The Rise of the Black Plain

To achieve this goal of having subordinates capable of reaching the 6th stage of cultivation in the short term, Minos was investing in people who had already reached the 4th and 5th stages.

Even if these people had already learned several techniques and were going to suffer from the adverse effects of changing