to look for the truth, we could end up attracting a disaster. We'll strengthen ourselves in security for now."
Minos spoke with extreme calm and common sense. He was committed to his revenge, but that wouldn't compel him to be an idiot who acts without any care. For him, revenge was a dish that should be eaten cold when he was in control of the situation. He wasn't going to throw his life away because of something that could be avoided.
He loved his father, but Albert was already dead. He wanted his justice, but he didn't need to risk dying for it. He knew that he could have anything he wanted, as long as he had time, so he was in no hurry.
'A job well done would definitely pay off.' That was what he believed.
Minos then changed the topic, returning to talk about planning to develop the Black Plain. "We'll keep our focus on the problems of the Black Plain for the time being. Revenge can wait. Grandpa Dillian gives the orders to prepare the things I mentioned. We need an agriculture team as soon as possible. We also need to have information about array masters and blacksmiths so that we can plan how to proceed."
"Tomorrow, I will start my day by going to the lands next to the city, to study the place. Prepare a team to accompany me."
Dillian then calmed down and answered. "All right, young master, I'll get everything ready as soon as possible."
After that, the butler left to begin the work requested by Minos, while the young Stuart continued studying the Dry City documents.
...
After night fell, Minos had already dined and also visited his new room when he finally entered the Spatial Kingdom to begin another cultivation session.
He trained for 4 hours before finally stopping. That's because, at his current level, he still needed to sleep to recover from his daily tiredness.
But not only that, during the stages of cultivation, there are limits to the amount of spiritual energy that could be absorbed, which required time between each cultivation session.
Furthermore, as Minos was only at the Body Foundation, he couldn't use spiritual crystals to cultivate, slowing down his cultivation speed.
In this world, cultivating with spiritual crystals or cultivating free spiritual energy in nature had only one difference. That was about gathering spiritual energy.
While a cultivator who cultivates free energy in nature had to gather the spiritual energy around him before absorbing it, a cultivator with spiritual crystals could only absorb it since that energy was already gathered in the crystals.
This meant that even in regions of high spiritual density, there were disadvantages in cultivation time, depending on how you did it.
The advantage of being in a high-density region was that, in addition to being faster to gather energy, the production of crystals of the three types was substantial, generating considerable wealth in these areas, which enabled a greater average force.
To give you an idea, the average strength of the Spiritual World was in the 5th stage of cultivation, which was somewhere between levels 40 to 49. Something that could be considered very good if you were in a place like the North of the Central Continent, which was particularly weaker, generally having the highest level experts in the region being only between levels 50 to 59, which was only slightly better than the world average.
Thus, Minos couldn't cultivate all the time, and his speed would be limited until he reached the Spiritual Beginner stage, when he could finally use the low-grade crystals to cultivate.
Anyway, the young Stuart slept the rest of the night peacefully, as if he were already adapting to his new room.
...
The sun slowly rose on the horizon when the city started to 'live.' The movement gradually increased. There were already people going back and forth, some with their low-ranking spiritual beasts.
At that time, six men were roaming the city on beasts that looked a lot like horses. One of them was a young man with brown hair and eyes. He had an appearance that wasn't exaggerated in any sense.
Although he couldn't be considered extremely handsome, he still had a face that was pleasant to look at. The young man wasn't dressed very flashy. He wore black pants and a blue shirt.
This was Minos.
The other men around him were two members of the Dry City guard, one of whom was Commander Pyke, whom Minos had met yesterday. Two personal guards who followed Minos from the kingdom's capital and finally the butler Dillian.
They were proceeding to a land on the west side of the city, where the new sovereign wanted to establish the first agricultural land. Of course, they were going there first so that the young ruler could find a way to recover the land.
A few minutes passed, and they finally arrived at the place.
It was like everything around them, arid. There was nothing to distinguish this place from any other site on the Black Plain. But according to Commander Pyke, the region's spiritual root was closer to the ground there.
That was something he knew, since 20 years ago, one of the last specialists brought to the region to study the problem, said that this place was the closest to the spiritual root, being the best place to check it.
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Chapter 7: Spiritual Roots
When the group arrived in the area, Minos said calmly. "Grandpa Dillian, try to converge the energy of heaven and earth towards the ground to see what happens."
Converging energy from heaven and earth was a skill that was gained by reaching the 5th stage of cultivation. As a result, cultivators could strengthen their techniques using free spiritual energy in nature.
As the butler Dillian was the only one in the group who had reached this stage, Minos had asked him to do so.
Minos intended to check whether the spiritual root would absorb this energy. This is because if the energy is absorbed, it means that the root is still alive.
Spiritual roots could be considered living beings, just like plants, but spiritual roots are practically immortals. In fact, their useful life was on par with the planet's useful life, so usually, a spiritual root doesn't die. But it can happen if it's done on purpose by someone very strong or as a remnant of a high-level battle.
The effects of spiritual roots, on the other hand, were similar to those of arrays that concentrate spiritual energy in certain areas.
However, the spiritual roots have a much higher capacity, it can enrich a region of up to hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, while the arrays only do this in the space of hundreds of thousands of square meters. Arrays are also not as efficient as a spiritual root.
As a result, in various parts of the world, where spiritual roots are closer to the surface, regions of high energy concentration are also present and can be considered true cultivation paradises.
However, in addition to being able to die, spiritual roots can also have a 'malfunction.' This usually resulted in a decrease in the spiritual density of the nearest region. Therefore, Minos wanted to know if the spiritual root of the Black Plain region was alive or dead.
After a few seconds, Dillian released a large amount of energy directed to the soil in that region. Immediately the energy was 'swallowed up by the terrain as if something hungry were watching their favorite food pass right in front of their eyes.
Minos then thought. 'The spiritual root is alive, but it seems to suck up any spiritual energy on the ground. From what grandpa Dillian described, whenever someone plants something on the Black Plain, the plant would wither and turn completely black. Then it would finally turn to dust. As for seeds, would consume it as soon as it hit the ground...'
He then decided to ask. "Commander Pyke, when the last expert came here, what conclusion did he reach?"
Pyke then answered sincerely. "According to that expert, the spiritual root seems to be severely weakened, absorbing all the spiritual energy it has to survive."
Minos thought with a smile on his face. 'Well, he wasn't wrong about the problem. But he also couldn't know how to fix it, since it would be extremely expensive for anyone in this world! After all, not everyone would dare to 'waste' divine medicine to nourish a spiritual root. Because of the cost, such a method would never have much support.'
As for divine medicines, they were necessary medicines to someone who reaches level 100!!
Minos broke the silence. "I have a way that can help prevent that spiritual root from absorbing the energy present in the soil. With that, we will be able to plant on the Black Plain."
"Of course, we still have to increase the amount of nutrients in the soil, but that's the easy part."
After hearing this, everyone was shocked, especially the two natives of the Black Plain, who had no expectations of this happening.
Commander Pyke immediately asked with a solemn face. "And how is the young master going to do this?"
"Bring a group over here, tell them to dig a hole at least 100 meters deep. After the hole is ready, let me know." Minos answered vaguely. After all, he would never say what he would be putting here for people he had just met.
"Let's go back to grandpa Dillian. Our work here has already been done."
Thus, six men returned to the city, while two of them soon separated to create an excavation group.
...
After arriving at the mansion, Dillian finally asked Minos about the details involved in that resolution. "Young master, what do you intend to do with this hole?"
Minos replied without hiding anything. "The problem with the spiritual root is the lack of spiritual energy. I don't know why it happened, but as long as a tremendous amount of energy is deposited, the spiritual root will no longer steal the energy present in the soil. That solves the main point."
"As for how I am going to do this, I will put divine medicine in that hole. After that, we'll bury it. With that, the spiritual root will begin to absorb energy only from the divine medicine, allowing living organisms to develop in the soil."
The 100 meters deep was just to ensure that the spiritual root wouldn't continue to steal energy from the soil.
"This will also restore the spiritual root to its glory days, increasing the density of spiritual energy on the Black Plain. But it will take 30 years to happen because it's a substantial amount of energy."
"However, in about ten years, the effects should start to show. At that time, the spiritual concentration of the Plain Black must be equal to that of the Red Valley and will continue to grow until it becomes a region of high concentration."
"What?? Young master, isn't that too wasteful? Even if the Black Plain recovers, I don't think it's worth it." Dillian spoke while looking extremely pale as if he had lost almost half the blood on his body.
Of course, for him who didn't know about the total wealth of the Spatial Kingdom, what Minos had just said was no different from wanting to burn money for the sake of strangers!! It didn't make sense to him.
"Hehe, grandpa Dillian, don't worry, I have other divine medicines. Spending just one on this project will be worth it." Minos reassured the middle-aged man in front of him. After all, the Spatial Kingdom had almost 30 divine medicines.
That's because each medicine can cause a person of level 99 to reach level 100 after completely absorbing the energy present in it. However, since the first human God, some millions of years have passed, but there were only 42 human Gods in all history!!!
This wasn't just for lack of resources. The problem is that most of those who can reach level 100 end up dying before achieving such an achievement. So, Minos had no expectations of helping 28 people reach that level, so spending Divine medicine to build his headquarters would be worthwhile.
Dillian then sighed after hearing that Minos wouldn't give up on such an absurd idea. Be worth? Such a thing would never be worth it for Dillian!!
"Grandpa Dillian, I need you to organize a group to build an artificial lake 30 km from the city. I intend to mix water from the rivers in the region with a large amount of water from the Spatial Kingdom. This water is very rich in nutrients and spiritual energy. This should help when it comes to improving the quality of the soil and the crops that will be planted in the future."
Dillian then left to settle these and other matters, and Minos, who was alone in his office, decided to go to the Spatial Kingdom and continue to cultivate.
Within the Spatial Kingdom, the young Stuart was cultivating three whole hours when he finally leveled up to level 3!
He was pleased with his progress since, in 5 days, he managed to go from level 0 to level 3, which was very fast. If such speed were made public, even the geniuses in the highest level empires would be jealous!
...
After finishing cultivating, Minos decided to harvest the divine medicine that he would use to nourish the spiritual root of this region.
He then took some equipment from the large house that was next to the lake and went towards a large garden where there were some herbs, some tubers, and fruit trees. It was all Divine medicines.
Minos then decided to harvest a certain medicine rooted in the soil.
He then applied a harvesting technique that he had learned from the knowledge obtained from his inheritance. After a few minutes, he held what looked like a big carrot, which looked extremely attractive, incredibly orange, with no imperfections.
Minos then kept it in his spatial ring and then returned to his mansion.
...
Three days passed quickly, and the 100-meter hole on the west side of the city had already been dug, and as for the artificial lake, it was still being prepared. Finally, one of the most complicated problems in the Black Plain would be solved!!
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Chapter 8: Beginning of Agriculture 1
Minos has done nothing so important for the Dry City in these three days that have passed. He had only instructed his subordinates to start a census, to discover the most talented people in the city. That's because it wouldn't be long before the current number of guards had to be increased.
In fact, the current number was still small, but the city lacked the capacity to create more vacancies. However, this would be different in the future.
Finally, Minos reached level 4 last night and was very excited about his future. Today he would finally put his theory to the test and solve the Black Plain problem.
Finally, he left with the butler Dillian and two more guards to go to the 100-meter hole in the west of the city. The two guards were duly chosen by the butler so that there was no leakage about what they were going to do.
Of course, the two guards had no way of discovering that a Divine medicine would be buried in that place, but… It wasn't good to take unnecessary risks. Other than that, there would be no more people present.
After a few minutes of riding on spiritual beasts, the group reached the area, which had already emptied.
Minos then removed the Divine medicine that looked like a carrot from his spatial ring and then threw it in the hole. The young man waited for a while and then spoke. "Grandpa Dillian, try to make that one move next door. Let's see if that spiritual root will absorb your movement again."
The middle-aged man followed the orders of his young master, carrying out the movement. He converged a great deal of spiritual energy directed to the terrain, a few meters away from the hole.
But this time, something different happened. Instead of the spiritual energy disappearing after touching the ground, it simply created a hole just over 1 meter deep.
Clearly, the spiritual root was no longer absorbing free energy in the soil.
Dillian smiled after seeing that ending and then spoke with a gentle smile. "It looks like it's resolved. The young master was right about the problem. Now, you two, help me close this hole."
After seeing this, Minos blew out a sigh of relief and began to wait for the three men in front of him to fill the hole. Now he had a long job ahead of him to build a thriving agricultural city.
But this wouldn't be just any agricultural region. No, it would be a region with cultures of high spiritual concentration. At least that was Minos' goal when ordering the construction of the artificial lake that would receive water from the Spatial Kingdom. With this lake, farmers will be able to irrigate crops planted in the Black Plain, with water rich in spiritual energy and nutrients.
Minos also intended to collect the fallen leaves in the Spatial Kingdom and mix them with the natural fertilizer found in this region. This would produce a type of super fertilizer for these lands. He couldn't even consume the items from the Spatial Kingdom. Imagine the effect that the leaves of those trees would have on this environment…
"Grandpa Dillian, let's go back. We have to define the crops that we'll plant. Ah! I almost forgot, has the farming group been formed yet?" Minos started the conversation as the group returned to the mansion.
"It hasn't yet been fully formed, but it should be ready before the artificial lake."
"Hmm, this is good. As for the crops, I decided it would be better to start growing wheat, corn, and rice. These three crops are in great demand in the northern region of the continent and have a short harvest time."
In fact, in the Spiritual World, plantations both had a high yield per hectare and had a short harvest time, certainly in 'other' places, with different conditions, these values ??would be completely different.
For example, wheat, corn, and rice, in this world could be harvested 2-3 months after planting. As for yield, it was between 9 and 15 tons per hectare, depending on the crop planted.
Dillian nodded and said. "This seems to be the best option."
…
After returning to the mansion, the butler went about his duties while Minos went to his office. He wanted to ask secretary Mia some questions. He wanted to develop agriculture for export, but he also intended to dominate the local market with his products.
After all, his products should, in theory, have much more spiritual energy than the food sold in the city. That is why he wanted to divide agriculture into two moments. First, he would prepare a smaller amount of soil to produce the quantity demanded by the Dry City. Second, he would start exporting.
This had two reasons. First, he wanted to increase the overall strength of his city. Second, he didn't have enough labor or even land for planting. After all, it would take time for all the soil of the Black Plain to be recovered. And hell! They didn't have the seeds either!!
So first, they had to prepare a small plot of land, start planting, sell on the domestic market, generate a profit and then invest back to create a cycle that could provide constant growth until they reached the foreign market, with significant participation, it could take years. That was the plan.
"Mia, can you tell me who I should talk to so that I can get the food consumption data for the inhabitants of the Dry City?" He asked with a smile on his face.
"Young master, I can help you. No one in the local government takes care of this matter exclusively."
"Okay, so I want you to list the average consumption of rice, wheat, and corn in our city as soon as possible."
Mia responded quickly. "Okay, I'll finish it as soon as possible."
After that, Minos went for a walk in the city. He wanted to look more closely at the life of the Dry City and maybe stop by to eat somewhere.
But he found nothing that caught his eye, even though problems that are typically seen anywhere, he saw nothing but people solving their affairs.
It seemed that besides surviving, people didn't do much more than that in this place. Or they had just completely accepted the situation that they stopped caring or taking an interest in anything.
It was a genuinely bizarre place!
"Hmm, I better go back and cultivate…"
…
Two more days passed, and Minos was now at level 5. The lake was also completed and filled to half its volume by the waters found in the region.
After learning about this, Minos emptied the three spiritual rings that he had obtained in the Spatial Kingdom and filled them with water from that place.
After repeating this action a few times, the young man finally finished filling the artificial lake. Now they would just have to transform the soil and then produce.
…
Meanwhile, in the Dry City, a rumor was circulating rapidly. According to this, the sovereign who had recently arrived at the Black Plain was now hiring 200 people to work in local agriculture!!
A group of people was talking about this subject in a specific place in the city.
"How absurd. What does this brat think he's doing? What does he want farmers for? Does he think that he can grow in this region just because he wants to?" Said someone out loud.
"Hehehe, maybe no one has told him about what is going on here. It's no wonder that he accepted a place like this." Another person said in disdain.
"Tsh, I heard that they found a way to recover the soil. My cousin works in the city guard, as you know. He told me that since this Minos Stuart took over local power, the guards had to build an artificial lake and a big hole on the west side of the city."
"According to the commander, the problem in our region would be solved after these two things were done." Said a young man, who was in the middle of the group.
"And do you believe in such a thing? In thousands of years of history, no one has been able to figure out how to resolve this situation. How would this young man do it?" Another dubious person questioned.
"I don't know how, but it was said that they were going to pay 40 low-grade crystals a month." Said someone who seemed quite interested in that payment.
'If it's true, I'll surely join the group.' Some people thought to themselves.
Others talked like that followed across the city. Most doubted, but some were hopeful that the rumors were true.
…
Elsewhere in the city, a young woman in a blue dress, blond hair, and green eyes were sitting on a porch. She was a merchant who was passing through the Dry City. And she was also someone from Stone Island, who was back from a business trip in the Brown Kingdom.
She was listening to a report of an employee of the hotel that she was in about the actions of the new sovereign of the city while thinking about how this young ruler may solve the problem of the Black Plain.
"Minos Stuart, huh… Interesting, I want to see what you can do. If that is true, maybe I can start doing business here before the news gets out…"
"Eduard, we're going to stay in this city for the next month. I want to see if this rumor is indeed true."
"Are you sure, Miss Elen? This place doesn't seem to be worth it." Said the man who was the young blonde's personal guard.
"Hmph, if the rumor proves to be true, then it's well worth it. And I'll not lose anything by staying here just for this time."
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Chapter 9: Beginning of Agriculture 2
Three more days have passed since the artificial lake was completed, and in that time, the seeds and the farming group were prepared. Minos had also reached level 6.
Today, the group of 200 farmers who had been selected would start preparing the soil. They were going to work on just 3 hectares initially. This was the current limitation, given the labor they couldn't afford.
But in a maximum of 3 months later, when the harvests are made, if everything were sold on the domestic market, then there would be a yield of 55,000 low-grade crystals if the grains were sold at the same price as the competition.
With that amount, Minos could triple the labor force, pay for the construction of a low-level array to improve the city's spiritual concentration, and increase the number of local guards.
Minos would also build an academy for future members of the Black Plain Army in a few more months, who would receive Black-grade and Silver-grade techniques and large amounts of resources.
However, this would only be the beginning. With a production of 10 tons in the first months, they would reach a small share of the monthly demand in the Black Plain region. It would still take time for this region to have a strong presence in trade in the North of the Central Continent.
But this was also a time that they needed to strengthen themselves since some economic powers wouldn't like a new competitor.
…
That afternoon Minos went out to meet three people. In fact, they were young students at the Black Star Academy, the local spiritual academy.
The spiritual academies in question were places where children from 6 to 10 years old could learn basic knowledge about cultivation, existing specializations, and even geopolitics, depending on the place they were.
Spiritual academies existed in virtually every human city. After all, not everyone could learn the basic information in their families. So, these places were created a long time ago, that even the biggest families sent their children to the best spiritual academies.
Of course, the Black Star Academy wouldn't attract attention when compared to the academies present in the capital of the Brown Kingdom. But it was what the citizens of the Dry City could have.
Anyway, Minos was going to see 3 students who would be graduating soon because the census he had ordered was already finalized. And to Minos' surprise, 3 youths from the Black Star Academy had Black talent!
That was incredible! But in spite of being difficult to find in this region, since almost all the residents had talents in White or Blue, it wasn't completely impossible that some individuals were born with a talent far superior to those of their parents.
This kind of situation could happen when you were looking at a large population, it was just that the chances of it appearing were small.
And as to why these individuals weren't seen more often in this region, this is because their families usually moved after discovering their children's talent, which was something done before the children turned 10 and started to cultivate.
So, Minos wanted to bring those 3 to his side. He wanted to make a generous offer for these families to stay and develop in the Dry City.
He had asked his secretary Mia to prepare for this meeting at the Black Star Academy because two youths entered the academy through a social program that allowed a few young students to avoid paying academy fees.
This program was like a loan that these students would pay after they graduated if they had a talent of, at least, Blue. Otherwise, they would be exempt from payment.
This is because all regional forces needed a little weaker people to do certain services. And since most people with Blue talent could reach level 39 easily, there would be a great demand for people with this strength in the North of the Central Continent.
And of the three, two were boys by names, Ralf and Lee, and one was a girl named Alison. None of them were members of a large family or nobility, so they had no surnames.
In this world, those with a surname usually did this after establishing their own strength or had it when they were born into a large family.
After a few minutes of walking, Minos arrived at the entrance to the Black Star Academy. The place wasn't so far from his mansion, just a few blocks. It was a building that was in good condition, shaped like a star, and just 1 floor beyond the first floor. It was gray and had many windows to the street.
Today, Minos was accompanied only by two personal guards, who were at levels 35 and 37. Dillian was taking care of agricultural matters and couldn't come. But for such a negotiation, there was no need for more strength.
So, the three men were entering the building when they were stopped by a middle-aged woman, who appeared to be slightly overweight and had a large mole on her right cheek.
"Welcome to the Black Star Academy. Can I know the intention of your group's visit?" She asked in carefree.
"Hmm, I'm Minos Stuart. My secretary had set up a meeting with the principal Lionel Gill and the students Ralf and Lee."
She was then surprised that this young man was the new sovereign of the Black Plain. After all, although the population knew he was young, most people didn't know that Minos was only 15 years old. And as the rulers are usually much older…
"So, is the young master Stuart. Mr. Lionel is in his office. I'll take you there." She then started walking towards a room on the 2nd floor of the building.
Arriving in front of the room, there was a large wooden bench with two boys sitting and talking. These were Ralf and Lee.
Soon afterward, Minos entered the principal's office following the middle-aged woman. There were three men in the room talking.
Two of them were sitting on the same side of the table, while the other was at the end. These were responsible for Ralf and Lee, while the latter was director Gill.
"Mr. Lionel, this is Minos Stuart."
Lionel then replied with an expressionless face. "Nice to meet you. I heard from secretary Mia that the young master wanted to meet students Ralf and Lee, is that right?"
"That's right, I recently arrived in the Dry City and got some information from the census that was recently done. Through this, I learned about the talents of these two youths." Minos responded politely.
"Today, I'm here to make an offer that I believe can attract the families of these two. I know very well that you must have already made a lot of plans to leave the Black Plain, but before that, think about my offer."
One of the two responsible for the boys then said with a mocking face. "Hmph, do you want us to stay in this place with no future? I don't know what offer you're going to make, but I doubt you can offer anything better than the Gill family!"
This was Ralf's father, Railan. He looked like that simple type of person who doesn't think much about the more general situation, who values ??only what is in front of him.
The other man was Gryff. He was Lee's older brother. Their parents had already died, and he was responsible for his two younger siblings. One was Lee, and the other was a 7-year-old girl, Ayn. Gryff was a more astute person than Railan. He was very curious about this new sovereign who had miraculously solved the problem of the Black Plain. At least, that was what was most talked about today.
Gryff then asked. "What can young master Stuart offer for us? We also already have an agreement with the Gill family. I don't know if that can be undone."
The director then nodded and said. "That's right, we have invested in Ralf and Lee for almost 4 years. We cannot just give up on them."
Minos then spoke. "I understand the situation, but I have an offer for both sides. Of course, those responsible for the two young boys are those who have any choice. As for the Gill family, it only paid for basic education. That shouldn't have cost even 1,000 low-grade crystals for those two's..."
Minos then looked at the director and said. "What I offer is something that the Gill family cannot offer. I'm not despising your family, but they'll be less important if they go there. They'll receive fewer crystals and lesser techniques than they can earn with me."
"I'll pay the Gill family a refund of 4,000 low-grade spiritual crystals for each of the two boys, who decide to stay on the Black Plain. As for the youths' families, think for a few days about what you can gain from the Gill family and come to talk to me at my mansion. I'll say exactly my offer at that time. But I can assure you that I can deliver a Black-grade cultivation technique as soon as the youths reach 10-years-old."
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Chapter 10: The Decision
After saying this, Minos left the room and went to the home of the other student, Alison. She lived 10 minutes from the academy with her family.
While Minos was leaving, director Lionel tried to convince those responsible for Lee and Ralf not to accept the young Stuart's offer.
"Railan, Gryff, the decision is up to you. Our Gill family would never force anyone to join us. But honestly, I don't see how this brat can be better than us for your families. If he has so much wealth to offer a Black-grade cultivation technique, then what is he doing here?"
"Honestly, I know a little about that boy's past. Although his father was a Spiritual King, he was still a subordinate to the royal family. And as far as I know, these subordinates only receive two Black-grade techniques, which are not normally specialized in cultivation."
"So, if he has the two techniques that his father left behind and a cultivation technique, all of them Black-grade, then why not sell one of these techniques and continue to grow stronger in a region rich in spiritual energy? Why waste his time at this place?"
"Not to mention that he has no past here in the Black Plain. I don't know what he wants to do, but I think it's too risky. I advise you not to hear that boy's words."
Lionel said everything he thought and knew in an attempt to prevent his family from losing those two boys. Despite being a developing family in the central region of the Brown Kingdom, the Gill family was not yet as the great noble families in the capital. So, they needed talented members from outside the family to keep its growing.
They had then started to build and partner with spiritual academies in poorer places in an attempt to get new members for their family. However, they would not force the situation if someone changed their minds and returned the investment. Of course, only for those who haven't yet entered the family and haven't received their techniques. Otherwise, it would be impossible.
They talked for a few more minutes and then left. Of the two, although neither was confident in Minos, Gryff was still very curious about the young man's complete offer.
Railan, on the other hand, was convinced it wouldn't be worth it to stay in this place. He didn't even want to know what kind of beautiful words Minos could say to him.
…
Minos and his two guards finally arrived in front of a small house after walking for a few minutes. It was a house with only the first floor, it was completely blue and had only one window on the side of the street. But it looked well cared for, giving the impression that the owners struggled to maintain a certain quality.
The young ruler then knocked on the front door.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
Then, a girl who looked about 10-years-old, with black hair tied in a ponytail, opened the door and screamed. "Mom, we have a visitor."
It wasn't long before a middle-aged woman came running to the door. She had a beauty that could be considered good and a well-developed body, black hair, and a gentle look. She then replied. "May I know the reason for your visit?"
Minos then replied with a smile on his face. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Tasia. I'm Minos Stuart. I'm here to talk about the future of your daughter, Alison. I believe that Mia had communicated about this before."
"Ah! So, it's the young master Stuart. Please come in. My husband is in the room. We can talk about it there." She replied with a smile on her face.
Soon after, Minos met Pollo, Tasia's husband, and Alison's father. He was a tall man, who looked to be in his 40s, and he didn't even have a hair on his head.
It wasn't long before they started arguing about the main subject.
Pollo then asked. "So, young man, why should I risk my daughter's future by making her stay here?"
Minos then started to put all his cards on the table.
"Well, before I came here, it would be stupid to throw away the chance to go to a better place. But now it's different. I made it possible to cultivate the lands of the Black Plain, which you will be able to see with your own eyes in less than a month when the plants are big enough for everyone in the city to notice the change, as well as the spiritual energy of the Black Plain, will begin to increase in 10 years."
"Thus, I have already solved the two main problems in the region. It's only a matter of time before the region develops."
Minos then continued. "But this point is not the main point. As long as your daughter is accepted by a noble family, she will become a subordinate and will receive resources. You may not know this, but my father was a subordinate to the Brown Kingdom royal family, which is the most well-developed family in this realm."
"However, in this family, subordinates like my father would receive at most two Black-grade techniques, which could not be a cultivation technique. They do this to maintain a higher cultivation speed among the original members of the family. And these techniques can also only be acquired after many years of service."
"In addition, it also provides a salary equivalent to their cultivation stage, which ranges from 20 low-grade crystals to 10 medium-grade crystals per month, respectively for Body Foundation and Spiritual King."
"And they don't give anything to their subordinates' family."
Then Minos looked seriously at the man and woman in front of him and said. "I offer a Black-grade technique that specializes in cultivation at the moment she reaches the age to start cultivating. I also guarantee that all the techniques she will receive are, at least, Black-grade. And depending on the services she can provide, there is a possibility that she will be rewarded with a higher degree."
"I will also offer a payment ranging from 50 low-grade spiritual crystals to 50 medium-grade crystals per month, if she reaches the level of a Spiritual King, or higher than that, depending on the stage of cultivation she is in."
"And there possibilities that the two of you could also be helped in the future. Depending on your daughter's performance, I may even be able to help you reach level 69 during your lives. But I can't help you getting pass that, as someone with Blue talent can reach this level at most, using special means."
In this world, Blue talent meant that if someone had the time, then reaching level 29 was a certainty. From there, that person would have more than 50% to move on to the next step. Within the stages, there were no bottlenecks, so a person who reached a certain stage could reach the peak of it if they continued to cultivate.
For reaches the 5th stage, the chances were less than 20%, if there was no help from special pills or medicines. And from there, it would be necessary for special resources to be used. But there was also a limit. To get an idea, with the talents White, Blue, Black, Silver, and Golden, with special items someone could reach the stages, respectively, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th.
After finishing speaking, Minos then waited for Alison's parents to respond.
"This… Do you really have the ability to do these things? I believe that not even King Brown could promise that!" Pollo said with an incomprehensible face.
After that, Minos showed him a silver scroll. It was an attack technique classified in Silver-grade!!
After seeing this, Pollo was incredibly amazed. This young man could take out a legendary technique like that! It was like he was showing something very ordinary.
Although Pollo has never seen techniques so well classified, in this world, anyone would know the degree of a technique just by looking at it once. This is because the techniques kept a certain spirituality within it.
After returning the scroll to Minos, Pollo and his family were determined that this young man could definitely do the things he promised.
It was not long before they agreed to let their daughter join Minos' forces. Soon after, Minos told them to take their daughter to the mansion as soon as she turns 10, which would happen in the next few weeks. Minos then returned to his home after saying goodbye.
...
And so, an entire week went by. Minos had trained as hard as he could on those days, reaching level 8. In this period, the 3 hectares were prepared, and the crops were already growing in the soil.
Today, Minos finally received a visit from Gryff, the responsible for Lee. Gryff was very curious to know what Minos' offer would be, and depending on how good it was, Lee could also end up joining the forces of the young Stuart.
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Chapter 11: The Black Plain Army
Minos received Gryff into his office with a smile on his face. In fact, he already expected this person to come to know the exact nature of the offer since he had shown a smarter behavior when he met him.
As for Ralf's father, there was no chance of him coming here due to his behavior. He was a rash person who could not see the general situation before making his mistakes.
Minos then sat in his chair and indicated to Gryff. "Sit here, let's talk. To the point, I know you want to know what I have to offer to your brother, which the Gill family cannot. So, here's the thing…"
After some time speaking, Minos told Gryff exactly what he had said to Alison's family. From cultivation techniques to the salary that the young Lee would receive.
Minos also promised to welcome Gryff and Lee's younger sister, Ayn, when she was 10-years-old. He could also help Gryff to reach level 69, as well as Alison's parents.
After hearing all of this, Gryff also couldn't believe it all, just like Pollo, but when he saw the Silver-grade technique, he didn't suspect Minos anymore.
Finally, they came to an agreement, and young Lee would come to the mansion as soon as he was 10-years-old.
After resolving this issue, Minos wanted to start doing something about the future Black Plain Army. First, he would merge the Dry City guard and his personal team.
So, he wanted to record the strength levels of each individual and then create a new hierarchy. It would take into account the level and the potential of each member of the army.
Minos then met with Commander Pyke and butler Dillian to begin to resolve this matter.
"You already know that I want to start the Black Plain Army. So, to start, I want to know what our strength is. Grandpa Dillian, what is the level of my personal guards?" Minos said directly without rolling.
"Of the 10 guards, 1 is at level 33, 1 at 34, 3 at 35, 2 at 36, 1 at 37, and 2 at 38. They all have Blue talent."
"And yours?" Minos asked as he looked at Commander Pyke.
"There are 30 men counting on me; 9 are at level 27, 6 at 28, 5 at 29, 3 at 31, 4 at 32, 1 at 33, 1 at 34, and 1 at 35. They all have Blue talent." Said Pyke.
"Hmm, it's not too bad for a start."
After that, Minos decided that he would establish the army in 6 months. At that time, the hierarchy would follow the order, Student lv 0-9, Recruit lv 10-19, Soldier lv 20-29, Corporal lv 30-39, Sergeant lv 40-49, Lieutenant lv 50-59, Captain lv 60-69, Major lv 70-79, Colonel lv 80-89 and General lv 90-99.
Each position would have a salary equivalent to its level, with one student earning 50 low-grade spiritual crystals and generals, 800 high-grade crystals. There would also be a minimum length of service in each position to reach the next, 6 months to become a Recruit and 25 years to become a General from a Colonel's position.
After hearing the hierarchy that Minos wanted to follow, both Dillian and Pyke had their faces completely white. The young man in front of them was already thinking of having demigods in his ranks, while they would already find it very much to have Spiritual Emperors!
But Minos didn't care about their reaction. It was just a matter of time for him. In 30 years, when the spiritual root is completely recovered, and this region has a high density of spiritual energy, there will certainly already be some Spiritual Emperors living here.
"Anyway, in 6 months, I want all this change to be made. I also want to build a headquarters for the army. Once we have the first profit from the current crop, it must be done."
"In no more than a year, I want to be able to increase the number of members of our forces. As for the current members, we are going to invest in low-level spiritual pills and medicines to help them increase their strength."
The spiritual pills in question were compounds formed from the fusion of different ingredients, which could be medicines, the blood of beasts, bones, etc. The pills could preserve and even increase the total spirituality contained in the ingredients and were used in a variety of ways, from curing diseases to even increasing the cultivation of those who use them.
They were prepared by alchemists, who were cultivators specialized in the production of these compounds. Like spiritual blacksmiths and array masters, they focused on techniques focused on their main activity.
After hearing this, Pyke was overjoyed. Life would improve considerably for the Black Plain. And he was very excited to be able to participate in all of this.
"Grandpa Dillian, don't forget to look for information about alchemists too. We have to prepare well to proceed in the best possible way." Minos said with a smile on his face.
He was also very pleased with how things were going. He had woken up a little less than 3 weeks ago, but he was already doing so many things…
"Hmm, I should get the basics on array masters and blacksmiths nearby in the next few days. I will try to bring all the information as soon as possible." Said the middle-aged man calmly.
After some more conversation, Dillian and Pyke left Minos alone in his office. A moment later, Mia entered the room.
"Young master Minos, I have already counted the average consumption data for corn, rice, and wheat." She said with a smile on her face.
"Oh! And then?"
"In the previous year, the consumption of those crops was 300, 150, and 200 tons per month, respectively. According to the current projection of planting on the 3 hectares that have been modified, then we could reach less than 2% of the domestic market for these three items."
"I went ahead and discovered that there is also a great demand for spiritual fruits in the city. So, it could be another type of plantation that could generate profits in the future."
"Hmm, thanks for the service of Mia." He replied with satisfaction.
…
After finishing the day's affairs, Minos returned to the Spatial Kingdom to cultivate. He was getting closer to level 9, and in a week at most, he would finally reach level 10, the Transition stage!
When stepping up, some important things would happen to the cultivator. First, there would be a change in the fleshy body, which would qualitatively change all the cells in the body, releasing impurities and increasing the average vitality of the individual.
The body would also have an energy that would be equivalent to 10% of the spiritual energy that a cultivator would have at the initial level of that stage. For example, on becoming a Spiritual King, the cultivator's body would undergo a complete transformation, that even if he had his cultivation crippled, only with the strength of the physique would he be able to defeat a level 35 individual who was using all of his cultivation.
This also meant that even if someone had their cultivation crippled, their vitality would remain the same as before since this characteristic is exclusively related to the person's body.
However, this would only happen from the Spiritual Beginner stage due to the amount of spiritual energy being very low before this point. From the Body Foundation to the Transition stage, there would only be an increase in vitality.
And Minos could also add another technique in this new stage!
…
Meanwhile, in a hotel in the Dry City, a young blonde woman was drinking her tea on her porch. This was Elen Nash, a Stone Island merchant. She had been in town for more than a week to see if the rumor that the new local sovereign 'cured' the Black Plain was really true.
In these last days, she sent her guard, Eduard, to check the place where about 200 people were working to see if there would be any changes.
Some time passed, and the guard returned with a smile on his face. He then said. "As expected from Mrs. Elen, you got it right again. The Black Plain appears to have been 'cured', at least the region where those farmers are working no longer has the old problem. It looks like arable lands, like many others I have seen."
"Hmph, as expected. Well, now we must try to meet this Minos. This city needs many things that Stone Island has to sell." She then smiled as if she had found a treasure chest.
After that, she asked a servant at the hotel she was in to schedule a time, so she could meet Minos and then do business. If she could support the Black Plain now, then she could have an important position in this place in the future.
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Chapter 12: The Stone Island Merchant
Two days passed, and Minos had already reached level 9, and he was preparing to reach the next stage today. But before that, he would have a somewhat unusual meeting today.
Despite being the local sovereign, Minos had not yet found any local traders because the local governor generally would not have much to negotiate, being only a regulator for a few activities.
But today, a Stone Island merchant would meet with him. Minos was excited about this, as there was only one possibility for such a thing to happen that she knew that he had solved the Black Plain problem!
The young Stuart was waiting in his office, along with butler Dillian, when someone knocked on the door and then came in. It was Mia. "Young master, Miss Elen Nash is here to see you."
"Hmm, tell her to come in. I was already waiting for her." Minos spoke with a satisfied expression.
After that, a young blonde entered the door. She was gorgeous, with a thin face combined with graceful curves that were neither small nor large. In fact, her measurements were simply the best to 'catch.' She was also very well-dressed, which made it easy to see that she did not live in the Dry City.
There was also a man following her. He was tall, muscular, and had a very relaxed look. This must be a guard or a companion for the young blonde.
At that moment, Dillian whispered to Minos. "Young master, these two are already in the 5th stage of cultivation, Spiritual General. The young woman is at level 42, and the man must be at level 47."
After hearing this, Minos thought to himself. "As expected…"
After that, they introduced themselves. "Nice to meet you. My name is Elen Nash, and this is my bodyguard, Eduard." Said Elen with a smile.
"Hmm, nice to meet you, I'm Minos Stuart, and this is butler Dillian."
"So, Miss Elen, I'm curious to know what a Stone Island merchant expects from my Black Plain." Minos spoke with an expressionless face.
Elen then began to speak without hiding her intentions. "Well, as a trader, I'm always looking for opportunities. The Black Plain seems to be an excellent chance for me. For the past few weeks, I have been doing business at the Brown Kingdom. When I was finally returning home, I stopped in the Dry City to rest."
"However, despite always passing through this city when I come to the Brown Kingdom, this time I heard some interesting rumors about a new local sovereign. Of course, that kind of thing happens a lot when you travel as much as a trader, but knowing the news from where you are is very important in our business."
"But the story I heard was just too unbelievable. But if it were true, it would be something to turn the sky and the earth upside down. So, I decided to stay here for a few more days."
"And now that I know that the rumor is well-founded, I intend to do business with your territory." Elen said calmly.
"Hmm, I understand. But there are many problems for a big deal to be made for now. I estimate that it will take a few years before I can do big business with other regions." Minos spoke vaguely.
After thinking for a while, Elen continued to speak. "I understand that you are just getting started, and any business that is done for now would have to be something small."
"But I am willing to help you with these smaller things, even if I don't make a big profit, in the hope that we can form a bigger partnership in the future."
"And as a gesture of sincerity, I can invest 4 spiritual arrays focused on gathering spiritual energy and classified as grade-1, high-level."
After hearing this, both Dillian and Minos were impressed with how much this young woman was willing to invest in this relationship.
To give you an idea, the spiritual arrays are subdivided into 4 degrees, and each degree was divided into low, medium, and high levels. The difference between these classifications was the power of the array.
The array could be of any type, such as spiritual reunion, battle formations, defensive shields, etc. But the power of each array would be defined by the classification it was in. For example, a grade-1, high-level, array was 50 times more powerful than a grade-1, low-level, array.
This meant that the grade-1, high-level, spiritual meeting array would be able to create an area of ??spiritual concentration 50 times larger than the area of ??a grade-1, low-level.
As for the spiritual density that this array would provide in that area, it would depend on the spiritual concentration of the region where it would be, or on the quantity/quality of the spiritual crystals provided and on how well classified the array would be.
A grade-4, high-level, array would have an efficiency of 100%. It would either concentrate all the spiritual energy in the area or convert all the energy contained in the spiritual crystals supplied to the array into free energy within that area.
The spiritual array of grade-1, high-level, would have an efficiency of 20%. But the difference in price between each was colossal. For an array with a measly 20% efficiency, the cost would be about 15,000 low-grade spiritual crystals!
And for an array of the highest quality, you would have to shell out 100,000 high-level spiritual crystals!!
For this reason, investing in a place that barely started to develop, 4 arrays of grade-1, high-level, was something very high by the standards of the Northern region of the Central Continent.
Minos then calmed down before speaking. "Oh! It seems that Miss Elen is convinced that the Black Plain will be very successful."
"But I want to know exactly what you want to get. I don't want to sign a blank check." Said Minos, with a serious look.
Elen then responded quickly. "As I said, I only want a place at the table when the Black Plain develops. I would be pleased if I were your only contact within the Stone Islands. That would be enough for me."
"You are talking about the Black Plain, but what about your side? Will you be able to handle the entire turnover of my region with your Stone Island? Don't get me wrong. I'm not looking down at you. I just don't know you." Minos spoke with doubt.
He wanted to know who he was dealing with. He didn't want to receive 'small' help now to have big problems in the future.
Elen was not angry. She knew that this young man did not know her background, so she simply said. "I understand your side. It is natural that you do not know who I am, considering your past. But I can assure you that when the Black Plain is a major influence, I will not be a hindrance to your relations with the Stone Island."
"In fact, if you look for the Nash family on Stone Island, you will find that it is one of the largest merchant families in our region."
"Hmm, ok. Thanks for the honesty, Miss Nash. I will think about your offer and give you a feedback in a week. I guess that's not much, right?" Minos said as he looked into the young woman's eyes across the table.
"Okay, a week is not much. I'm staying at the Four Seasons Hotel. You can send someone to let me know when you're ready."
After that, Elen and her guard left, leaving Minos and Dillian alone in the office.
Soon after, Dillian spoke. "If I'm not mistaken, the Nash family is really a big family on Stone Island. I once heard a rumor that they even had relations with an empire."
"Oh! So, it looks like there should be no problems. But just in case, research about it, Grandpa Dillian. We have to know if she is not a member with a lot of problems within her family."
After all, an exclusive business relationship like the one Elen wanted was no different from a wedding. If one of the two sides had a problem, then it would affect both parties because when you marry, the other's problems become yours too!
Thus, Minos wanted to know with whom he would be relating, avoiding possible problems.
…
Thus, two days passed, and Minos' group was still researching Elen Nash's past. But today, Minos had a very important thing to do. He would move to level 10, the start of the Transition stage.
The young Stuart was very excited about this and had already chosen an attack technique that he would learn at this stage.
It was a skill classified in Golden, with 10 phases, called Spatial Sword. It demanded that the user use a sword-like spiritual tool. When the technique was activated, the space around the user would be stopped for 1 second, leaving all objects and living beings 'trapped' during that time, as long as no one exceeds the cultivation level of the user. If that happened, the technique would have a diminished effect on that individual.
As for the space around the user that would be stopped, this would depend on the phase in which the technique would be. In the first phase, the space within a radius of up to 10 meters from the user would be influenced by the technique. In the following phases, this space would double at each stage, reaching up to just over 5 kilometers around the user when the technique reached maximum performance.
With this technique, Minos would have a big advantage against those at the same level as him, and even if he faced someone stronger than him, there would still be a slowdown effect if the difference in strength was not too big.
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Chapter 13: Transition
A few hours had passed since Minos had started to level up when a small cracking sound came from his body. It was very subtle, the kind that you certainly wouldn't hear if you weren't in a quiet environment.
Crack!
Shortly thereafter, Minos felt a sensation like a sweaty and sticky body suddenly started to repel sweat. But in his case, it was a gooey and dark substance. It looked like the slurry that comes out of the garbage, not only in appearance but also in smell.
And despite the small amount, Minos still felt like throwing up just feeling it. He then ran to the big house inside the Spatial Kingdom to take a shower right away.
He didn't even want to start training his first attack technique. With the current scent of his body, there would be no way for him to focus on any training.
A few minutes passed, and Minos was clean and in another set of clothes.
'Wow, I didn't think the odor of the impurities in my body was so bad!' Minos thought, as he still had a queasy expression on his face.
As for what happened, well, that was the spiritual cleansing that the fleshy body would undergo each time a cultivator moves up the cultivation stage. This process served to remove toxic substances present in the body's cells.
These substances came from food, residues of spiritual pills, medicines, and even the functionally normal of the body.
This is because, under normal conditions, most foods and pills would have impurities, which would accumulate in the body over time, as well as bioaccumulation.
As for medicines and body metabolism, these two could also generate toxins. The first, when in excess, could create a body reaction that would result in the release of these toxins. Second, the body had natural reactions that would generate these substances, such as aging itself.
In fact, this transformation had as its main result the increase in the vitality of the cultivator, which is usually the main objective of many people. After all, who would not want to obtain a few more years in this world?
Finally, Minos picked up a golden parchment as he stopped beside the large house and in front of the lake. He then began to learn the Spatial Sword technique.
"With a sword in my hand, the fate of millions can be reaped. Do you have numbers? It makes no difference. They will all freeze and then killed in less than 1 second…"
Minos began to think about the meaning present in the technique...
After a few hours, he performed the movement for the hundredth time. At that moment, he realized that a leaf that was falling stopped temporarily before continuing to fall.
He learned the basics of the technique and was now in its first phase. In addition to reaching level 20, he would have to complete thousands of moves to reach the second stage.
This is because, unlike the cultivation technique, that only needed to be activated to strengthen itself, while its dominance over it would increase. With other techniques, the cultivator would have to complete a given number of executions before changing the cultivation stage.
It would not be enough to increase the energy in your body. You would have to have an equivalent understanding of your techniques. This was also one of the reasons for the speed of cultivation being slower in higher stages.
In addition to devoting time to cultivating spiritual energy, cultivators would still have to train each of their techniques at an equivalent level.
Minos then finished this training session and returned to his mansion. He had a great night's sleep after what he had just been through.
…
Another 5 days have passed, Minos was now at level 11, and today he would give the answer to Elen Nash about his possible partnership.
According to Dillian's team, there was nothing particularly problematic about Elen within the Nash family. In fact, the only relevant thing they found was that she had a Black talent, 22-years-old and level 42, as Dillian had said. Thus, Minos intended to form a partnership with Elen.
After sending someone to inform Elen of his decision, just over an hour passed, and then a young blonde woman arrived at Minos' mansion, followed by her personal guard.
"You can follow me, Miss Elen. The young master will already receive you." Said Mia with a smile on her face.
"OK."
Soon after the meeting began, they discussed some important details and then closed the deal. In it, Elen Nash would have to supply 4 spiritual arrays of grade-1, high-level. Together with services to promote the products produced in the Black Plain within Stone Island and also facilitate the contact of professionals from the island with the region of Minos.
On the side of Minos, he would have to market his products on Stone Island through Elen. Alone, she would be his exclusive reseller within that region.
"So it is agreed like this. Will Miss Elen still be in my town longer? Who knows, we might have dinner to celebrate this deal." Minos said with a smile on his face.
"I appreciate the kindness, but we can do this the next time I come. I've been here for a long time, and I have to give a return to my family." Elen spoke with a serious look on her face.
"Oh, all right, then! Stay for the next time."
After that, the group said goodbye. Before leaving, Elen said that she would send the spiritual meeting arrays to the Black Plain as soon as she arrived at Stone Island.
According to her, it should take between 2 and 3 weeks for this to be done. But for Minos, this time would already be excellent. He would not even think about having that amount of arrays in less than a year while cultivating the cultures in this land.
And although the effect of the arrays at this level was not so great, considering the current spiritual density of the Black Plain, when he had enough spiritual stones, he could significantly improve this issue.
However, even if the effect were not so great, for a city with no array and low spiritual density, the arrival of 4 of them would be crucial for the whole city.
…
Meanwhile, in various parts of the city, a topic was being discussed fervently. In fact, it had been 2 weeks since the Black Plain 'cure' rumor came out. In those days, most people in the Dry City did not believe the rumor.
But at this point, the situation was completely different. The 200 people who had been hired for agriculture had now spread the word to those closest to them that, in fact, it was now possible to farm on the Black Plain land.
But not only that, in two weeks, the crops grew to the point of being seen by anyone who passed by the plantation field near the city.
With that, the subject had spread with even more power than before. And many already said it was a miracle and the heavens had not forgotten them…
'"He really did it!! Hahaha, I can't wait for the number of farmers to increase. I will be the first in line." Said a resident of the Dry City while showing an exuberant smile.
"Hmph, get out!! I am the one in line!!" Some people around laughed at the two. Then someone said. "You old people shouldn't be worried. Considering the size of the Black Plain, there will be a lot of demand for labor."
After that, many nodded in agreement. Of course, with 200,000 km2 and a population of just 50,000, there would be no unemployment for the current citizens of the Black Plain.
"Not only that. My cousin works in the city guard, and he told me that Mr. Stuart wants to increase the strength of the city's forces. They must release the number of vacancies and remuneration in the next 6 months. There will also be places for our children." Said someone else.
This was something very relevant for people with Blue talent in the city. They were usually ordinary cultivators who had no specializations. So, working as guards was generally a good option for most of them. The only problem was that the Dry City did not have the resources to maintain a huge number of troops.
Thus, the competition was great for each new vacancy that appeared in the guard of the city. Because of that, most had to be content with doing random services in the region to survive.
"It looks like this Minos Stuart is not that bad." That was the thought that many of them had. They were excited about the things that were slowly changing in their city.
…
While the city was surrounded by arguments, two incredibly dazzling women were coming towards the Black Plain, from the south of that region, the Cromwell Kingdom. But they were just passing through this realm, as they came from an empire!
"Master, will we bring your son back from the Black Plain to the sect?" The disciple asked her teacher.
"I'm not sure, Ruth. He's a lot like his father, so I don't know if he'll want to follow me." The other woman said. Despite being the oldest here, she still looked like a young adult in her early twenties.
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Chapter 14: Unwanted Meeting
Another week passed after Elen Nash left the Black Plain, but nothing relevant happened meanwhile. Although this region needs many changes, there was no budget for this.
Due to this limitation, Minos' plans were frozen. For example, he wanted to create his own spiritual academy for children in the city. He wanted to start recruiting students for the Black Plain Army, just as the Gill family did.
Even if the average talent in this area were low for now, it wouldn't be like that after a few decades. That way, he would be laying the foundations for a great future at this time.
This week, in addition to reaching level 13, Minos also passed a new technique classified in Silver to Dillian. It was a specialized healing technique, called Radiant Healing, with 6 phases, which used beams of light to heal wounds.
Depending on its stage, the user could range from healing non-lethal wounds in the first stage to saving lives, as long as the patient still had a breath, regardless of his condition.
However, due to the talent of Dillian, he could never achieve the realization of this technique. But as far as he could go, he would still be able to recover severed limbs from his patients.
Minos had not delivered this technique to the butler Dillian before, as he was still getting to know each technique, and Dillian still needed to adapt to the new technique he had received a few weeks ago.
This is because for those who change techniques, they need an adaptation time until they get used to it.
Minos also asked the butler Dillian to pass on the Black-grade techniques to the 30 guards in the Dry City. In fact, he will leave techniques of this sorting to all future members of the Black Plain Army in the library of the future headquarters.
But for now, they could only pass it along to the guards. As for Minos' 10 personal guards, they had already started training these techniques.
…
At the entrance to the Dry City, two young women were walking slowly on a large spiritual beast that looked like a tiger. One of them had black hair, a cute face, and sensual curves. The other one, who didn't look much older, had brown hair and a beautiful body that you would see in some mature women. Both were wearing robes with the same pattern. They looked like members of the same family or sect.
As they walked towards the central part of the city, the two women were talking when the young woman with black hair spoke. "I never thought that there would be a place as poor in spiritual energy as this. Master, I'm sorry to ask, but did the young Minos lose his mind? Perhaps after recovering, he had not been able to think clearly."
"Don't be thinking about this bullshit, Ruth. He must have come here because it was the only place he thought he could go." Said the older woman.
After a while, they finally stopped in front of the only mansion in the city, that despite its size, looked as good as any decent place in this city.
"Let's go in and see if we can talk to him." Said the brown-haired woman as she entered the mansion.
"Hi, my name is Mia. What can I help you with?" Mia came to them as soon as she saw these strange people entering this place.
"Hmm, tell Minos that his mother is here to see him."
"His mother…" Mia said in shock.
Although it was not so strange for a mother to appear like this, she would never think that this woman, who appeared to be younger than she, was the mother of Minos!
"Ah! Okay, I'll let him know." She said after recovering from the shock as she headed for Minos's office.
At the time, Minos, Dillian, and Pyke were in the office talking about matters relating to the safety of the Dry City when Mia hurried through the door.
"Young master Stuart, a young woman, is here to see you. She says that she is your mo…" But before she could finish, the two young women entered through the door of the room.
When Minos and Dillian saw this, they soon recognized the brown-haired woman. This was Minos' mother, Maisie Coleman, who was at level 65, Spiritual Emperor!
As for the other young woman, neither of them knew her, but Dillian noticed her level. She was at level 43.
Dillian then broke the momentary silence and said. "Mrs. Maisie is good to see you again."
"Oh! Good to see you, too, butler Dillian."
"What are you doing here?" Minos then asked coldly.
In fact, he was not happy to have to receive his mother. After all, she never paid attention or acted as a mother to him when he needed to, so why should he have respect for her?
Upon hearing this, the young woman with black hair then replied angrily. "How can you talk to your mother like that? Do you know how far she came just for you?"
"I don't know since I don't know anything about her either. But she might as well have stayed there." Minos replied sarcastically.
Minos' mother then intervened. "Ruth, don't say anything. He has his reasons for saying that you shouldn't blame him."
"Minos, my son, today I came to look for you. I intend to take you to the Gray Cloud Sect. And even if you only have a Black talent, it is better to become an external elder of the sect than to be in this backward place." She spoke with a serious look on her face.
After hearing what Maisie said, everyone in the room, except Ruth, had reactions against this idea. Pyke and Mia, who were pleased with the current way things were developing for the Black Plain, suddenly heard something that made them sweat coldly.
After all, even if the 'cure' of the Black Plain was definitive, they didn't know that Minos was still a great ruler. He wanted to develop the region, admitted when he didn't know something, and made smart decisions. Thus, they did not want to lose such a leader.
Meanwhile, Dillian was also opposed. He had already adopted the idea of ??developing the Black Plain slowly, and he was sure that Minos would achieve that. Furthermore, with the Spatial Kingdom, Minos did not need to go to the Gray Cloud Sect, where he would only encounter a lot of obstacles in his path. It would be stupid to do that!!
For Minos, on the other hand, he only saw one person he had no respect for, asking him to give up his goals. After all, in the Gray Cloud Sect, he would be plastered by the system, he would have a difficult time, and even when he reached the top, it would be by a random force that he has no goodwill.
As for the Black Plain, despite not being his original home, it's a place that he would develop from the beginning, something entirely of his own. So, he already had a special cart for these lands.
After a while of silence, Minos started to laugh. "Hahahaha, I don't need your good intentions. I'm just fine where I am. Maybe you're the one who needs to come and ask for my help in the future."
As soon as he said that, Minos left the office without waiting for an answer and was soon out of sight. He had gone to the Spatial Kingdom to cool his head.
Meanwhile, Ruth was thinking in her head. 'What an ungrateful bastard. But from the things he said, then he can only be a lunatic to think that we would need him.'
"Sigh… I'm sorry about that, Mrs. Maisie, but the young master is doing well. This is really the truth, I know you are concerned about his future, but the young master will be fine." Dillian said with an apologetic smile on his face.
"Okay, Dillian, I already expected him to refuse. But I still wanted to try, at least in the sect, I could protect him."
"I understand, but maybe the young master doesn't need to be protected in the end…" Dillian said while he was holding his arms behind his back.
"And why do you say that?" Asked Minos's mother with curiosity.
"Didn't you feel the young master's level?"
Maisie spoke without thinking. "He must have been at level 13…" When she finally remembered. "That's right, but he woke up from his unconscious state just 1 month ago…"
When she heard that, Ruth jumped back and thought. "How is this possible? I, with my Silver talent, I took 3 months to reach the same level…"
Maisie then answered before leaving Minos's office. "I will be here in the Dry City for 2 days, tell my son that."
After leaving, Maisie and Ruth went to the Four Seasons Hotel, where they would stay.
Ruth then asked when they were halfway to the hotel. "Master, why don't we go back? I believe that he will not change his mind."
"I know that, but I want to look at his situation before we leave."
"Even if he doesn't change his mind, I want you to return here in a year and a half. I want you to check his strength at that time, and if he can maintain that good speed in cultivation, then I want you to take him to the competition that will take place in 18 months in the Cromwell Kingdom."
"That way, he will be able to understand the difference between heaven and earth. Even if he has a good cultivation speed, it doesn't mean that he will be the strongest. Only by fighting those of the same generation he will understand me and change his mind." Said Minos' mother confidently.
"Hmm, but what if he refuses?" Asked Ruth curiously.
"I don't think he will refuse, considering how much he looks like his father and the fact that he wants to earn his things with his own effort. So, you shouldn't have to worry about that." Thereafter, the two of them settled in the hotel to spend the next two days.
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Chapter 15: Spiritual Meeting Array
Ten days have passed since Minos's mother visited him. At this point, she was already gone back to the Flaming Empire, where her Gray Cloud Sect was located.
In those days that passed, Minos reached level 16 and had already trained his technique, Spatial Sword, thousands of times, and in a week or more, he would reach the conclusion of the first phase of the technique.
He also had already separated a specialized defense technique for his advancement to Spiritual Beginner, which should also happen in the next two weeks.
It was a technique called Indestructible Body, Golden-grade classification, with 9 phases. When activated, it could render the user's body indestructible for 10 seconds for those who are up to 100% stronger than the user.
This meant that if the user of the technique was someone at level 20, then he would have an indestructible body for 10 seconds, that not even someone at level 26 could hurt him within that time.
But against someone above that level, the defense would be less and less. At the higher levels, this ability to defend against those at the higher level would decrease as the difference in energy gets bigger and bigger through the levels.
And as for the characteristics of the technique that would improve through the phases, it would start with only the initial 10-second defense and go up to the 9th phase, which in addition to being able to use an impassable defense for that interval, would also allow the user to use their own body as a weapon.
Finally, Dillian had also managed to advance to level 46 these days!!
After all, the butler still had a Black talent, and there were no bottlenecks within the steps. And even if they were in a low-density region, he would still advance to at least level 49, as long as he had time.
Of course, they would not wait that, when there were enough spiritual crystals, the cultivation speed of all Minos' subordinates would increase consistently.
...
A few kilometers from the Dry City, a merchant carriage with a large volume of items was approaching the region. In that carriage, there was a symbol of a silver ship.
That was the symbol of the Nash family from Stone Island!
"Hey, big brother, what are we doing, going to the Dry City? We usually don't come by when we are going to deliver resources to the Brown Kingdom." A muscular man asked.
"Hm, in fact, Miss Elen made an agreement with the new local sovereign of the Black Plain. We are going to leave these four spiritual meeting arrays here, before we go on, to continue our service in the Brown Kingdom." Replied an older man, who had a scar on his left eye.
...
A while passed, and soon the carriage reached Dry City.
"Young Master Minos, the spiritual arrays that Miss Elen had promised have just arrived," Mia spoke after entering Minos's office.
"Oh! That was quick. Let's go get this, grandpa Dillian." Minos said as he had an animated expression on his face.
Soon after, the young man and the middle-aged man went to receive the arrays.
There were three people in the delivery group. A young man who didn't look much older than Minos, a muscular adult man, and a middle-aged man.
"Hello, friends from the Dry City, I'm Sarek, and these are Firrol and Rex Larson." Said the middle-aged man, who had a scar on his eye.
Then the young man in the group stepped forward and began to speak. "Nice to meet you, you can call me Rex. I'm here to inform you about some details about the function of these arrays..."
Thereafter, Minos chose four local guards to learn the basic details of the arrays' operation from the young array master.
This was common in this world. Although the arrays work alone most of the time, there was a need to follow certain processes when manipulating it. This was a job that was usually done by array masters, like the young Rex, a beginner. But in the Dry City, there was no one like that.
So, this young man came with the group to teach the basics. But it wasn't difficult. It was just something that most people didn't learn because they either didn't have crystals to buy an array or they had someone to do these services for them.
After that, it didn't take long, and the arrays were installed in 4 points of the city. The arrays would cover just over a third of the city's area, taking in the entire central area, which was the region with the highest population density.
From what the young Rex had reported, these arrays could improve the spiritual density of the affected region by 15% if it were supplied only with free spiritual energy from the region of the Black Plain, which was very poor at this time.
However, if its up to 10,000 low-grade spiritual crystals were supplied each month, then the improvement would be at least 50%. As for if they wanted more than that, they would have to buy a higher level array since these grade-1, high-level arrays only had an efficiency of 20%, which limited any further increase.
And so, the group said goodbye, going to the east of the Black Plain, heading towards other regions of the Brown Kingdom.
"For now, we will not be able to supply these four spiritual arrays with crystals since it would cost 40,000 crystals per month, but we are doing just fine with a 15% of improvement." Said the butler Dillian, as he held his hands behind his back.
"Hmm, it should be at least 6 months before we can start supplying one of them monthly and 1 year for all four," Minos said with a thoughtful countenance.
Pyke, who was also in the group at the moment, then said with a big smile on his face. "Haha, it doesn't matter. Even if it were 2 years or more, it wouldn't make a difference for us. Having any improvement in the spiritual concentration of the region is already beyond our dreams."
After that, other guards nodded their heads. With a 15% improvement in spiritual concentration, they would already be able to cultivate much faster. This was already very good for them who did not want to take chances in a stronger place.
...
The night quickly fell, and the four arrays were already in full operation. That night, many people noticed a sudden increase in spiritual concentration in some parts of the city.
Meanwhile, in several places in the city, people who were starting to cultivate realized that the time it took to gather spiritual energy around them was less!!
"Huh? Why does it seem easier to gather spiritual energy?" An adult man thought while he cultivated.
Elsewhere in the central parts of the city, a small group of people was talking.
"I'm saying. The spiritual density is higher. When I cultivated today, it took me 20 minutes less to gather the surrounding energy." Said a young man with a euphoric expression on his face.
"But that doesn't make sense. Why would spiritual concentration improve like that all of a sudden?" Asked a middle-aged man in disbelief.
In this world, feeling the surrounding energy was something that everyone could do, but those who were weaker needed to cultivate to realize that.
However, when someone reached level 40, cultivators could use free energy in heaven and on earth, and so they could feel the differences in spiritual density even without cultivating. But there weren't many at that level within the Dry City.
As a result, a new rumor slowly began to spread throughout the city, saying that the spiritual energy was more concentrated than normal.
And it didn't take long for many people to notice this change. They also realized that this was not happening across the city. It was something that was limited to the regions closest to the central part, which covered just over a third of the entire Dry City.
...
A few days passed in the Black Plain, while many people were cultivating even faster than normal, the central region was getting busier and busier. And some people were already struggling to get a place to live in that part of the city.
Minos had also increased his cultivation these days, reaching level 18. He was almost reaching the Spiritual Beginner!!
Not only he was getting better, but the young secretary Mia had already risen to level 25 in the nearly two months that Minos had arrived in the Dry City. She, like Minos' other subordinates, was also training Black-grade techniques. As a result, her cultivation speed has grown considerably.
In those days, the youths that Minos had brought into his forces also turned 10 and came to the mansion to receive their cultivation techniques.
Both Lee and Alison received the same cultivation technique of Black-grade that was being passed on among Minos' subordinates and then began to cultivate. And as individuals with Black talent, they also had a good cultivation speed, having already reached level 2.
And at that point, the wheat, corn, and rice crops were almost ready to be harvested, which would allow some more of Minos' plans for the city to be put into practice.
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Chapter 16: Spiritual Beginner
With the harvest approaching and the beginning of the cultivation of more lands, Minos had already requested that another group, this time of 400 people, be organized to prepare and cultivate another 6 hectares, accounting for 9 hectares for the next harvest.
Today, Minos was preparing to meet with a local merchant who could sell his products inside a market in the Dry City.
Minos was walking towards a busy street in the center of the city accompanied by two guards. This was where most stores that sold food were located.
He then entered a place that was called the Central Market, a 3-story building. The area was quite large and had a good movement since this was one of the few places in the city where the population could find grains, cereals, fruits, and vegetables with spiritual energy.
For example, the price of a kilo of rice, corn, and spiritual wheat was four low-grade crystals in that place. The exact price that Minos wanted to charge for his products. The difference is that, due to the water of the Spatial Kingdom, the grains and cereals that he would sell would be much richer in spiritual energy than those sold locally.
"Hello, how can I help you?" A young woman, who was dressed in the uniform of the place, asked towards the group of Minos.
"Hello, where can I find the manager? I have a business to do with him." Replied Minos with a friendly smile on his face.
"Oh! Mr. Somir is in his office. I will show you the way."
…
Shortly after that, Minos met with Somir. He was a middle-aged man, fat and bald. He was well-dressed and looked very healthy. Apparently, he lived very well, even though he was in the Dry City.
"Welcome to the Central Market, young master Stuart. How can I help someone as important as you?" The fat man said pleasantly. He had recognized the young man in front of him. That was why he was talking to him so softly.
"Well, as you may know, I've been planting in the Black Plain for a few weeks now, and it's almost time to harvest. That's why I want a place that sells my products." Minos spoke sincerely.
Somir quickly understood and asked a question shortly thereafter. "Can I know what the young master would be selling? The quantity too."
"2.5 tons of wheat, 3.75 tons of corn, and 3.75 tons of rice, all rich in spiritual energy. I intend to sell them at a price equivalent to the products already sold at this store."
"Oh! Then that's it. Well, as there isn't a lot, we can do business. If it was much more, as I still don't know the products, I couldn't go on with that." Said the manager sincerely.
After all, he was already reselling products from the Cromwell Kingdom, so he couldn't just throw away the investment he had already made in those products. Even more in something unknown!
But due to the quantities that Somir heard from Minos, even if the product weren't good, he would still be able to sell it since the demand for these items was high and the quantity offered by this new local sovereign didn't even reach 2% of the total demand!
So, Somir was confident in selling Minos grains and cereals.
After closing the deal, they agreed that Minos' men would take these negotiated resources to be sold at the Central Market as soon as the harvest was done. It was also agreed that there would be a 10% fee, which would be paid to the Central Market.
After that, Minos returned to his daily activities at his mansion.
…
A week had passed quickly, and Minos had already reached level 19 three days ago, and today he planned to break up to level 20, Spiritual Beginner!
He was in the Spatial Kingdom cultivating diligently, sitting, and meditating in front of the lake that was in this place.
Minos then began to circulate the Solar God Breath technique, which had already reached the end of the 2nd phase and was ready to move forward. Meanwhile, within the body of Minos, the spiritual energy was slowly reaching the limit of level 19.
At that moment, Minos' soul's spirituality finally completed the transition to becoming something with form and visible within the young Stuart's consciousness.
Before that, the soul would be just a nebulous cluster that couldn't be understood as something other than the body. It could be considered only a part of the individual's metabolism.
But from the Spiritual Beginner stage, the soul would constantly increase its spirituality, reaching the level of solidifying and becoming something palpable at the level of a Spiritual Saint.
Minos' body also received the traditional cleaning of impurities that was had at each stage. This time, the amount of toxins released from his body was about 4 times greater than the previous one. And as for the smell, hehe, Minos felt like something dead was living inside him!
This advance had an even greater effect than the previous one. This time Minos' vitality increased by 100 years, reaching 250 years of life expectancy. The energy that Minos needed to go from level 19 to 20 was also 4 times greater than the amount he had previously needed when he went up from the 1st to the 2nd stage.
After taking a long shower to get the stink out of his body, Minos then started training his new technique, Indestructible Body.
"With an indestructible body, I will defend the world and crush my enemies."
Minos began to understand the technique little by little when he finally activated it. If anyone looked, it would seem that nothing happened, but for Minos, it was as if his body was made of pure metal.
He felt that even if someone with the same strength as he attacked him with a sword and he stood without defending himself, he would still not be hurt!
However, he was still unable to use the technique to attack. This was something that would come only when he was much stronger. And he could only use this technique for 10 seconds, using 50% of his current spiritual energy.
This technique also required that the technique be activated for a total of 50 hours to reach the peak of the first phase of the technique. It was no different from the Spatial Sword, which also required a minimum number of activations to move forward.
After many hours training his techniques and cultivating, Minos left the Spatial Kingdom and decided to take a few hours to rest.
…
Time passed, and finally was time for the harvest. For the first time in hundreds of thousands of years, such a thing has been done in this region.
The initial 200 farmers were pleased with what they're done, and today the fruits of their work have finally come.
With the strength of these cultivators, all three hectares were quickly harvested, and the grain and cereal were prepared in a building next to the fields, which had been properly built at the request of the farmers.
Several carriages were made, especially for the transportation of these items since none of them had spatial rings, and such rings didn't have such capacity.
…
Two days after the harvest, all the items were already in the Central Market and would start to be sold today.
At the Central Market, a middle-aged woman, Dara, was going to buy the week's ingredients for her family. She was a housewife, married and with two children, and had to save every crystal that her family earned.
'I hope that the rice isn't of a poor quality today. Last week I had to throw half of what I bought in the trash.' She thought discontentedly.
Sometime later, she stopped in front of a stall, where there were the biggest grains of rice that she had ever seen. It also had a white color that almost glowed. Although Dara couldn't feel the free spiritual energy in heaven and on earth, she knew that these grains had an amount of spiritual energy that was, at least, greater than the other rice sold in this store.
"Young lady, can you separate 2 kilos of this rice for me?" She spoke to a uniformed girl, who was standing by the balcony.
"Just a minute."
"Young lady, can you tell me where this rice came from?" Dara asked curiously.
The young woman then responded quickly. "It came from here, in the region of the Black Plain. This is the spiritual rice grown by the new local sovereign."
"Oh! Then that's it." She was shocked to learn that a culture planted here in these areas could yield such a quality.
…
At Dara's house, it was time for lunch, and only she and her two children were at home. Dara had cooked the rice bought at the market earlier and wanted to know its taste and spirituality.
It was not long before one of the boys, that had already started to cultivate, praising the food. "This rice is delicious, mom."
Soon afterward, he let out a cry of surprise.
"Ahhh!"
"What happened?" Asked his mother.
"I just advanced while eating this rice!" Heryd, Dara's eldest son, who was already at level 5, said in shock. After eating a portion of rice, he went straight up to level 6!
...
While Dara's family was dazzled by the effects of the new spiritual rice sold at the Central Market, the same thing was happening in other families in the Dry City.
It didn't take long, and soon the rumor of spiritual rice that could spur advances after a few spoons spread throughout the city.
Soon, people start looking for rice and other products planted in the Black Plain as if they were treasures!
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Chapter 17: The First Fight
Four days passed, and the entire harvest had been sold. After the success of rice, many families sought to know what other crops had been planted in the Black Plain. This made the 10 tons of grains and cereal end up in the blink of an eye!
This is because these items were so rich in spiritual energy that when someone from the first and second stages of cultivation ate a few spoons, they could achieve a breakthrough in their levels!
And in these stages of cultivation, spiritual crystals couldn't be used to cultivate. But it was still possible to use the spiritual energy present in food. And even if the amount of energy in food was much less than that present in crystals, it was still something that could make a big difference.
Thus, eating this type of energy-rich culture was something with very high demand, and when coupled with the low price of commercialization, then the products of the Black Plain went viral within the Dry City.
With that, Minos now had 49,500 crystals in his hands. Of this amount, he would leave 32,000 to pay new farmers who would cultivate more six hectares in the next 2-3 months. He would start building the Black Plain Army headquarters from the remaining amount.
With that, he could start recruiting in 3 months, when the new harvest has been done, and the Dry City had enough money for the new hires. He would also open a spiritual academy at that time.
As for the purchase of spiritual pills that could help those with talent below the Black rank, he would let these guards reach the peak of their stages first.
That's because none of them was at level 39, which was a bottleneck hard to pass without outside help for individuals with Blue talent. And not only were the city guards not at that level, not even Minos' personal guards reached that level, with the strongest of them being at level 38.
…
In the Spatial Kingdom, things were very calm as expected. But there was something different today. Besides Minos, three other people were cultivating in front of the big house, near the lake.
These three were butler Dillian, Lee, and Alison. As to why they were here, well… That was because, for the butler Dillian, he didn't have much work lately. This was because the city didn't have enough funds for the necessary changes. So, he could only concentrate on cultivating and getting stronger for now.
And training in the Spatial Kingdom would considerably increase the speed of anyone in the North of the Central Continent. As for Lee and Alison, these two had a Black talent and could advance quickly if they trained in a place with a high spiritual concentration, such as the Spatial Kingdom.
Thus, Minos convinced these two families to let them go through Minos' 'special training.' Of course, the young Stuart didn't elaborate on what would happen since it wasn't good for others to know.
As for the two youths, Minos wanted them to get stronger quickly. So, he decided to invest in these two and let them live within the Spatial Kingdom for 1 year, which would be enough time for them to reach the Spiritual Beginner stage.
After that, they could cultivate outside the Spatial Kingdom using spiritual crystals. Minos also promised the youths a Silver-grade technique so that they wouldn't tell anyone about the place where they would be during this period of time.
Finally, he was now at level 21, but he had a problem. He had only cultivated and trained alone until now, so he didn't know how strong he would be in a real fight. With that, he wanted to start training with his guards.
And considering the ability of Minos's Physique, increased energy, coupled with Golden-grade techniques, he was confident that he wouldn't lose a fight against someone up to level 27 or 28. Although he wasn't sure if he would win, he assumed that he could have some challenge only from that level. Below that, he would certainly win, and there would be no point in it.
So, Minos looked for Commander Pyke to talk.
…
After talking to Mia, Minos finally received Pyke in his office.
"I heard from Mia that the young master Stuart was looking for me. How can I help you?"
"I want to find someone to train with me. Ask some guards between levels 27 and 28 to come and see me in the courtyard behind the mansion." Said Minos excitedly.
After hearing Minos' order, Pyke was quite surprised and confused at the same time. First, because this young man didn't seem like the type to care about that kind of thing, and second, because what he was trying to do should be impractical for most people.
After all, it wasn't common to struggle through the cultivation levels in these regions.
"This… Are you sure that the young master wants to face such a difference in levels? I don't want to look like I'm despising the young master, but that is a considerable difference." Said the commander while making a serious face.
Minos replied calmly as he drank a cup of tea from the table. "Don't worry. I don't think that fighting through the levels is trivial. But due to my high-grade techniques, I will have no challenge if I fight against people weaker than that."
Commander Pyke then stopped to think for a while. There was really a big difference between the quality of the techniques of different degrees. And since Minos was distributing Black-grade techniques as if it were tomatoes, that meant he was training techniques at an even higher level.
After thinking this seriously, he came to the conclusion that there would be no problem. "Okay, I'll get them together as soon as possible."
After saying this, they said goodbye and returned to focus on some basic issues of the Dry City.
…
A few hours later, Minos was waiting for the group of soldiers with whom he would experience his first fight when Commander Pyke finally arrived with a group of men.
There were 10 guards, with 6 of them at level 27 and 4 at level 28.
In fact, there were originally supposed to be 15 guards at that level, but since Minos learned of their numbers, 5 of them had advanced to level 29, while 3 of them at level 27 for level 28.
"Hello everyone, starting today, I hope that some of you can help me train daily. Of course, you still have your responsibilities, so I'm not going to occupy you at the same time."
Minos then continued. "Today, I want to fight someone at level 27 to see how I do. As for the others, you can watch if you want, or you can leave too."
He then asked. "Is anyone willing? And don't worry, you don't have to take it easy. You can fight normally."
However, there wasn't much reaction of them. But suddenly, Minos thought of something interesting.
"How about this, we'll fight here for 3 weeks, I'll fight 2 different people a day, but someone who once fought with me has to wait for the others to fight too. In that period, whoever can beat me 3 times will win a Silver-grade technique."
After hearing this, the eyes of the ten people almost popped out of their eye sockets. A Silver-grade technique just to defeat someone who was 6 or 7 levels weaker than them!
Some of them were already very excited about it while they were thinking. 'This is going to be a piece of cake, hehe.'
Even Pyke was impressed. In fact, he also wanted to participate in it, but unfortunately, there would be no way for such a thing to happen at his level.
'How unlucky!' He thought.
"You can choose the order among you, but those at level 28 have to be last in the group," Minos said while holding his hands behind his back. He then thought to himself. 'You suppose it'll be very easy. Hehe, I just want to see it.'
After a few minutes of discussing the order, one of them introduced himself to Minos. "I would be the first to try, young master Stuart." Said one of the level 27 guards.
This guard was Jov. He was 29-years-old, 1.8 meters tall, and with black hair. He had entered the guard 8 years ago when he reached level 20.
"Very well! Commander Pyke will be the judge of this fight, and the fight will end when either of us is exhausted or when someone surrenders." Minos spoke quickly as he prepared himself.
After that, everyone agreed with this and other rules. The fight was about to start!
"Are you ready? So, you can start now." Pyke said excitedly. In fact, for simple people like him, watching such fights was a pleasure. It made his blood heat up!
At that moment, Minos held a blind sword, and Jov did not use any weapon. This is because the attack technique of the guard in question did not require a weapon.
At that point, Jov activated his technique with 60% of his power, which he thought would be necessary to win this fight. His technique was a Black-grade one that he had received from Commander Pyke through the butler Dillian.
The name was Destroyer Fist, which, when activated, created an energy fist, that would attack whatever was in the way.
'Hmm, that should be enough, hehe.' Jov laughed in his mind.
At the same time, while dodging the fist coming towards him, Minos activated the Spatial Sword, and everything within a radius of 10 meters stopped as if time had frozen, while Jov's speed was decreased by a small margin.
That's because he was way above Minos' level.
Then everyone around, including Jov himself, realized something was wrong. And their expressions were slowly beginning to change.
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Chapter 18: Fights
Minos carried out a smooth sword movement. It looked like he was cutting through the air. Soon after, a wave of energy was created from this movement. It looked like a blade of air, which, although small and somewhat transparent, was something that anyone could see.
Swooish!
When Jov saw this, he felt a chill rise up his spine and immediately activated his defensive technique, Transcendent Shield, which created a barrier made of energy in front of him.
Crack!
When Minos' attack finally came into contact with Jov's defense, cracks immediately began to appear on the guard's shield and began to break!
"Ahh!"
In a fraction of a second, Jov's defenses were completely broken, and he was sent flying from the spot while letting out a shocked scream.
Minos had won!
That is, of course, despite the difference in level, Minos had 5% more energy than someone at his level, but that was not responsible for this victory.
No, the quality of the techniques was!
Minos trained Golden-grade techniques that were 200% efficient, while Jov used Black-grade techniques, which allowed him to be only 70% efficient over his energy expenditure.
This meant that even if Jov had twice as much energy as Minos when he activated his techniques, he couldn't even use all the power spent, while Minos managed to unleash an attack with the doubling of energy he had spent!
The quick end of the fight surprised all the spectators around the courtyard. None of them could believe such a thing.
"Unbelievable. I never thought that someone could be so strong at level 21." Thought one of the level 28 guards.
"It's a really great achievement, but I believe that if Jov had attacked with everything from the beginning, without giving the young master a chance to attack, then the result could be different." Said another guard.
"Hmm, Jov didn't attack with all his might at first, and that put him in a precarious situation." Said Pyke with a thoughtful face.
But even if he used everything he had, Pyke thought Jov would still have a tough fight ahead of him, and he couldn't defend himself from an attack like the one he received. He had to dodge with all he had. Therefore, trying to defend would be too risky.
After a few seconds, Jov recovered from the shock and the attack. He wasn't badly hurt. In fact, he only had a few scratches. That's because, although his shield had broken, he had still absorbed most of the damage.
"The young master won. Even if I hadn't made the mistake of underestimating him, it would still be a difficult game." Jov said with a disappointed look.
Even if it was someone with better techniques and their leader, it was still very embarrassing for many people to lose to someone with lesser cultivation.
"It doesn't matter, but it's good for all of us to improve our behavior in the battle. Underestimating the enemy is often one of the biggest reasons for the death of cultivators." Said Pyke while massaging his chin.
"Hmm, Commander Pyke is right. Anyway, that's it for today. Tomorrow we will have two other fights." Said Minos with a smile on his face. He was pleased with this start.
After a while, they all dispersed. Minos returned to the Spatial Kingdom and concentrated on cultivating and training his techniques. He really liked to fight and wanted to do his best in his next fights!
…
The day passed, and Minos was ready to face his first match of the day. Today's opponent is called Yel, 29 years old, level 27. He was not very tall, with 1.7 meters and a full beard.
This time, there weren't many people in the courtyard. Aside from Minos and Yel, there were only three more people, with one of them being Commander Pyke. The other guards, as much as they wanted to watch the fights to prepare themselves better, they still had their responsibilities in the city.
Minos and Yel faced each other, while one held a sword and the other held a war hammer. Then, Pyke finally started the fight.
Immediately Minos activated his Spatial Sword because today, his opponent would already be waiting for it. That way, he didn't want to give him any chance to prepare himself.
The space at a radius of 10 meters around Minos was then frozen, slightly slowing Yel's speed.
Meanwhile, Yel activated his innate ability, Physical Strength, which increased both the defense and the user's attack. This ability was not a technique but a characteristic of Yel's Warrior-grade Physique.
As is known, the Physique in the Spiritual World was classified in 5 degrees, being: Common, Warrior, King, Saint, and Divine. And regardless of the degree of the Physique, all people will have innate abilities.
In the case of Minos, it was a skill that increased his energy. For Yel, one that increased his physical strength. As for the quality of the skill, depending on the Physique's rating that the cultivator had.
Swooish!
At the same time, Yel tried to deflect the blade of energy coming towards him. But it was too fast, and he was slowing down.
Then Yel activated his defense technique, Stone Body, which could increase the body's hardness in many folds.
Hong!
An explosion sounded when the blade hit Yel's shoulder.
But this time, Minos' opponent wasn't defeated in a single move. Yel had felt the blow, but he had both deflected part of the attack, and his defense had dissipated most of the damage.
He only had discomfort in his shoulder and felt a little worn out from having almost consumed half of his energy just to defend himself!
'Ahh, at least now I have my chance to attack. He must be almost out of energy! 'Yel thought as he regretted not being able to dodge the attack.
Then, Yel activated his attack technique quickly, without leaving much room for Minos to counterattack.
Hammer of Heaven!
This was a technique that used a hammer to crush enemy defenses. It could also send a wave of energy when activated from a distance from the enemy.
Whack!
When Minos saw the surge of energy coming his way, he immediately burned half his energy and activated his own defense technique.
Indestructible Body!
No visual changes appeared, but Minos often felt stronger than usual. He was prepared to receive Yel's full blow to his chest while he was in a 'vulnerable' position, ready to strike back!
And since he was confident in his defense, he was already activating his attack technique simultaneously! He wanted to receive the enemy's attack and immediately end the fight.
Puff!
A hollow sound was heard. It was as if Yel's attack had completely dissipated when she touched Minos' body.
At that moment, Yel's mouth opened in disbelief. He couldn't believe it. However, he didn't have much time to be surprised. In a fraction of milliseconds, a blade of air was almost hitting him!
Swooish!
He didn't have time to activate his defensive technique, and soon a sound was heard.
Hong!
After that, Yel's body was thrown for 6 meters before finally falling to the ground. He was not unconscious, but he was extremely stunned.
Minos won the fight. However, he was also completely exhausted! Despite being on his feet, if his opponent weren't exhausted too, then he would have no resistance.
"Fantastic, young master Stuart won again!" Pyke thought as he analyzed what had happened.
"It seems that someone at level 27 cannot break the young master's defense." Said one of the two guards who were watching the fight.
"Hmmm, it will be much more difficult than we thought to win that Silver-grade technique." The other guard commented.
…
After that, Minos continued to fight each of level 27 guards for the next 3 days. In these struggles, only one surprise happened. One of the guards had a Warrior-grade Physique, with an innate ability that increased his speed!
This made it possible for him to fight Minos and get a victory!
After that, Minos fought with the 4 guards, who were at level 28, in two more days. This time he had two draws and two defeats.
But he wasn't discouraged. After these struggles, he understood his own strength and the difference between the levels. He also learned the importance that Physique had in fights.
An innate ability that can be used in battles can unbalance a fight in the blink of an eye!
Anyway, after these six days of fighting, he would rest for a day and return to his fighting routine in the next week.
…
Minos was in the Spatial Kingdom cultivating on a lakefront location. A few hundred meters away, it was also possible to see Dillian and the two youths, Lee and Alison.
Dillian was training in his healing technique while the two youths cultivated. They were already at level 4 and were constantly improving!
And for Minos, he was also currently at level 22! After a week of fighting and hard cultivation, he had made progress. With that increase in strength, the fights that would come next week would be even more favorable for him.
He was confident that at least he would beat a level 27 opponents and those two-level 28 opponents with whom he had drawn. As for the other two, he still wasn't sure, but he wanted to reach a draw at least.
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Chapter 19: One Year
Two weeks passed, and Minos was now at level 23. In that time, he has fought with all 10 guards who were between levels 27 and 28 two more times. From the matches, before he reached level 23, he beat everyone who was at level 27, two at level 28, drew with another, and lost to the last.
By the next week, he was already at level 23, and although two of the guards had advanced to level 29, it didn't help them much. Minos just didn't win a game, which ended in a draw.
The opponent in that match was the same one who had already beaten Minos twice. His name was Grym. He was 30 years old and level 29 when they fought the last time. He was a muscular, tall man.
But what impressed Minos was the fact that this guard had a King-grade physique! This was surprising because, generally, you are not born with a Physique with a rating higher than the person's talent.
And since Grym had lived his entire life in the Dry City, it was unlikely that he would have improved his physique with external means.
In the Spiritual World, although it is not possible to increase a person's talent, they would still be able to advance through the bottlenecks to a certain extent, as long as that cultivator used special means to achieve this. And for the Physique, a person could increase their rating only once during their life, but for that, special means would also be needed.
However, there would be a limit. For example, for the Physique, it was only possible to increase the classification by 1 degree. Only a mutant Physique like Minos could continue to improve!
So, it was unlikely that Grym was born with a Warrior-grade Physique and then evolved into a King. There were no resources in this region for that!
But despite being a rare thing, it was not impossible for such a thing to happen. Anyway, such an asset enabled Grym to have a good advantage in the battles against Minos.
He had an innate ability, Mental Chaos, which put the opponent in a state of temporary confusion.
And since Minos had a much lower level, he was very vulnerable to this ability. However, after reaching level 23, Minos managed to avoid defeat using all his strength.
...
"Mia, call Commander Pyke. Ask him to bring the guard Grym with him too." Minos spoke to Mia as she went to his office.
"Ok."
A few hours later, the door to Minos's office opened, and two men enter the place. It was Pyke and Grym.
"Young Master Stuart, is there anything we can do for you?" Asked Pyke with a curious face.
"In fact, I decided to reward the guard Grym for his performance over the past few weeks."
"Although he did not win the three games that I had conditioned to receive the Silver-grade technique, he has not lost yet."
Minos then looked at Grym and said. "That's why I decided to award you with a Silver-grade technique."
He then took a silver scroll from his spatial ring and tossed it to Grym.
Grym was completely shocked when he heard and saw this. He wouldn't even dream of having such a thing. Hell, even Black-grade techniques were too much for him!
Meanwhile, Commander Pyke's mouth was wide open. He also had an ambiguous feeling of happiness and envy at the same time. After all, this was his biggest dream, after Minos had let them learn Black-grade techniques!
The technique that Minos gave to Grym was called DayDream. It placed the target in a hallucination, which would disorient him for 10 seconds, and if used during the day, it would have a double effect.
"Thank you very much, young master Minos. I will train even harder starting today so as not to disappoint you." Said Grym, full of conviction.
After that, guard Grym returned to his services while Minos and Pyke discussed matters relating to the administration of the Dry City.
...
Time passed quickly, and it was time for the second harvest!
A month and a half passed in the blink of an eye, and Minos was now at level 27!
Within the Spatial Kingdom, the youths, Lee and Alison, also increased their strength during this period and were now at level 8. According to butler Dillian, these two should reach the Transition stage in another month!
But for butler Dillian, he failed to make any progress. It took much longer for someone at the General Spiritual stage to make progress than at the lower levels.
To get an idea, while someone with high talent and in a region of high concentration, it could go from level 0 to 10 in 2 or 3 months. And for the same cultivator to go from level 40 to 41, it could take 5 months!
It wasn't easy!
And in addition to gathering an increasing amount of energy, they still needed to have an equivalent domain in each of their techniques. Otherwise, it would be very harmful to continue to move forward in the future.
And as in higher stages, a higher number of techniques were trained… This really increased the progression time a lot!
Anyway, today, Minos and the butler Dillian left the Spatial Kingdom to solve the future issues of the Black Plain since a good amount of crystals would arrive for them soon.
At this moment, Minos and Dillian were talking in the office when the door quickly opened, and Secretary Mia came through.
"Young master, the manager Somir is here to see you," Mia said after entering Minos's office.
"Hehe, I think this guy came to negotiate. Last time we gave him a good profit. " Dillian said as he drank a cup of tea.
"Hmmm, send him in, Mia."
After a few seconds, the manager of the Central Market came through the door of Minos's office. He looked very well, but he had a serious expression on his face.
In fact, in the last harvest, Minos' products sold so well that he was concerned that the young Stuart would not do more business with him due to the 10% fee he had charged.
That is why he had come here after discovering that the current harvest was about to be done.
"Nice to see you, Mr. Somir," Minos said with a smile on his face.
"It is good to see you too, young master Minos. Today I came here to renegotiate the Central Market commission for the next harvest. "
"Last time I charged a higher price because I didn't know the product and it was a small quantity. But this time, I want to make the best price possible for the young master. "
Minos then asked with an expressionless face. "Oh? And how much are we talking about? "
"I thought of a rate of 3% of what is sold, it will be little for the Central Market in the first months of business, but over time we will have a good advantage," Somir spoke honestly.
"Hmm, I can accept that fee, but we can renegotiate this in the future. How about we form a 5-year partnership? " Minos asked. That rate was good, but when trading yielded very high amounts, the Central Market would receive a considerable share!
Therefore, Minos would renegotiate this contract in the future.
"It works, too," Somir replied with relief. This was already expected, so he saw no problem with that. The main thing is that he would continue to sell Minos' items!
...
A year quickly passed. During that period, the Dry City grew steadily and now had more than 40,000 inhabitants. This is because part of the residents of the Black Plain had migrated to this city, which had been developing a lot in the last months.
Many changes have occurred in the past period. For example, about 100 hectares, now planted in various crops, employed more than 10,000 people in the city!
The numbers of the Army of the Black Plain also rose sharply and were now just over 600 members.
As for the city, the most significant change was the use of spiritual stones in the four matrices. Now, Minos was supplying crystals to all of them every month. This resulted in yet another increase in spiritual density in the central parts of the city, which had made the population even happier!
After all, with an increase in spiritual concentration, the cultivation speed of the entire population was increasing!
Regarding Minos, he was now at level 33, while Dillian was at 47. As for the youths, Lee and Alison, they were already in the Spiritual Beginner stage!
Minos had also undergone the first Physique mutation, going from the Common-grade to the Warrior-grade. As a result, the increase in spiritual energy that the Minos Physique's innate ability provided went from 5% to 10%.
During this period, there was also a good development in the strength of army soldiers, and many of them were already at their limit, level 39.
Because of this, the need for spiritual pills was urgent!
Minos then decided that since Elen had not returned during this period, he himself would go out towards Stone Island to do business. He also intended to start selling his items in that region, which would also be resolved on this trip.
After a big meeting with the most important people in the government, it was decided that Dillian would stay to take care of the city in the absence of Minos. Meanwhile, now Cape Pyke and ten other soldiers of the same rank would accompany the young Stuart during the trip.
This was a trip that could take from weeks to a few months, and as they had to go through several unknown regions, there was a need for such strength. Despite not being strong, the Black Plain still had some regions with the presence of low-level spiritual beasts. This was also a source of income in the region before Minos arrived.
There could be other problems as well, so the group was made in the best possible way. Except for Minos, everyone was at level 39!
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Chapter 20: Coyotes
It was dawn in the Dry City, while a group of 3 carriages were heading west of the Black Plain territory. It was very early, and the sun was still rising on the horizon, forming an excellent view to see.
The group slowly passed through the crops that were planted on this side of the territory, leaving the city behind little by little.
In the second carriage, Minos was enjoying the early morning while traveling. He really liked the feeling of the wind on his face, which he felt right now outside his carriage. The temperature was very pleasant, there was a beautiful view in front of him, and only the sounds of the beasts pushing the carriages were heard.
Time slowly passed when Corporal Pyke approached Minos and said. "Young master, it will take us about 2 days to reach Maritime City. Since there is no other city until we get there, we will have to camp overnight."
"Hmm, I know. Tell me about this Maritime City." Minos said curiously.
After that, Pyke started to say everything he knew. "The Maritime City is a place within the Black Plain, where all the deals made between the Brown Kingdom and the Stone Island must pass."
"This is because the Black Plain covers the entire coastline of the kingdom, so the Maritime City was established there, thousands of years ago, to provide a good structure for traders who come from that island, along with their items and also those who leave the kingdom for travel to there."
"But even though this city is within the Black Plain, it is managed directly by the capital, the City of the Setting Sun."
After a while, Pyke continued to speak. "Because of this, this city is much stronger than our Dry City. In it, there is always at least one Spiritual King guarding the city for the kingdom!"
"Hmm, but wouldn't that be too bad for someone at this level to be in such a poor region?" Asked Minos with a curious look.
"It would be, but the kingdom gives a lot of importance to this place. That is why the capital made a major investment in arrays to improve the spiritual concentration of that city."
"And those guardians who stay in the Maritime City are always replaced from time to time. So, it's not such a bad thing for them."
After talking for a while, Minos already understood basically about this place that they would have to pass.
However, this place could certainly disrupt Minos' plans. If the Brown Kingdom found out about the Black Plain business, then the noble families would try to get a slice.
But Minos had no intention of letting others reap the rewards of his labor. Therefore, there were two paths to follow: establishing his own port city, and the other was to take the Maritime City.
However, he would be becoming a rebel within the kingdom for this second alternative. And as a rebel… He would have to fight an entire kingdom!
He also didn't have the strength to do that for years to come! Only the guardian in the Maritime City could wipe out all of Minos' forces!
'Hmm, we have to build our own port at a considerable distance from the Maritime City.' Minos thought as he calculated his next steps. This would at least delay the kingdom from laying its eyes on the Black Plain.
...
Time passed, and the night was finally falling. The ten soldiers had already set up a small camp.
Minos was cultivating with his spiritual crystals in his tent, as it wouldn't be good if he disappeared in the middle of nowhere when a shout was suddenly heard from one of the soldiers.
"Ahhh!"
Everyone hurried to see what had happened.
When they saw one of the soldiers with a sword in his hand, as he faced a group of 30 coyotes in front of him!
Each of these spiritual beasts had incredibly red eyes while a string of drool dripped from their mouths. It seemed that this group of coyotes had found their dinner after a long time without food…
All of them were in the 4th stage of cultivation, with the majority at the lowest levels and some close to the summit.
Spiritual beasts in the Spiritual World also had the same ranks of cultivation as humans. The difference was that they couldn't learn techniques. They just had ridiculously high physical strength. But some of them could have strange abilities…
Therefore, beasts from the same cultivation stage as humans were normally stronger. That's why the soldier shouted before, as seeing such a large group of these beasts scared him a lot!
"Are you okay, Nedo?" Asked one of the soldiers who had first arrived at the scene.
"Hmmm, I was just a little scared." He said as he continued to stare at the beasts.
Minos then arrived at the scene after a few seconds. After seeing the group of coyotes, he smiled and said. "Everyone, calm down. This group may be large, but…"
'Hehe, this is going to be perfect for testing my new technique.' Minos thought as he wore a wild smile on his face.
As for this technique, he was referring to. It was the technique he had chosen when he reached level 30. It was called the Devouring Art, Golden-grade classification, 8 phases.
When activated, if the enemy's power is not greater than up to 100% than the user's power, then the enemy's energy is continually sucked by this technique within a certain area. This technique would also use some absorbed energy to trigger user attacks.
This technique was limited to a radius of up to 50 meters from the user and a conversion factor of 20% in lower phases. In the final realization of the technique, the conversion factor would be 100%, and the area would be up to 50 kilometers!
This meant that, in the initial phase, if 100 spiritual power had been devoured, then 20 would become the power for the user of the technique to use, as long as the technique was activated.
The only disadvantage of this divine technique was that Minos could not absorb this spiritual power to increase his level!
Minos then activated the Devouring Art and told the soldiers. "Follow me, let's kill them all. This is good training."
A circumference then formed within a radius of 50 meters. It looked like a black ring with a black fog inside. All the soldiers felt as if they had seen a technique coming straight from hell being activated.
Zumm!
A noise started as soon as the technique was activated. At this stage, Minos was unable to limit who he would absorb spiritual power from, so if the soldiers were inside the affected area, they would suffer too!
"All of you, do not enter this space. Use your techniques to send long-range attacks." Said Minos as he prepared to activate his other two techniques.
After that, each soldier began to release their attack techniques in the direction of the beasts.
Boom! Boom!
Explosion noises sounded, and Minos, who had already activated the Spatial Sword and Indestructible Body at the same time, was now sealing the movements of ten beasts.
The space around these ten coyotes froze, and after another split second, Minos made several sword attacks. Each movement looked like a dance and was performed in a way that seemed excellent to the eye of the beholder.
Swooish!
Swooish!
Sounds of air being cut were heard, and a second later, ten bodies fell to the ground without their heads. Blood then began to spill from the neck of the coyotes killed by Minos, spilling large amounts of blood on the ground.
It was a magnificent scene to see! Not only were the soldiers amazed at how skillful this young man was in killing, but even the beasts that were defending themselves from the soldiers' other attacks, were frightened.
When one of the strongest beasts attacked Minos with a bloody expression!
Grrr!!
However, such an attack did not affect Minos, who had his Indestructible Body activated for the next 8 seconds.
Vuuup!
Another sword stroke sounded as the beast was hurled away. It was unknown whether it was alive or dead, but it certainly would have no further action in this attack.
Time passed slowly, and the number of beasts dropped to less than 10. Minos' soldiers were killing each of them in the meantime, reaching this result.
Some beasts were trying to escape, but continually losing their energy to Minos and having to dodge the soldiers' continuous attacks was very exhausting for these beasts.
Soon they all died!
"Hmm, very well, guys. You can collect the corpses and sell when we get to Maritime City."
"As the value is not high, you can divide the crystals earned between you." Said Minos as he headed back to his hut.
After hearing this, each of the soldiers was pleased. After all, even if they were not very valuable to Minos, they could still yield more than 1,000 spiritual crystals for each of these soldiers. That was more than 200% of what they earned monthly, as Corporals of the Black Plain Army.
…
The night quickly passed, and the group prepared to leave this temporary camp as soon as the sun started to rise on the horizon. Tonight they would finally arrive in the Maritime City!
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Chapter 21: Spiritual Tournament
A few weeks earlier...
In a city in the Cromwell Kingdom, there was a girl with black hair, fair skin, a beautiful face, and sensual curves. She was eating at a restaurant while thinking about the information she had just gotten.
Crunch!
"Hm, it looks like the Spiritual Tournament at the Cromwell Kingdom is going to take place in 7 months. The youths up to 18 years of age will compete for the glory of being the best in the North of the Central Continent."
"The awards follow the following order: first place will receive a prize of 500 medium-grade crystals and a Silver-grade technique. The second takes 300 crystals of the same level and a Black-grade technique, while the third gets 100 crystals of the same grade."
The Spiritual Tournament in question was a competition held every 8 years in the North of the Central Continent. It was also a way in which future specialists in the region could get to know and understand the differences in power that could exist between regional geniuses. It was also an opportunity to see stronger places.
This tournament took place in different kingdoms with each edition. This time, it would be in the Cromwell Kingdom, but the last edition had happened in the Kingdom of the Waves.
The Spiritual Tournament was organized by the Flaming Empire sects as a selection form. This is because, even if this region was impoverished in spiritual energy, there was still the possibility that talented individuals would appear. Although unusual in these areas, there were always some individuals with Silver talent in previous editions of this tournament.
And as people with such talent always looked for stronger places to go… So, the Flaming Empire sects were happy to profit from it.
That was why there was such a generous reward for first place!
For this competition, due to the age limit and the average talent found in this region, the participants' strength was largely at the beginning of the 4th stage, with many being in the final parts of the 4th stage. But now and then, there might be some individuals who were already in the 5th stage, above level 40!
These individuals generally dominated the competition and were in the top three!
"Hmm, let's see if that Minos will be at least at the beginning of the 4th stage, which is the minimum cultivation to participate in this competition when the competition starts."
"Hehe, if he agrees to participate as my master said, I want to see his face when he sees how big the world is." She thought with a mocking smile on her face.
This girl was Ruth Miles, a disciple of Minos' mother, Maisie Coleman, and of the Gray Cloud Sect of the Flaming Empire. She was now at level 45, at the age of 18.
She was someone with Silver talent, as was her teacher and many of the members of the Gray Cloud Sect.
"Ahh, when I think that now I have to go to the Black Plain and accompany that disgusting Minos for the next few months, I feel so bad."
After that, she paid her bill at the restaurant and headed north to the Cromwell Kingdom, where the kingdom's border with the Black Plain was.
…
Hours passed when the three carriages of the group of Minos passed by the plains of the Black Plain. The group had recovered well from the battle against coyotes the night before.
Now they were only a few kilometers away from the Maritime City. The smell of salt in the air could already be felt from where the group was.
Then a beautiful view was ahead of Minos. An average city, very well-built and preserved. There were palm trees near a beach, not far from the city.
There was a bay at a point on the far side of the beach, with a considerable building and several ships.
The city was also quite green, which was in stark contrast to the reality of the Black Plain.
The group's carriages then entered the city. They decided to go to the pier and rent a boat to travel to Stone Island.
"Young master, the Maritime City, despite not being as big as other important cities, you can find many things here. We should definitely look around to see if there is anything." Corporal Pyke said with a smile on his face.
What he said was really the truth. Even though it was in the Black Plain, this city had many merchants from the Brown Kingdom and Stone Island. So, there was a lot of business there, but not only that, but the big families of these two states also passed through this place when they went from one region to another. So, there were many opportunities here.
Arriving at the pier, the group of Minos was soon attended to by a uniformed young woman. "Welcome to the pier of the Maritime City. Are you looking for a boat to go to Stone Island?"
Minos then replied. "Hmm, I would like to rent a boat for Stone Island."
The young woman then explained. "Well, we have two types of options for this service."
"First, it is a boat without a crew, which costs 2,000 crystals for a group like yours."
"The second is to rent a boat with a crew, which would cost 5,000 crystals. I recommend that you choose the second option if it is your first time traveling by boat from here to Stone Island." Said the young woman with a sincere expression on her face.
"I understand. We will take the second option."
After paying for the boat's booking with a crew to travel in two days, Minos and his group proceeded towards the center of the city where they would stay.
…
On the street, while Minos went with some of his soldiers to a restaurant near the hotel where they were staying, two people passed by talking loudly.
"Believe me, Bill, I heard that a grade-2, low-grade, sword is going to be sold at the auction that will take place tomorrow." Said a muscular man with long hair.
"Mick, even on Stone Island, there are few places that can sell grade-2 weapons, let alone our city..."
"This must be a rumor that Chief Ryan, from the Ocean Market, dropped to attract people to the monthly auction." Replied a middle-aged man who had a large sword on his back.
When he heard that, Minos soon became interested in this auction that will take place at the Ocean Market the next day.
After all, he himself had a high-level sword technique, but he did not have an adequate weapon. His current sword was a grade-1, medium-level, which he had obtained in the Dry City.
As for the weapons of the inheritance that Minos had received, they were all grade-3 and grade-4! He simply had no power to use a weapon of this level.
And although Minos is at level 33, and a grade-2 weapon requires their user to be at least level 40, he could use weapons that required up more levels at this point due to the Indestructible Body technique.
This was because the technique made Minos' body much stronger and more resilient during the 10 seconds of duration. And in that time, his defense would be impenetrable for those up to 100% stronger than him.
To give you an idea, level 40 had exactly twice as much energy as someone at level 35. However, due to Minos Physique's innate ability, he would achieve the equivalent energy of level 35 at level 34!
That way, the young Stuart had to go up just one more level to be able to use a grade-2, low-grade weapon!
Of course, he could also only use a weapon of this classification for the time of 10 seconds that the technique gave. And considering his strength, Minos would also need to activate the Devouring Art not to exhaust himself completely. But for him, a grade-2 sword would definitely be worth it, even if he has to fulfill so many requirements.
…
On the other side of the city, a group of three people was around a young man with blond hair. On his clothes was the symbol of a silver eagle. These people were members of the Silva family!
"Young master, are you sure you want to stay here another day just for that rumor?" Asked one of the three men, who seemed doubtful about such a story.
"Protector Philip, as you know, I will participate in the Spiritual Tournament in 7 months, so if I have a grade-2 weapon, I can have a good advantage in the competition." Said the young man with blond hair.
This was Darell Silva, the youngest son of the Silva family's master. He was at level 38, had a Black talent, and was 17 at the present time.
But even though he was at level 38, Darell was confident that he could reach level 39 during the tournament and also be able to use a grade-2 weapon.
"This is a great opportunity for me. Even for our Silva family, it is not easy to obtain a weapon of this grade. And even if we did, we would have to spend hundreds of medium-grade spiritual crystals to buy one."
In the Silva family, weapons of such a degree were given only to those Spiritual Kings and some high-ranking members of the 5th stage of cultivation.
And despite being the son of the master of the sect, Darell would still take a long time before his father gave him a weapon of that level. After all, his family had a limited number of weapons at that level, just 20!
"That's true…" Protector Philip sighed in lament.
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Chapter 22: Auction
A day passed quickly, and a beautiful sunset could be seen in the city while the auction slowly approached.
Minos was standing with some of his guards in front of a large building in the central part of the Maritime City. It was a massive building with a luxurious decoration that would make anyone think that it was in the capital of the kingdom and not in this desolate region of the Black Plain.
There was a lot of movement in front of the Ocean Market. Most of them were concentrated at the main entrance of the place. But there was a second entrance a few meters away, where from time to time, very well-dressed and escorted people passed. That was the VIP entrance.
At that moment, Pyke started to speak with a serious look. "Young master, I just found out that there are two ways to enter this auction."
"The first is paying a fee of 1,000 low-grade crystals to enter the common section of the auction. That part corresponds to this place." Pyke pointed to the long line while talking to Minos.
"The second section is generally used by people from large families in the Brown Kingdom or those who intend to do big business in the auction. This is the VIP section. In it, the identity of those inside the room is kept confidential during the entire auction, and each VIP room has an exclusive outlet."
"To enter it, it is necessary to make a deposit of 200 medium-grade crystals that must be spent during the auction. If the person does not spend the deposited amount, then he will not be able to recover his crystals."
"Of course, members of the big families in the kingdom do not have to pay this deposit." Pyke finished.
"Hm, I understand. We will pay that deposit, then. It is better not to take unnecessary risks. If the grade-2 sword is being sold, then I will buy it for sure." Said Minos with a resolute expression.
Then, Corporal Pyke made the deposit at the Oceanic Market and got the VIP identification. After that, they entered the building through the VIP entrance.
"Sir, can I see your identification?" Asked a young attendant with a smile on her face.
After showing the identification to the attendant, she spoke. "Please, I will take you to your room."
Then, Minos was accommodated in a large room with sofas, drinks, and snacks. There was a large glass that overlooked the auction stage and also a concealment array.
It didn't take long before the common area was completely full. It was almost time for the auction to start when the luminous arrays were finally extinguished, leaving only part of the stage illuminated.
Time passed, and soon a middle-aged man took the stage. He was very well-dressed, with a luxurious suit that matched with his full beard and short hair.
Minos and his group did not know, but this person was already at level 49, the limit of the General Spiritual stage. But many eyes in the audience recognized the man's strength and were already shaking with excitement. Such a person as an auctioneer, this could only mean that, in fact, there was a big 'item' being auctioned at this time!
"Good night, everyone, and welcome to the Oceanic Market, I think everyone is already impatient to start, so I won't waste much time."
"Today, we have some high-level items for our region, so prepare your crystals! Hehehe, as for the number of objects auctioned, today we have only 10."
He then clapped his hands and said. "I announce that the monthly auction of the Oceanic Market is open!"
Soon after, lights focused on an 'item' that was already on stage in a place previously prepared. It was aged black parchment.
"To begin with, this is a specialized technique in moving, classified as Black-grade and with 4 phases. It is called Floating Steps and can cause the user to triple his speed within a 20-second interval in the initial phase. That value can be increased exponentially in the following phases."
"The initial bid for the technique is 5,000 low-grade crystals, with a minimum increase of 100 crystals."
"5,500," said someone at the moment the auctioneer had just finished speaking.
'Hm, I don't have any moving techniques in this classification to make available to the soldiers of the Black Plain Army.' Minos thought reflexively.
He did not want to distribute his Silver or Golden-grade techniques to people he did not trust or had not made large contributions to. That is why he had planned to give Black-grade techniques to those who entered his forces.
Only with their own merit could those soldiers obtain the best techniques. This was a measure to prevent Minos' future enemies from stealing techniques from him!
At this point, the bid for the technique had already reached 7,200 when Minos made his bid.
"8,000"
After that, there was a momentary silence in the hall. This was a good technique, but paying more than eight thousand was already a lot for a moving technique of this grade.
"The lord in room 3 made a bid of 8,000, does anyone else?" Asked the auctioneer.
Finally, the auctioneer sold Floating Steps to Minos. Then, an attendant went to the stage and took the technician to the VIP room where Minos' group was.
"Next, we will have a spiritual shield-type armor that can withstand an attack with all the power of someone at level 40. It was produced by an experienced blacksmith from Stone Island who is at the height of grade-1, high-level." The auctioneer pointed to a suit of armor that looked like a large metallic robe.
"The starting bid is 3,000 low-grade crystals, with a minimum increase of 100."
"3,200"
"3,600"
The bidding continued for a while until the armor was sold for 5,800 crystals. Minos made no move, as he already had his Indestructible Body, which could defend against someone's attacks at level 39 and would continue to improve in a short time.
Time passed, and two other items were sold. One was a grade-1, high-level, war hammer, which was sold for 7,000 crystals, and the other was a grade-1, medium-level, spiritual meeting array, which was auctioned for 11,000 low-grade crystals.
"The next 'item' is a map that, according to our studies, appears to be from a period of more than 100,000 years ago. From the items represented on the map and the assessment of the highest level expert on the subject within the Cromwell Kingdom, this map refers to a high-level region in the south of the Central Continent."
"As many of you may know, today, in the southern region of our continent, there is only one empire and one kingdom. However, this is considered to be the strongest region, with several experts who have reached level 100 in the past. So, this map can take you to a precious place if you have the courage to take a chance."
"Perhaps even you can enter a Spatial Kingdom!"
After saying that, everyone was absolutely silent. Going to such a strong place was a chance for anyone, but immense dangers would also accompany any opportunity that came.
"Interesting, maybe I will visit the south of the continent when I am chosen by one of the sects of the Flaming Empire." Said the young master of the Silva family in his private room.
"Young master, this is very dangerous. Even Spiritual Emperors are common in the south of the continent." Alerted the protector Philip.
The auctioneer then continued. "As there is a chance that the map will not lead to any great treasure, the Ocean Market has evaluated this' item 'at 5,000 crystals, with a minimum increase of 500 low-grade crystals."
Soon after, offers were made.
"5,500"
"6,000"
"6,500"
"7,000"
"10,000" The young Darell made a big move at once.
"10,000, for the gentleman in room 5, does anyone give more?" The auctioneer asked as he looked in the direction of the eight special rooms.
"Very well! The map will be sold for 10,000 to the lord of room 5."
The auction continued for a while, but no 'item' caught the attention of Minos or the young master of the Silva family. The most expensive was sold at 7,000 crystals and the cheapest at 5,000.
When the ninth 'item' was finally auctioned off, a sword was slowly lit on the stage. It was about 1 meter long, with a spiral symbol on the snitch and a four-leaf clover-like handguard. The auctioneer continued with his expressionless face when he announced.
"The last' item 'of our auction is something that has been generating rumors in our city recently. And in fact, these rumors were true, this is a grade-2, low-level, spiritual sword, which was forged by a great blacksmith from the Kingdom of the Waves, and it will be auctioned now."
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Chapter 23: The End of the Auction
When the auctioneer started talking, all the spaces in the Oceanic Market were silenced. At that moment, one could even hear a needle fall to the ground. Everyone was so focused on this sword that no one dared to say anything before the auctioneer.
In room number 5, the young Darell was smiling from ear to ear. He thought to himself. 'Hehehe, this sword will be mine. Nobody in this place can compete with my Silva family!'
The auctioneer then proceeded with his presentation. "As most people know, grade-2, low-grade, weapon requires a minimum level to use. For this sword, the lowest level you should have is 40. Below that, it would be of no use to you."
"And even if you have the minimum level required, under normal conditions, it is complicated for someone to get their hands on weapons like this in our kingdom."
This was a fact for the northern region of the Central Continent, where the powers were at most at level 59. This was a limiter, as for a blacksmith to develop a grade-2 weapon, they would have to be between levels 40 and 59.
As for the level of the weapon in grade-2, the blacksmith would have to be between levels 40 and 48 to forge one of low-level. For a medium-level, they would have to be between levels 49 and 55. And remaining high-level weapons, which required someone with minimum spiritual energy equivalent to a Spiritual King, from levels 56 to 59.
This uneven differentiation between these classifications was related to the amount of energy that the blacksmith could handle. Therefore, the higher the level of the weapon, the greater the energy that would be needed during the forging.
That was why it was difficult to have many grade-2 weapons being sold around, as in this auction made by the Oceanic Market. The number of grade-2, low-level, blacksmiths was not small, but they sold their weapons to a number of hundreds of times higher than theirs!
And as for those blacksmiths of grade-2, medium-level, they were still fewer numbers. As for the last step… Their number would not exceed 15 in the entire northern region of the Central Continent!
Because of all this, having a grade-2 weapon was something that most cultivators of the General Spiritual stage could only hope for. Even Spiritual Kings had to be content, in many cases, with a grade-2, low-grade, weapons because there weren't many better than that on the market.
As for the big families generally had one or two high-level weapons, while most would be low-level.
The reason why Minos did not inherit any grade-2 weapons from his father, this was because Albert Stuart was a subordinate of the royal family. And as such, when Albert passed away, the Brown family collected his spiritual weapon.
"Well, we're not going to mess around too much. The former owner of this weapon decided to dispose of it for his own reasons. However, we make sure that it is in good condition."
"As for its minimum bid, the previous owner demanded that trading be done with medium-grade crystals. Therefore, the initial price will be 200 crystals, with a minimum increase of 20 crystals." Said the auctioneer, while he had his arms behind his back, with an expressionless face.
Soon after, someone made the initial move. "220."
"240."
"300." The young master of the Silva family shouted loudly.
"320." Minos then made his first move.
"340." Young Darell said while having a nervous expression on his face. He couldn't believe he had someone with as many medium-grade crystals as he did.
However, he only had a total of 400 crystals of that level! Minos then said calmly. "360."
Darell Silva then couldn't take it anymore when he said it. "380! Friend, I am the young master of the Silva family, so give me a face here."
Soon after that, many people started to argue in the common area of ??the hall.
"Wow, I never thought that someone of such status would be here today." Someone said surprisingly.
"Hmph, what a despicable thing, he uses his family's status to get the sword." Said another person, disdainful.
"He is only doing what he can to get such a weapon. If I were in his place, then I would do the same." Said a young man in the middle of the group.
While everyone was discussing the presence of the young master of the Silva family, Minos was as calm as before while he was thinking. 'Oh! The young master of the Silva family, you say… I don't give a damn.'
When many were beginning to think that the auction would end this way, Minos then spoke coolly.
"400!"
Everyone in the hall was silent after that.
"Is he really going to challenge the Silva family?" Someone asked in disbelief.
"Perhaps he is a member of a power as big as the Silva family..."
When Darell heard Minos' bid, he nearly vomited blood. 'Who is this bastard?' He thought to himself.
"It seems that this young master doesn't care about that at all. Can you at least tell me what strength is behind you?" Asked the young master Silva.
'Hmph, if you are a nobody, then I will just kill you and take that sword by force.' He thought with an evil look on his face.
While everyone was thinking about the possible response of the big shot in room 3, not a word was heard. Minos completely ignored this member of the Silva family.
'Tell you where I come from? Do you think I'm stupid? 'Minos thought to himself with a smirk on his face.
After a while of such silence, the auctioneer ignored the fact that the young Darell was left in a vacuum and then said. "Any other move higher than that of the gentleman in room 3?"
At this point, Darell Silva was steaming with rage when he said to protector Philip with a grotesque expression. "Find out who that person is as soon as possible!"
"Well, since there are no more offers, the 'item' will be sold for 400 medium-grade crystals to the gentleman in room 3." Said the auctioneer with the same empty expression as before.
After that, a young receptionist at the auction took the sword that was placed in a metal box to Minos' office.
"Okay, that's it for this time. The Ocean Market expects guests to come back whenever possible. In one month, we will have a new round of auctioned items."
He then sighed and said. "The auction is officially over!"
Inside room number 3.
"Young master, disregarding that member of the Silva family can be very problematic for us." He alerted Corporal Pyke with a concerned face.
"Don't worry about this now. Even if he finds out who I am, he is likely to think that I spent all my inheritance from my father on that sword. "
"Therefore, this person should not involve the top echelons of the Silva family. He'll probably want to act on his own and take the sword after he kills me. This must be the most likely course of action for him. "
"But with the protection given by the Oceanic Market and the fact that we are going to the Stone Island at dawn, even if he finds out, it will only happen when we are far away from here," Minos said with a smile on his face.
"And even if he follows us to the Stone Island, I am still confident that we will emerge victoriously."
After hearing this, the soldiers who were with Minos sighed in relief. They were not like their young master. They did not like fights and exciting things.
After that, the sword of grade-2 was finally delivered through a special space that was on each door of the VIP rooms. This was a mechanism to avoid the contact of the low-ranking employees of the Ocean Market with the special customers.
This is because these groups were often more vulnerable to passing on inside information. With measures like this, the Ocean Market would, at least, somewhat hinder the criminal actions that could occur after a valuable 'item' is sold.
After checking the sword for a moment, Minos kept it in his spatial ring and led the group out of the large building where the auction was held.
After leaving the building by an exclusive exit, Minos and his group walked for some time until they reached the hotel where they were staying. They would stay for a few more hours and then begin the maritime part of their journey to Stone Island!
…
While the group did this, there were three people in a certain hotel on the other side of the city. There were two protectors and the young master of the Silva family.
'Shit, shit, shit.' Darell was furious at what happened at the auction. He had missed a golden chance of getting an important weapon for his future plans.
"Young master, don't worry too much now. Philip will find out about that person's past soon. When this happens, we can act." Said a strong and tall man, who was dressed in silver armor.
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Chapter 24: Boat Trip
The sun was shining on the horizon as the day slowly set in. There was a medium-sized boat traveling northwest of the Black Plain region. This boat was very well looked, and although it was not luxurious, it had the basics to accommodate a group of fewer than 15 people and was very clean.
At that moment, its was sailing calmly, while the sea had a calm and beautiful appearance. The water was crystal, clear to the point of seeing a few meters of depth. Anyone could see several fish coming and going. The noise of some seagulls could also be heard in the distance.
There were 14 people on the boat. These were the group of Minos, plus the boat crew in question. They had left the Maritime City very early, even before sunrise.
For this part of the trip to Stone Island, Minos and his group would have to spend 3 days traveling on that boat. This was a long-distance, and they didn't have the most powerful boat available.
However, this was not a problem for Minos, but perhaps it was for some of his guards… Some of the group were traveling by boat for the first time and were very sensitive. Even for this small stretch with calm waters, some of them were already feeling sick.
Of course, if their level had reached the General Spiritual stage, none of this would have happened. That's because being able to use free energy in nature improved your senses to the point where you could ignore certain sensations around you.
But it was a pity that none of them reached this level, despite the small distance from the current cultivation of each of them. However, this would be resolved when they arrive at Stone Island.
Minos planned to buy several spiritual pills, which could help his subordinates to level up. With that, at least on the way back from the trip, they wouldn't have this problem…
At that moment, a young woman dressed in a cook's uniform and with a decent appearance was bringing some delicacies and drinks for Minos to try.
"Young master, try this meal that I prepared." Said the young woman in a lovely voice.
There were several sliced fruits on the plates placed on a table, some pasta that looked like different types of bread with jars of jam and pasta on the side. There were also two different types of juices.
"Oh! It looks delicious." Minos exclaimed in surprise.
Although he paid a good amount of crystals for this trip, he did not expect much from the services offered. So, he was surprised to see such quality.
Crunch!
"Hmmm, this is very good. Can I know what you are called?" Minos asked as he savored his meal.
"This humble one is called Wendi, young master." She answered.
"So Wendi, do you know where these products come from?" Minos asked curiously.
He, of course, was interested in knowing where these items came from, which had a decent amount of spiritual energy.
"I'm not sure, but I believe its came from the Cromwell Kingdom, as its have a great spiritual quality." Replied Wendi.
"Oh! I understand…"
"By the way, are you from the Maritime City or somewhere on Stone Island?" Minos asked with a smile on his face.
Anyone who saw how he was talking to this girl would think he was interested in her, but that was not the case. Despite being a young man who had his interests, Minos had many commitments and had not yet been involved with anyone.
And although he was not against the idea of ??having more than one woman or having casual relationships, he is not yet looking to have relationships with someone he has just met. So, he was not trying to get this girl to bed but trying to learn something from her.
"I am from Maritime City, young master."
"Hmm, how is your life over there? Any major problems that ordinary people often face?" Minos asked curiously.
"Nothing critical, just the usual. Although the city is within the Black Plain, it still has a better spiritual concentration than the surroundings."
"It is also not easy to go to other places when you don't have a high talent. But despite paying a higher tax, living in the Maritime City still creates many opportunities for those who are from this region, and there is also nothing much better where we can go here." She said sincerely.
"I see…" Minos said thoughtfully.
"Why does the young master ask about this?" She asked curiously.
"Curiosity… I heard that there was a place around here by the Black Plain, which had good opportunities for people with less talent," Minos spoke vaguely.
"You should be looking for such a place within 1 year. Maybe you have an opportunity to improve your life."
After hearing this, the young woman returned to the kitchen inside the boat. She did not understand this young master very well.
There was nowhere like what this young master had said as far as she knew. Apart from the Maritime City, there was nowhere with opportunities within thousands of kilometers.
…
While Minos and his group traveled slowly to Stone Island, there were 3 people around a well-dressed young man in a hotel in the Maritime City.
Three of them were standing on the balcony of the room they were in while the young man was sitting in a chair. The young man was eating calmly while the three people around him were giving him the important information he needed to know.
"Young master, I discovered the identity of that person who bought the grade-2, low-grade, sword at yesterday's auction."
"And to my surprise, he is someone that the young master already knows." Protector Philip said with a smile on his face.
"Oh! What big family is he from? Maybe from the Miller family?" Asked the young Darell.
"No, hehe, actually, that someone has no support."
"He is the brat of former General Albert Stuart!"
Gulp!
"How can it be? How could this guy get in my way? Isn't he afraid of dying for offending someone he can't?" Darell started to speak as he grew more and more irritated.
He could hardly believe that the person who made him lose his face the night before was that ant! Such a worm spent an incredible 6 years in an unconscious state while losing the best time for cultivation! The young Darell was increasingly irritated by this.
"That worm must have spent his father's entire inheritance on buying that sword. But, why would he do that?" Darell asked out loud.
"He should hardly have started cultivating. Even if he were a genius at first, it would take a few years before he could use such a sword."
"Hehe, maybe he is being used by someone. From what I heard, there were 10 other people in his group. But none of them had the profile of the butler Dillian. Maybe he was kidnapped or something."
"Regardless, I knew that the strongest one is not even at level 40. So, picking up this sword will be like taking candy from a child, hehehe." Said the protector Philip with an evil smile on his face.
Philip was confident of being able to destroy the group of Minos easily. After all, there were three Spiritual Generals in his group, at levels 41, 42, and 43, counting on him.
And even if the opponent's numbers were higher and that gave them an advantage when they combined their power against each of the protectors, there was still the fact that the three protectors of the Silva family had one more technique than the enemies, due to the fact they are in a stage of higher cultivation.
The number of techniques could be a great advantage in a fight, which could turn the result!
As for Minos, he did not care for such a person. Even if he had started to cultivate the moment he woke up, he should not have been above level 19...
"That's right, haha. It makes things easier for me. Not only did I not spend my precious medium-grade crystals, but I can also get this grade-2 sword, for free and very easily." Darell now had a dazzling smile on his face. "Where is him now?" The young master Silva asked anxiously.
The protector Philip then said. "He and his group left the Maritime City earlier today. They were going to Stone Island. Tsh, they know how to get away…"
"This is not bad at all. I was already going there. We go immediately. As soon as we get there, we have to hunt and kill that idiot and the group with him."
"Hehe, now I will have the sword of grade-2, and I can still get a spiritual pill to level up. It seems that I will do very well in the Spiritual Tournament." Darell spoke with great anticipation.
After saying this, Darell Silva and his three protectors left the hotel and headed towards the port of Maritime City. They would start following in Minos' footsteps from then on!
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Chapter 25: Shocking Changes
Two days passed quickly when a young woman was approaching the Dry City. She used a spiritual beast in the 4th stage of cultivation, which looked like a great eagle. It was completely white, over 2 meters high, and had a sharp beak that was completely yellow.
The young woman had beautiful black hair, a graceful face, and a sensual body, which would make any ordinary person lose their attention for a moment. She was also very well-dressed, with a long green dress and a white hat on her head.
When she was finally supposed to be seeing the Dry City in front of her, she was slowly beginning to see a strange landscape. There was a large part of the territory covered in green. Clearly, there were many cultures growing in these areas.
The place of these cultures was not that large in area, but it would be enough for anyone to notice such a thing. This made this young woman doubt for a moment whether she was really on the Black Plain and, specifically, close to the Dry City.
That's because when she came to this place just over 13 months ago, there was no such thing! She was very confused by this, but she decided to go ahead and ask the questions that she had in a second moment.
She slowly descended from the south side of the city, leaving her great eagle in an open place, following her journey on foot through the city. As she walked down the street, she quickly got lost and didn't know where to go. The place was completely different!
She hadn't seen so many buildings in this city when she came here before! 'How can this place have changed so much in such a short time?' She thought with a shocked expression on her face.
And really, the change that the Dry City has undergone in the last year has been simply amazing. Now, the area size of the city had decreased by almost two-thirds, but the little more than one-third of the original area remaining was flourishing in the best possible way!
This was due to the 4 spiritual arrays of grade-1, high-level, installed near the city's central region. As a result, the regions affected by the arrays soon underwent a major change.
The empty grounds were filled with new homes, buildings, and those old buildings that were improved and expanded to accommodate a larger number of people. Meanwhile, the rest of the city has been emptied and completely destroyed.
And all of this was done following Minos' planning for the city. So, there was a very nice look to the city now. It didn't look like a huddle that grew uncontrollably, but it seemed well-planned and had a feeling of convenience and comfort.
If looked from above, the city's shape would look like 4 large circles that intersected near Minos' mansion. There were also a considerable amount of trees on the streets that made you forget that you were in the poor lands of the Black Plain.
'Ahhh' The young woman let out a slight cry of surprise, but luckily no one heard her. The reason for such a cry was that she realized that the amount of spiritual energy around the city was at least 50% greater than when she came here last time.
'How did this happen? I thought this place had a spiritual root that sucked out a lot of the free energy in heaven and earth. How did they solve this problem?' She thought to herself as she continued to walk around the city.
She finally managed to find the mansion in the middle of the city after asking for directions from people on the streets.
But seeing the mansion also surprised her. The place was at least 3 times bigger than before. There were also a lot of people coming and going, wearing the same type of uniform.
In front of the mansion, there was a lush garden with a fountain in the middle. In the background, the building with 4 floors and many windows could be seen. Although not overly luxurious, it was well done.
There weren't many spiritual arrays in it since Minos still needed to bring array masters to the Dry City, but there were some that belonged to the building before modernization.
Anyway, the young woman slowly entered the building, while her mouth was open in shock at everything she saw.
She finally returned to normal after hearing someone speak to her. "Welcome to the local government. How can I help you." Said Secretary Mia, who was at the reception, next to Minos's office.
"Hmm, I would like to see Minos Stuart." Said the young woman quickly.
"I'm sorry to inform you, but the young master is not in the Dry City at this moment," Mia replied sincerely.
"Isn't he? And where would he go?"
Mia then replied nonchalantly. "I can't report this."
"You can not? So who's in charge here? Let me talk to him. I am here at the behest of your young master's mother." Said the young woman impatiently.
She was the disciple of Minos' mother, Ruth Miles, who had come with Maisie the last time. With the time that passed, she was already at level 45, and after leaving her last training, she had decided to come to fulfill the mission that her teacher had passed.
"Oh! So, it was you. Butler Dillian is in charge now. Come with me."
A while later, they headed for Minos' office, where Dillian was at the moment.
Dillian was dispatching a soldier when the office door opened, and Mia and young Ruth entered.
"Butler Dillian, this lady is here because of the young master's mother." Mia said quickly before leaving the room.
"So you're here at the behest of Mrs. Maisie. Can you tell me the reason for your visit?" Dillian asked with a smile on his face.
"My master gave me the mission to come here, after a year and a half from when we last came here, but as I finished my recent training earlier, I decided to come just before this time."
"She had ordered me to find her son after that time to assess his level. If he had reached the 4th stage of cultivation, I should talk about the Spiritual Tournament, which will take place in 7 months in the Cromwell Kingdom, and then accompany him there if he decided to participate in this competition."
"Hm, I see, Mrs. Maisie wants the young master to fight with the younger generation to understand a little of the world." Said Dillian as he held his hands behind his back.
"I really think it might be a good idea, but the young master is on his way to Stone Island. And I don't know when he comes back. It could take a few weeks."
"Stone island? Why did he go there?" Ruth asked curiously.
Butler Dillian said vaguely. "As a leader, the young master has his responsibilities."
"But if you want to go after him, then you must look for someone named Elen Nash. The young master must meet with her when he arrives at the Stone Island."
"I understand... In fact, how has this place changed so much in such a short time?" Ruth asked with a curious look on her face.
"Haha, you must be very curious, huh? I will not go into details, but when the young master said that he did not need Mrs. Maisie's help, how can I say… He was not kidding." Dillian said as he had a big proud smile on his face.
Seeing and hearing this, Ruth didn't know what to say while she was thinking to herself. 'Where does all this confidence come from? Even though this place has improved a lot, it still doesn't give you the right to say that you don't need the help of a sect like ours.'
After a while, she finally spoke. "Hehe, it seems that you are very confident in your young master."
The butler Dillian just smiled but said nothing. He didn't need to talk about Minos' secrets, just because the other side was not an enemy! Even if she were the mother of his young master, he still wouldn't say anything!
When she saw that her poll was unsuccessful, Ruth just sighed in disappointment. She was really curious about these people. Not only did butler Dillian seem to trust this Minos Stuart blindly, but so did the other people in this place.
Even the last time she came here, people looked at Minos as if he were a savior!
'Never mind. When I accompany him to the Spiritual Tournament, maybe I will understand this.' Ruth thought to herself.
"Well, since my master's son isn't here, then I'll go to Stone Island... Until later." Ruth said goodbye and went quickly towards the south side of the city, where she had left her spiritual beast.
…
Meanwhile, the boat on which Minos was traveling was rapidly approaching Stone Island. A glimpse of the island could already be seen on the horizon. Minos was enjoying the view of the sea in front of him as he thought with a smile on his face. 'Stone Island, huh. I want to see what you can offer me.'
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Chapter 26: Stone Island
Quickly the silhouette of Stone Island could be seen on the horizon. However, due to the enormous size of the island, which was about twice as large as the Brown Kingdom, only a part of the territory could be seen.
Stone Island was a place not only large in area but also in population. Due to its huge mineral reserves, the island had many blacksmiths, which also attracted the attention of the common population, who needed the weapons made by those blacksmiths.
Allied to this, the island had a spiritual density that was on par with the best places in the north of the Central Continent. For this reason, there was a large population that exceeded 200 million inhabitants.
And with such a population, even if spiritual plants did not grow on the island, there were still numerous alchemists and array masters due to the high demand. It was worthwhile for them to live on Stone Island, even if they had to import part of the resources necessary for their activities, as there was a great demand for their services.
However, despite having a good offer for these two types of occupations, the items sold on the island by array masters and alchemists were still limited to grade-2, low-level.
This is because, for specialists above that level, it would be increasingly disadvantageous to stay on Stone Island, where they would have to import much of what they needed. Thus, those who managed to pass this classification, they preferred to live close to places where they could grow their own medicines.
These were the cases of kingdoms near the Black Plain, such as the Cromwell Kingdom, Kingdom of the Waves, and even the Brown Kingdom. There was a good supply of resources needed for these two professions in these places.
As for why Minos was not going to negotiate in one of these places, well… This is because the items sold by him would be more attractive on Stone Island and would also attract fewer problems if the deals were done there.
Even if he were to become a competitor to the Cromwell Kingdom in the future, it would still take a long time for him to affect that kingdom's relations with Stone Island. And as for the Brown Kingdom, Minos did not want the noble families to know that the Black Plain had been recovered and could yield large quantities of crystals.
And he didn't have to worry about being discovered because someone who passed through the Dry City said something to the kingdom's noble families.
This is because, in addition to traders who appreciated information even from poor places, no one of importance would pass through the Dry City, even if they needed to pass through the Black Plain, they would rather camp than enter that city, which could not even offer the same quality that your makeshift camps…
As for traders, most of those who passed through the Dry City were traders from other kingdoms or smaller merchants who had no influence. So, Minos could be sure that, as long as he did not do business within the Brown Kingdom, then it would take a long time for the noble families to notice the change in the Black Plain region.
Anyway, Stone Island was the best option for Minos, and he had also already made an agreement with the merchant Elen Nash.
Slowly the boat in which young Stuart's group was on began to approach a large port. There were dozens of boats moored on a long pier and also a few ships in another location a few kilometers away. It was really a huge place with a lot of people moving.
At the bottom of the port, a large city could be seen that was at least 5 times larger than the Maritime City, from which Minos had passed.
This was the city of Portland, one of the four major port cities on Stone Island. The city was the main trade route between the Brown Kingdom and Stone Island due to the shorter distance of this region with the Maritime City.
Minos' group said goodbye to the crew that had brought them here and then headed for the port. At that point, there were numerous guards who regulated the entry of people to Stone Island.
At this moment, Minos' group was stopped by a guard, and then he started talking. "Welcome to Stone Island. To enter our territory, you have to pay a fee of 500 low-grade crystals per person."
"Hmm, here it is, 5,500 crystals," Minos said while paying the guard after hearing this.
"Okay, your group can come in." Replied the guard indifferently.
After that, the group of Minos left the port and rented 3 carriages. At that moment, the driver of the first carriage said. "Where are we going, gentlemen?"
"This is our first time here. Take us to a good hotel. " Minos said calmly. He did not know this place, but he would stay in this city for a few days until he went to the Nash family headquarters, where he would meet with Elen Nash.
The Nash family lived mainly in the capital of Stone Island, which was in the island's central region. Minos had obtained this information from the butler Dillian before leaving the Dry City.
However, Minos wanted to know what this port city had to offer before leaving. This is because, despite not being the capital of Stone Island, Portland still had many businesses available. In addition, Minos wanted to find blacksmiths, alchemists, and array masters to bring to the Black Plain. As it would be more difficult to convince someone from the capital, he wanted to start here.
So, even if he didn't do big business here, he might still be able to attract some of these professionals.
As for business in the capital, this would be about selling Minos items through Elen, and it would also be a place that would have a greater offer and better resources for the Black Plain.
In the little more than a year that he had spent, Minos had collected just over 500,000 crystals, the ones he planned to spend on this visit to Stone Island. That way, he was well-prepared to get items that would leverage the strength of his territory!
"Oh! So, it's your group's first time around here. Are you traders who came to do business on the island?" Asked the coachman, with a curious expression on his face.
"That's right. We came to do business on the island." Minos said calmly.
"I understand. Many people like you arrive here daily. I'm going to give you a hint, although Portland doesn't have the highest level items on Stone Island, there's still a lot of good stuff." Said the coachman sincerely.
Minos then asked. "Can you tell me a little bit about it?"
"Haha, of course! Although the best specialists from the three professions are in the capital, there are many alchemists and array masters in our city."
"This is because it is easier and faster to obtain imported resources in port cities. Also, the capital already has its demand met almost entirely by the specialists there."
"So, many of these professionals are spread out in places like Portland. I venture to say that in addition to the capital, only the port cities have a great offer of the products sold by these specialists." The coachman finished.
"Hmm, thanks for the information."
After a while, Minos' group arrived at a hotel in the central part of the city. It was a large building, with 6 floors and a glass front.
This was the Hotel Olson, a high-end hotel that belonged to one of the great noble families on Stone Island, the Olson family. The Hotel Olson chain spread across all the island's major cities and provided one of the best hotel services in the region.
Minos and his group had slowly entered the hotel. It was excellent. Several types of special arrays improved the atmosphere of the hotel.
For example, there were many light arrays and others that controlled the environment's temperature. There were also two large elevators that operated through arrays as well.
Then, a well-dressed attendant answered them. "Welcome to the Hotel Olson. How long will your group stay at the hotel?"
"Hello, we are staying for a week," Minos answered the attendant's question.
"We have 3 types of rooms in our hotel. The simple type would cost 500 crystals per week each. The intermediary costs 800 crystals per week, and the high-level one would cost 1,200 crystals per week each." Said the young attendant politely.
"We are going to have five simple rooms and one intermediate." Minos then took the required amount of crystals and gave the attendant.
After a few minutes, the entire group of Minos was already accommodated in their rooms. As he watched the city landscape through his bedroom window, Minos began to think about what he would do next.
'Today, I have to get some pills for these soldiers who are with me to advance, they have already accumulated the amount of energy needed to go up, but because of their blue-level talents, they cannot overcome this bottleneck without outside help. And as for that young master of the Silva family, he must come after me soon…'
'He should be here in no more than a day. After that, he shouldn't be long in finding me.' Minos thought to himself as he calculated his next actions.
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Chapter 27: Guild of Alchemy
A few hours passed, and Minos decided to go out and see if he could find the grade-1, high-grade, spiritual pills for his ten soldiers.
Through the Hotel Olson, Minos had discovered that there was an alchemy guild in the city of Portland, where he could get in touch with many alchemists.
Walking through the streets of Portland, Minos could see many things that were missing in the Dry City. There were many upscale restaurants, stores specializing in the maintenance and sale of spiritual weapons, and a few stores that sold low-level arrays normally used in people's homes.
Although it does not require a large amount of resources or high-level professionals, practical arrays that facilitated people's daily lives generated a good income. However, there were none of these in the Dry City since there were no array masters there. Of course, there were no alchemists or blacksmiths there either.
The landscape of the city was also magnificent. There were many spiritual trees everywhere. There were some squares too, which gave you a feeling of being close to nature.
As for spiritual density, Minos couldn't feel it unless he started cultivating. But he was sure this place was as good as the capital of the Brown Kingdom, the City of the Setting Sun.
After walking for a few minutes, Minos finally caught sight of a rectangular building, from which an intense medicinal smell emanated. It was the alchemist guild of the city of Portland!
This was a very busy place. There were a lot of people coming and going. Minos slowly entered the building as he saw a crowd around a counter near the entrance. A young man was selling several bottles of spiritual pills in that place.
Minos then stopped at the side of the line and asked a young man, who was waiting for his turn. "Friend, can you tell me what this line is for?"
The young man then looked at Minos and frowned as he said. "You do not know? Maybe you're new here. This front desk is selling grade-1, medium-level, pills at half the normal price."
"Half-price? Is this normal around here?" Minos asked in curiosity. It is clear that these pills would not be very useful for him since they could not help people reach the 5th stage of cultivation, but even so, he was curious.
"It is not normal. It looks like this alchemist is going to take an exam to move to the next level, so he's collecting crystals." Said the young man with a serious face.
"Oh! I see… I have a question, where can I find alchemists of grade-1, high-level, here in this place?" Minos asked with a smile on his face.
The young man looked at him with a surprised expression on his face. He then said. "You can find alchemists at this level upstairs."
"OK, thanks for the help." Minos then said goodbye and went to the next floor. Once there, the medicinal fragrance in the air was even stronger than in the place where Minos had passed. There were about a little more than ten benches on that floor, with slightly less movement as well. This floor looked like a large square with benches in the middle and a few rooms on the sides.
Minos then approached a bench where there was less movement and asked the person who was there. "Hello, do you have any spiritual pills to advance to the General Spiritual stage?"
The person who was there was a middle-aged man who was wearing a big white robe. At the counter, the man looked at Minos for a second and then spoke. "I have two pills to advance to the 5th stage. Each one costs 1,500 crystals. With these pills, as long as the user has already gathered the amount of energy needed to reach the level 40, then that person would only need a few hours to break to the next level after consuming them."
After saying this, he showed Minos the flasks to find out. In that world, one person could tell the degree of quality of a pill by the fragrance, and the richer it was, the better the pill's effects would be.
But not everyone could differ that because it was necessary to know many medicines and pills to be able to differ the quality of two spiritual pills. In the case of Minos, he knew it due to the memories of the God Henricus Longus. Although this God was not an alchemist, he still lived for more than 50,000 years, and so, he knew very well how to differ the quality of spiritual pills.
As soon as Minos felt the fragrance, he noticed that it had a good quality. After that, he decided to buy them, when he handed over a bag with the crystals. "Here the payment, I'll take the two."
"By the way, sir, why aren't there a lot of people shopping at your counter?" Minos asked with a curious face.
The middle-aged man then looked at Minos for a moment and said with a smile on his face. "You must be new here to ask such a question. This is due to the guild. It gives support to those alchemists who join the powers behind the guild, while the other alchemists can only use the place to make their negotiations."
In the Spiritual World, the alchemist guilds and the guilds of array masters and blacksmiths were local organizations where everything related to those professions happened.
In an alchemist guild, ordinary people could get in touch with alchemists to buy spiritual pills. Young people could learn alchemy from the basics to the level that the guild was at, and perform the necessary tests to become an alchemist and receive their due classification.
But these organizations were often supported by noble and wealthy families in the region in which they were based. These families were generally specialized in one of those professions and provided subsidies for those young people who joined them. With that, they could either charge less for their products or improve their skills more quickly.
The middle-aged man then continued to speak. "As I didn't join any of the big families behind the guild, so I don't get their support. The consequence of this is that my pills will be more expensive than that of the alchemists subordinate to these families."
Minos then understood the situation after hearing this middle-aged man. But he was not sorry to have paid a little more for the pills, knowing that information could also help in Minos' future plans.
"Sir, what's your name?"
"Hmm, my name is Davis. Why the question?" Said the man with a curious look on his face.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Davis. My name is Minos Stuart. As an alchemist, you must have your own ambitions. Can you tell me why you refused to join one of the families behind the guild?"
"Nothing big, I just wanted my own freedom. It wouldn't help to have power if I can't do what I want." He said sincerely.
"Oh! Then that's it. Well, since you are not against joining an organization as long as your freedom is maintained, then I have an offer for you."
The man's eyes lit up when he heard that. Minos then continued. "I am on business here on Stone Island, but I will be returning to my region in a few weeks. If you want to join my forces, you will have your freedom to sell your items however you want. I will only ask you to deliver a minimum amount of pills every month."
"I will also pay 700 crystals for each grade-1, high-grade, pill that you sell in my territory. Of course, I will supply all the necessary ingredients as well."
"However, you must know that my region is still in development. I will give you a lot of advantages if you come with me, but the biggest advantage of following me now is that you will be more important when we become big in the future." Minos then finished his offer after letting out a breath.
Minos then asked the man in front of him after a while as he pointed at the two bottles of pills. "I need another 8 pills like these. How long would it take you to produce its?"
Davis took a while and then answered. "I'm sorry, but I'm currently without the medicines needed for this type of pill. It could take several days for me to be able to produce it."
"But it shouldn't be difficult to get that amount from the other alchemists here on this floor."
After saying that, Minos and Davis said goodbye. The young Stuart told him that he would be passing by again in a few weeks when he was returning. At that time, the middle-aged man should give him an answer to this offer.
...
Time passed, and Minos got the other 8 pills to advance to the 5th stage. He spent 9,000 crystals on its and had to buy its from 4 different alchemists.
After that, Minos and the soldiers who had accompanied him returned to the hotel. "Here, each of you takes a pill and start cultivating. I want you all to move up to level 40 by tomorrow."
Before long, all the soldiers began to cultivate while Minos thought to himself. 'Tomorrow morning, I should try to buy some better weapons for these soldiers…'
…
While Minos was planning, 4 people just arrived at a hotel not so far from where Minos was. These people were the young master of the Silva family and their three protectors.
"Protector Philip, go and find out where that wretch went." Darell said as he had a big smile on his face.
"Okay, young master."
Chapter 28: Preparing for Battle
Hours passed, and the sun was already rising on the horizon when the last soldier who was accompanying Minos finally reached level 40, the beginning of the General Spiritual stage!
As Minos knew that he and his group would soon have to fight with the forces of that young master, he decided to deliver a Silver-grade moving technique to his soldiers, who were accompanying him.
With this technique, these soldiers would be able to dodge enemy attacks even if the other side were a few levels stronger than themselves. In this way, Minos hoped to win that fight.
But he wasn't risking too much here because as someone who had studied at the Spiritual Academy, an academy for nobles in the City of the Setting Sun, he knew that noble families in the Brown Kingdom could not send Spiritual Kings to protect their children around the world.
Therefore, Minos was sure that the enemy side was limited by the General Spiritual stage. And most likely, they were below level 45, as the trip to Stone Island was not so dangerous for people in that range of strength.
A good example of this is the case of merchant Elen Nash, who, despite being a noblewoman of one of the largest families on Stone Island, she was still accompanied only by a guard at level 47.
Therefore, according to Minos' calculations, Darell Silva's number of guards should be between 2 and 4. As for spiritual power, they should be below level 45.
'Now that they've leveled up, I'm going to buy grade-1, high-level, weapons for each of them. Unfortunately, I still can't pay for anything more than that… But even if I could, it wouldn't be as if there were so many grade-2, low-grade, weapons being sold around…' Minos thought to himself.
After a while, Minos met with all his soldiers. He then began to expound his thoughts. "Ehh, good job, everyone. Now that you've reached level 40 let's go out and get weapons for each of you. Those of grade-1, medium-level, will not be good enough for you from now on."
"Soon, that young master of the Silva family must come after us, so today, after we buy the weapons, we are going to leave the city and wait for them to come to us. That way, we will have an advantage at the start of the fight."
After saying that, all ten men were a little anxious and happy. That's because they had reached a level that they would never have dreamed of reaching and being stronger. They wanted to fight to test their new strengths.
They would also rise to the rank of Sergeant, and soon they would start earning twice what they earned as Corporals, this was 800 low-grade crystals, a small fortune for anyone who has grown accustomed to the poverty of the Dry City.
"Come on." Sergeant Pyke told the rest of the group while he led the rest of them.
…
As they passed through the city's busy streets, Minos finally found the place where he had been appointed to go. Although the city of Portland also has a smith's guild, as Stone Island had an abysmal number of specialists in this profession, many of them did not do business inside the guild building.
So, after looking for information at the Hotel Olson, Minos discovered that there is a good place to buy grade-1, high-grade, spiritual weapons in the city center.
It was a place called The Wolf's Den, a store that sold various types of spiritual weapons of grade-1. According to the information that Minos had received, despite being a little more expensive than in other stores, the products of this store in question were of very good quality, and there was also a large amount of weapons in stock, contrary to what could be seen elsewhere.
Minos and his group then stopped in front of a store that looked like a cave in the middle of the mountain. There was a sign with a big blank name on it, The Wolf's Den. There were also symbols of spears, swords, bows, arrows, sabers, hammers, etc.
Minos' group then entered the scene. As soon as they entered, many weapons could be seen around the room. There was also not much movement. There seemed to be less than 5 people shopping at the place at that very moment.
"Good morning. I would like to see the weapons of grade-1, high-level, which are available for sale in this store." Minos said politely while holding his hands behind his back.
As soon as he said that, an older man with a full beard and white hair then looked over at Minos and said. "Grade-1, high-level weapons, there are 17 of its that are on sale right now."
The older man then started to point to the different weapons that were visible to anyone who entered that place.
Minos saw that most of them were swords, with a few spears, sabers, and a single war hammer.
"Choose your weapons," Minos said as he looked at the ten men around him.
When he heard this, the older man looked at Minos with a surprised expression. He would never expect this young man actually to be buying weapons of this level for his subordinates!
Although this type of weapon is not suitable for people in the 5th stage of cultivation, it was very common for people in this northern part of the Central Continent to wield weapons of one or two levels lower than what they could use.
'This young man must have a great strength behind him to spend so much on his subordinates.' The older man thought as he scratched his beard.
After a while, Minos' soldiers chose their weapons. There were 5 swords, 3 spears, 1 saber, and 1 war hammer among the chosen weapons.
The older man then spoke with an indifferent expression on his face. "For these ten weapons, the price is 59,000 low-grade crystals."
After hearing this, Minos immediately paid for the crystals and then asked the older man. "Sir, I will soon be out hunting, and I want to trap my prey. Can you tell me a good place that sells spiritual arrays here in Portland?"
The older man then replied with a smile on his face. "Oh! Then you will hunt, hehe. I have a friend who is an array master. He has a store 300 meters from here. You just follow that same street. The name of the store is Burton's Alley."
After hearing this, Minos thanked the older man and moved on. It didn't take long for him and his group to arrive at the store that the older man had indicated.
It was a completely different place from the previous store. This place looked like a square box and completely black. There was a green light with the name Burton's Alley.
After a while, Minos bought a grade-1, high-level, spiritual array from this store, specializing in stunning those below level 40 for 30 seconds and slowing down the strength and speed of those above this level. Of course, the stronger the enemy, the lesser the effects.
Minos spent 22,000 low-grade crystals on this array. And after leaving the store, he and his group left the city and went to a mountainous region a few kilometers away.
…
Meanwhile, in the hotel where the young master of the Silva family was staying, two men were enjoying the scenery of the city of Portland through the balcony of the room in which they were, while young Darell was having his breakfast quietly.
At that moment, the protector Philip, who had left the previous night to obtain the location of his targets, entered the room with a smile on his face. "Young master, I already have the location of those people."
"Oh! That is good. Where is he?"
"Earlier today, he and his group were staying at the Hotel Olson, but they went out shopping early. They went to a blacksmith's shop and then to an array master."
"After that, they left the city on the northwest side. We can follow their trail from there. That way, there are not many ways for them to escape us, hehe." Guard Philip said with a satisfied expression.
For him, this behavior of the group of Minos did not differ from that they are giving up their own lives. They were basically leaving a safe place, where it would be challenging to kill someone in daylight, and were going to a place where no one would know if they killed or were killed by something or someone...
"Haha, those guys are making it easier for us. I want to see their faces when they are surprised by our group." Darell said with a smile on his face.
"Come on. I can't wait to get my new sword, hehe."
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Chapter 29: The Ambush
As Darell's group began their pursuit, Minos and his soldiers were now standing on a mountain.
The site around the group was a large rock formation with very little vegetation. There were only grasses in the few places where there was soil, with a waterfall not far from there. There was not a large flow of water, but there was a waterfall over 50 meters high.
Minos and his soldiers were preparing the ground to receive their 'guests' later. They had chosen this place, as it would be more difficult for their enemies to escape from them.
After all, Minos could not allow any of them to flee, since if this happened, then the Silva family and other Brown Kingdom families could discover Minos' current strength and even what has been happening on the Black Plain.
And that would be terrible for the young Stuart since once others knew, they would definitely put Minos in their sights. Some powers could force him to join their forces, and others, such as those responsible for the death of Albert Stuart, could come after Minos.
Anyway, the effects of one of those people running away would be terrible for Minos. So, he and his soldiers were preparing the ground near the waterfall in order to make any escape more difficult for their enemies.
This is because some of them were certainly stronger than the group of Minos. So, if they were not careful, even if the other side couldn't win, it didn't mean that these enemies couldn't escape.
Therefore, Minos and his group decided to bring the fight close to the waterfall. In that place, even someone from the 5th stage of cultivation would be seriously injured if they fell from a height of 50 meters. They also made some small changes to the surrounding terrain to facilitate the ambush.
They spread, in part of the terrain opposite the waterfall, a lubricating substance on the rocks, something that would hinder the enemy's escape.
This is because someone from the General Spiritual stage cannot fly, and when moving on slippery terrain, although they can use their great strength to move more easily, they would still be severely delayed if they were to run in such a place. This would give the speed advantage to Minos' soldiers.
'This array that I bought can affect a very large area, so I have to leave it to turn it on, only after the enemy group is very close to us.' Minos thought calmly as he brought up the array of his spatial ring.
After that, he placed 10,000 low-grade crystals, which was the limit of crystals that a grade-1, high-grade, the array could withstand. He then left it ready to go into operation as soon as he gave the signal to turn it on.
'But before starting the fight, I want to try to get some information from these people...' Minos thought to himself as he hid the array behind a rock formation near the waterfall.
With the array hidden, as long as it was turned off, 5th-stage cultivators couldn't discover that there was such a thing hidden nearby. This is because, although they could feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, they could not feel an array that was not being used!
Such a thing would only be possible when a cultivator reached the Spiritual Saint stage, in which it would be possible to perform soul probes through a technique of the soul, which could be learned from this level. This is because, at this stage, cultivators can live without a body, in their soul form, for a limited time.
However, there was no such person in the entire northern region of the Central Continent, and therefore not a concern for Minos.
At that moment, Minos, who was the only one in the group who was not wearing any armor or battle clothing, began to speak to the soldiers. "All of you, listen to this. Stay on the sides of this terrain, but don't hide. The enemy already knows our numbers, and hiding would only make the other side more careful."
"Set up a small camp, build a fire, and start cooking something. Let's pretend that we came here to hunt and enjoy the beautiful scenery."
"Pay close attention to your surroundings, and when the fight starts, try to push the fight to the side of the waterfall. But before that, pretend to be surprised when they arrive and put on an appearance of despair before the fight. I want to see if I can get some information from these people." Minos said with a serious face as he was looking at the group of people in front of him.
After that, they all agreed with their heads and started to carry out these last orders from Minos. Sergeant Pyke then approached Minos and asked.
"Young master, how will we fight if the enemy is much stronger than us?"
"Don't worry about it too much. I'm pretty sure that the strongest person on the enemy side doesn't reach level 46. If there are two people at this level and one at level 45, then the strategy would be to gather 3 soldiers to face each of these two stronger, while the rest deal with the last of them."
"With this, the 4 soldiers would quickly kill the level 45 enemy and then return to deal with the remaining two. After all, at level 46, someone has slightly less than three times as much spiritual energy as someone at level 40, like you. So, 3 soldiers would be enough to hold them, while the other group deals with the weaker side."
"After that, it would be relatively easy to deal with the two strongest ones that would remain. Another thing is that the enemy side does not have techniques as well classified as ours. This will give us some advantage in the fight."
"But be careful during the fight. A desperate person can be very dangerous!" Minos finished speaking with a warning look to all of them.
After hearing this, Pyke and the other soldiers were amazed at their young master. He knew so much about cultivating and fighting. They barely understood how someone so young and who rarely fought could experience so much.
That alone made them very confused!
As for why Minos knew so much, well, that was due to the inheritance he had received. With the amount of knowledge from someone who lived for thousands of years, Minos knew many useful things at times like this.
…
A few hours passed, and the group of Minos waited patiently for the arrival of the young master Silva and his subordinates near the waterfall.
At that time, four people were approaching the place where the group of Minos was. These were the young Darell and his three subordinates.
"It looks like they went in that direction." Protector Philip pointed his finger in the waterfall direction, where Minos' group was.
Young Darell then smiled and then said with a look of contempt. "What interesting guys, they must have gone hunting! Hahaha, how can you do such a thing when you have offended someone like me?"
After hearing this, one of the protectors said, after laughing for a while. "Kekeke, stupid people tend to behave like that, young master."
"Come on. I want to see the expressions of terror on their faces when they notice us, hahaha." Darell said as he took the lead.
After that, the group went quickly to the waterfall, where Minos and his group were.
They had smiles on their faces. After all, the enemy group was composed only of Spiritual Warriors. And as far as they knew, with the inheritance of a Spiritual King, like Albert, Minos should no longer have so many crystals after having bought the grade-2, low-grade, sword.
With that, these 10 men who were with him, regardless of whether they were subordinated or even profiteers, they had no way to advance to the next stage of cultivation without a large amount of crystals.
So, for those who were between levels 41 and 43, the General Spiritual stage, this was an easy fight. In fact, maybe their young master was enough to kill the entire enemy group, and they didn't even have to make a move!
This is because, even though Darell Silva was still at level 38, as the son of the patriarch of the Silva family, all of his techniques were of the Black-grade. So, fighting those at a higher level was easy for the young Darell, who had techniques with superior energy efficiency.
…
It didn't take long, and the 4 people from the Silva family arrived at the waterfall. They could see that there were 11 people in this place, just as it had been reported to them.
Minos' group seemed to be camping in this place. In fact, they were eating right now. There was also a feeling of tranquility in the air that was passed by the beautiful landscape given by the waterfall a few meters away from where they were.
And while the smell of roast meat spread around the place, the young Darell then stepped forward while smiling from ear to ear and said to the three protectors who were beside him. "Let's start, hehe."
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Chapter 30: The Beginning of the Fight
When Minos and his group saw 4 people approaching their group with smiles on their faces, they soon understood that these were their prey, which they had so prepared for.
'They're finally here!' They thought to themselves.
Almost immediately after seeing the arrival of these people, the group of Minos began to put on an expression of confusion, as if they did not know what was happening.
One of the soldiers, who was calmly eating a skewer with meat, took the initiative and carefully asked who these people were. He had an expression that would make anyone feel sorry, that you could even see that he was shitting himself with fear…
'What a great actor.' Thought Minos and the other nine people, who knew what was going on.
While Minos' forces were trying to do their best, Darell and his three protectors were very happy with the image in front of them. 'That's right. You must be afraid of us. Hehe.' One of the protectors thought while holding on to laughter.
The other two protectors were also very happy with this. They let their guard down so much that they didn't realize that these enemies, who should have been blurring at this very moment, were already at level 40!
In fact, in the Spiritual World, from the 5th stage of cultivation, you can feel the energy around you. As long as there is no big difference in cultivation, you will also be able to ascertain someone's level within a certain distance. However, this is not something automatic that one person would feel as soon as he saw another.
To be able to distinguish someone's strength, first, the other cultivator would have to be some distance from you. This perimeter depends exclusively on his level. That is, the stronger someone is, the greater the distance in which he can feel the spiritual energy.
Second, if the previous condition were met, you would still have to try to discover the strength of that other cultivator on your own. That is, if someone did not take the initiative, then this person would not be able to find out that person's level of cultivation.
This almost automatic sense would only appear when someone reached level 70 because, from this level, the person's soul is strong enough and can realize the sense of the soul, which is able to feel the power of the person's soul and not the spiritual power.
Of course, spiritual power and soul power are equivalent. The difference is that the soul's sense can feel the surroundings as if it were a person's unconscious reaction, just like breathing in ordinary people. For example, a normal, healthy person does not need to think about breathing. His own body simply does it on its own.
The same is true for the soul's sense. A cultivator who is at least in the Spiritual Saint stage immediately knows the level of someone who has entered within the range of his soul's reach. Of course, during a fight, all this would be left aside because with the spiritual energy being released by techniques, anyone could feel the level of the opponent.
That way, Darell's protectors didn't bother to probe their enemies, as this was a very easy job... That's why they didn't notice something so easy to discover!
Then the soldier, who had a look of fear on his face, asked it out loud. "Eh, who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Kekeke, do you want to know who we are?" One of the protectors, who was at level 41, asked with a contemptuous smile on his face.
"Hahaha, Quent, don't spend too much time scaring these idiots." Said protector Philip, with a calm look on his face.
"You worms have offended someone that you couldn't. Hehehe, don't you remember what happened in Maritime City? Don't tell me that you are so naive that you didn't know that you would be persecuted for that?" Said the last protector, who was at level 42. He had a grotesque expression on his face while he had one hand ready to draw his sword.
At this moment, Darell Silva finally took a step forward and said it majestically. "Tsk, I will give you a chance. Give me the sword of grade-2, low-level, and I will be able to give you a painless death!"
Minos then feigned a voice full of fear and then said. "Are you the young master of the Silva family? As someone from such a strong family, how can you act like a filthy thief?"
"Hahaha, filthy thief? You can think what you want, naive boy. This is the world of the strong, and as you dared to have something you cannot protect, then you will die for it." Darell said contemptuously before spitting in the direction of Minos.
When he heard that, Minos appeared to be completely terrified.
He then asked. "Since you're going to kill us, can you answer a question for me?"
Darell looked back at Minos and was satisfied. 'It seems that he has already accepted his destiny, hehehe.'
"Okay, as I'm a merciful person, I'll give you a chance to have one of your questions answered."
"I want to know if your family was involved in my father's death," Minos said shyly and weakly.
When young Darell heard this, he burst out laughing because he really knew about it since his father had been the mastermind. "Hahahaha, so is this what you wanted to know? Okay, you don't have to wait to get to hell and find out from your dad, hehehe. My father was the mastermind of that ambush, hahaha, satisfied?"
After hearing this, Minos changed his attitude completely. Now he knew where to get his revenge. Even though it was still a few years away, having this information now would make things easier for him in the future.
He then revealed a smile on his face and gave the signal for his men to prepare. After that, Minos activated the spiritual array he had previously prepared.
When Darell's group saw this, they finally realized that something was wrong with this situation. From Minos' reaction, it looked like he was just waiting for that information to fight.
That was when, at that moment, one of the three carried out a probe on the strength of these 11 people in front of them. When he felt the cultivation level of each one, he immediately had a pale expression on his face.
After all, even though it was very easy to deal with 10 people at level 39, but it was completely different if those people were already at level 40!
Given the numbers on both sides, this would be a life-and-death struggle!
At that point, he tried to warn the group by shouting, but it was too late. "This is a trap!!"
Then, the spiritual array was successfully activated, and a buzzing sound was heard.
Zumm!
"Shit!! A fucking spiritual array! Activate the defensive spiritual array in the young master." Protector Philip said with an ugly expression on his face. If something happened to Darell, they would not escape death, even if they left this place alive!
With the level of cultivation of the three protectors, they would have their speed reduced at most, but Darell… He would be completely helpless for a few seconds. That was enough for him to be killed!!
Thus, one of them quickly activated a defensive array around Darell, who was already unconscious at the time, while the other two were on guard.
At the same time, Minos and his group, who were not under the effects of the array since they had taken preventive measures, began to attack the enemy side.
Wind Palm!
Demon Court!
Hammering the World!
Dragon breath!
Minos' soldiers released their attack techniques at about the same time. Meanwhile, the young Stuart activated two of his techniques.
Devouring Art!
Spatial Sword!
When they saw all these attacks coming, the two guards on guard went deathly pale. "Disgrace!! These guys are much stronger than they look." Philip said as he looked shocked.
"Quent, if you take longer, we'll run out." Said the other protector, who was already using everything he could to defend himself.
"Philip, prepare for withdrawal. If we go to fight, we cannot guarantee the safety of the young master. As long as we get out of this damn place, there will be a chance for revenge in the future." The other protector said, but at that moment, he noticed something.
"Do you think I don't want to run? But these bastards have already cornered us at this waterfall. We can only fight for our lives now!"
At this point, the other two protectors finally realized that they were slowly being pushed into the waterfall. 'Shit!' The two thought about it when they saw the waterfall over 50 meters not far from them.
One of them looked at Minos' side and said to the other two protectors with a fearful expression. "That brat is already at level 33!! How did he achieve this? Not only that, his attacks are as strong as those of these other guys!"
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Chapter 31: End of Fight
"Sergeant Pyke and two more soldiers are going to hold this guy at level 43. Sergeant Nedo and two other soldiers are going to hold this one at level 42. I'm going to support the groups of you two."
"As for the rest, kill this one at level 41 quickly and return to help us deal with the rest," Minos said decisively.
He was not a benevolent person. With the experiences that Minos had received from Henricus Longus, he knew very well how problematic a simple situation could become if someone was not willing to root out a problem.
That way, since Darell's group, came to kill and steal them, then they could only expect the same from Minos.
"Damn it!" The protector of the Silva family, who had the least strength in the group, cursed Minos when he heard such a thing.
"Brat, aren't you going too far? You don't think the Silva family will make it cheap if you kill us, do you?" Philip asked with a serious expression on his face. He wanted to appeal to anything that could save their lives. Otherwise...
While he heard this, Minos' group entered the formation ordered earlier while focusing their attacks on each of the protectors.
Minos then replied with a smile on his face. "Do you think I'm an idiot? If I release you, then I would only have to flee, at the risk of being killed by the Silva family at any time. But if I kill you… Maybe this family will take years to find out!"
"There's not much to think about, haha." Minos then released another sword attack in Philip's direction.
Spatial Sword!
Of course, with the difference in strength between the two parties, Minos would not be able to prevent Philip from moving. And he was barely slowing down with the Spatial Sword technique. After all, there was a difference of 10 levels between the two of them.
However, at the same time that Minos attacked, three other level 40 soldiers were doing the same, launching their attack techniques on the protector Philip.
'Hell!' Philip activated his defense as much as he could while trying to dodge attacks.
Meanwhile, the weaker protector was increasingly at a disadvantage when facing 4 soldiers at the same time. It wouldn't be long before he fell!
Boom!
But before that, the young Darell finally recovered from the stunning effect of the spiritual array that Minos had previously prepared. He could see a series of lights and hear a loud noise in his surroundings.
'Damn it, what happened?' Darell asked himself while feeling great discomfort in his vision.
He recovered quickly since his subordinates had set up a defensive array as soon as they were ambushed. This lessened the stunning effects and was also protecting the young master Silva from the fight that was taking place right in front of him.
At this point, Darell was seeing many attacks being launched on the three men in front of him. He could see a lot of light effects and explosions going on around him.
Boom!!
Darell then looked up and saw a large black circumference, looking like a ring, with a fog of the same color on the inside. He then felt discomfort when his defensive array started to crack.
Crack!
However, before his defense was destroyed, Darell saw a deeply shocking scene. At that time, protector Bayo, the one at level 41, was being brutally murdered!
'Damn it! I can't take it anymore.' Bayo thought to himself when he felt that his defense would collapse at any moment.
Wind Palm!
One of Minos' soldiers activated his attack technique, releasing a large wind blast in the direction of Bayo.
Tum!!
A noise was heard and the Wind Palm technique collided with Bayo's defenses.
Crack!
However, this time Bayo was unable to defend himself. Shortly thereafter, his body was thrown away, while his chest part was completely sunk in his own body.
He had died!
Darell saw this with terrified eyes. He couldn't believe this nightmare that was happening in front of him. 'How did this happen? Guard Bayo, just died?'
"Damn it! Bayo fell, and now we will be next." Quent thought as a trickle of blood could be seen coming out of his mouth.
Sergeant Pyke then shouted at the remaining 4 soldiers. "Two of you come to my group, while the other two attack this level 42 guy."
As the struggles of the two protectors continued, the defensive spiritual array that protected Darell finally collapsed.
Crack!
Darell thought to himself as he saw this. 'I have to run. Otherwise, we will all die. If I escape, at least I can get revenge in the future!'
However, as he prepared to flee, Minos slowly appeared in front of him.
"Oh! So, now you want to get away? Haha, don't even think about it since you came, so forget to leave." After saying this, Minos activated his attack technique while absorbing the young Darell's energy.
Spatial Sword!
'Damn, this wretch is draining my energy.'
Darell tried to release his defense technique, but shortly after Minos activated his own technique, the surrounding space within a radius of 40 meters was frozen. At the same time, Darell had his speed reduced to a large extent.
'Shit! Why is my spiritual energy moving so slowly?' Darell thought to himself.
But shortly thereafter, a blade of energy was hurled at the young master Silva's neck.
"You can't kill me, I am…"
Voop!
Darell could not resist the attack, and his head was separated from his body!
He could almost see for a split second, his headless body falling slowly.
He had died!
The headless corpse fell to the ground as blood poured down young Darell's neck. His head could be seen rolling on the floor, while he had a terrified look in his eyes.
At the same time, the two protectors caught a glimpse of this scene and were even more fearful. There was practically no resistance from Darell while Minos killed him.
The difference in strength was just too big! With such talent, it would not be long before Minos took revenge on the Silva family for his father's death!
Shortly thereafter, the disadvantage of the remaining two protectors grew even more, with Quent being almost depleted of spiritual energy.
A group of 5 people then launched their final attacks in the direction of Quent.
Hammering the World!
Demon Court!
Blood Sword!
Smashing the Air!
Iron Fists!
Whoosh!
Boom!
Many noises were heard when Quent's defenses were completely shattered.
"AAHHHHHHHH!" a cry of pain was heard when Quent's nearly dead body fell to the floor.
"Shit! Since this is the case, I can just take some of you with me." Philip said as he began to condense all of his remaining spiritual energy into a ball of black energy.
In a single instant, all the vitality of a Spiritual General, who was just over 800 years old, was sucked into the energy ball. At the same time, Philip's appearance changed completely until he was like an older man, full of white hair, completely malnourished, and as white as a sheet of paper.
"Get away and release all your remaining spiritual energy in your defense techniques!" Minos said in a concerned voice as he looked at the sacrifice of protector Philip.
"This guy is really decisive." Sergeant Pyke thought about it as he walked away.
In fact, in the Spiritual World, any person could sacrifice themselves in a time of desperation, as long as they were cultivators, of course. But not everyone had such tenacity, as this was a process that could be considered worse than dying from enemy attacks!
It was said that the very soul of the individual who sacrificed himself would be used as an oxidizer for the explosion. This caused pain that could be considered thousands of times worse than the pain caused by physical wounds!
For this reason, even though there was the possibility of sacrificing themselves to harm their enemies, the vast majority of cultivators did not have the courage to do such a thing!
These were the cases of the two previously killed protectors. As for young Darell, well, he didn't even have time to think about doing this!
That was another requirement, the cultivator who was going to sacrifice needed a certain amount of time to do that. And since protector Philip had the highest level of cultivation, he was able to fulfill this requirement.
Indestructible Body!
Impenetrable Shield!
Steel Skin!
Air Defense!
…
Many defensive techniques were activated at the same time. One could see many pale expressions among Minos' soldiers, who tried to protect themselves with every drop of energy contained in their bodies.
And even though protector Philip was almost drained of spiritual energy, sacrifice also burns the cultivator's vitality and soul strength. And even if it wasn't as strong as someone's spiritual power at level 43, everyone except Minos was already exhausted!
Therefore, such a thing was still quite fearful for everyone who was close to Philip.
Boom!
"AAAHHHHH!" Screams of pain were heard from the soldiers.
A big explosion happened, and then rocks started to fly all over that part of the waterfall. A small crater more than 10 meters in radius was also formed on the ground.
Soon afterward, five people could still be seen standing, while another six were lying on the floor. Nobody knew if they were alive or dead!
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Chapter 32: Rewards
Zum!
'Ow! Hell, I thought I was going to die.' Thought one of the soldiers to himself while a trickle of blood dripped from his left ear. He could hear a humming sound while he had a feeling of imbalance and blurred vision.
"Lathar! Lathar! Hey, look here." Screamed one of the soldiers, who had fewer injuries, to a teammate who was lying on the floor with a stunning look and blood running out of his mouth and ears.
"Hey man, are you okay?" The soldier asked as he looked at Lathar.
"Cough, cough. Ah! I'm fine, Kallus. I just need some time to recover from the shock." Lathar said in a weak voice and a pale face.
After that, the same thing was happening with the other soldiers of Minos. Half of them were fighting protector Philip just before the sacrifice, so they were more exposed to what happened.
Of the group of 11 people, 5 were completely exhausted, but with few injuries, Minos was one of them. The rest suffered internal injuries, but nothing too serious. They would only need to rest for a few days and would be fully recovered.
"That guy really scared me a little bit! Even though he was exhausted, he could still do all this damage to us." Said Pyke with a narrow look in his eyes. He had been one of the most injured in the group and was shocked by what had happened.
'Hmm, it was really awful. I hope I will not encounter this type of enemy in the future...' Minos thought to himself. Even his defense technique, Indestructible Body, was unable to withstand the damage caused by the explosion that happened, to the point that several bruises could be seen on his body through his torn clothes.
"All of you, rest as much as you can. We will stay here until tomorrow. After that, we will return to the city of Portland. I will also give you the due rewards for this fight later." Minos spoke aloud to all the soldiers.
After hearing this, all ten people were happy to know that they would have time to rest and still receive rewards.
At that moment, while Minos' soldiers were gradually recovering, the young Stuart started walking towards the bodies of the three people who had been killed previously.
He first went to the young Darell's headless body, which was a few feet away from the crater that had formed there. When Minos looked closely, he saw a silver ring on one of the fingers on Darell's right hand. It was his spatial ring!
There were several types of spatial rings in this world, but the main difference between them was the storage volume that each could provide. However, even rings with lower capacities could be considered rare items in this region of the Central Continent.
Generally, in addition to the children of the great noble families in the region, having such belonging was only commonly seen in cultivators of the 5th stage of cultivation, General Spiritual, or above that. That's because these rings were not cheap for those of a lower level.
However, it was not so common to see people who have just entered this phase of cultivation having such an 'item,' and many of these cultivators took years to be able to buy one.
Anyway, Minos searched the remaining two bodies, but there was no spatial ring. 'Tsk, as expected… These two are just subordinates to the Silva family and were only at levels 41 and 42.' Minos thought to himself as he searched them. There were only bags with a few dozen of low-grade crystals, nothing that caught his eye.
He then walked to the crater that had been formed by Philip's sacrifice and started looking for remnants. This is because even low-level rings had excellent resistance and would not be destroyed in an explosion like the one that occurred here.
Minos then saw something shining close to the waterfall. It was a spatial ring! 'Oh, what a good surprise! It is no wonder that he seemed to be the leader of the group!'
After collecting the two rings that were without owners, Minos sat on a rock next to the waterfall and began to search the rings. This was not a difficult thing to do, as the rings were generally linked to their owners' spirituality. But once the cultivator was killed, his belongings inside spatial rings could easily be 'recovered' by others.
Minos then decided to start checking the protector Philip's ring because he thought it's best to leave the 'main course' last…
'Hmm, here are 3,000 low-level crystals… Two techniques of Black-grade!'
'Wow! This guy should have good contacts within the Silva family to achieve such a thing.' Minos thought to himself as he searched the inside of Philip's ring.
He was surprised by the presence of two techniques of Black-grade because Philip was only at level 43. At this level, even having a technique of this quality could already be considered a lot for someone who was just a subordinate.
Albert Stuart himself, who was a subordinate to the royal family, had only 3 techniques when he was at level 51! And a person like Philip could take a few decades to reach this level, so his situation was quite unusual.
After a while, Minos also found three spiritual weapons in Philip's spatial ring, but they were all grade-1, medium-level...
'I will give these weapons and techniques to the Army of the Black Plain. It does not yet have a good variety of techniques or a good amount of weapons...' Minos thought to himself. After that, he started to check Darell's spatial ring.
'Haha, as expected, this Darell Silva was really rich.' He burst out laughing when he saw the ring's contents.
There were 400 medium-grade crystals, 20,000 low-grade crystals, 4 Black-grade techniques, some grade-1 spiritual pills, and three grade-1, high-level, spiritual weapons. The patriarch of the Silva family was really generous to his son!
'Ah! So, that's why he can't keep bidding. He didn't have any more medium-grade crystals...' Minos thought with a smile on his face.
After that, he started to analyze the 4 techniques that were with the young Darell. There was one specialized in cultivation, two in attack, and one in defense.
'How peculiar, this guy had learned two attack techniques, being only in the 4th stage of cultivation…' Minos was surprised when he noticed this.
Such a thing was not common, since at the lowest levels, learning techniques for different purposes was much safer than focusing on a single specialization. Only those cultivators who did not focus on battles, such as alchemists, used to have this type of configuration.
Among the warriors, like Minos and most of the people in this world, the common thing was to have a cultivation technique, an attack technique, a defense technique, and a moving or support technique when the cultivator reached the 4th stage of cultivation.
'Hm, this must be because the Silva family is a militaristic force that believes only in force. That must be why…' Minos thought as he snapped his fingers.
…
After a while, he turned to the group of soldiers who were gradually recovering.
He then focused on those who were most hurt and said. "The young master of the Silva family had 5 spiritual pills specialized in recovery. I will give them to you since you were the ones who hurt the most. This will help you to recover more quickly."
After hearing this, these 5 soldiers quickly rejoiced. Being able to use such a pill would recover most of your injuries!
"I'm going to give these two spatial rings to Sergeants Pyke and Lathar. But the rest of you will be able to get your rings when the Army of the Black Plain develops a little more and acquires at least an array master and a grade-2 blacksmith."
"It may take a while, but we will get there," Minos said confidently as he scanned each of the soldiers.
After saying this, he also gave the soldiers the spiritual crystals that he had plundered from the bodies of the young Darell's three protectors. There were just over four thousand crystals, which were duly distributed among the ten men.
It didn't take long, and the waterfall at which the group was standing fell silent again while the eleven men cultivated peacefully in this place.
…
Meanwhile, in the Maritime city, a white eagle was standing outside the city. At that moment, a young woman with black hair then approached the beast and rubbed her hands on its neck.
"Come on, White. Now we are going to travel by sea. I want to see this Stone Island. They say it is a decent place near this northern region of the Central Continent." Ruth said softly as she stroked her huge spiritual beast.
She had stopped at the Maritime City to rest before finally crossing the sea. This was her first time doing this, so even though she was on a mission, she wanted to make the most of this trip.
Ruth didn't like being sent to a place with a spiritual density as low as this, but… Since she couldn't help it, she would try to enjoy this trip to the fullest.
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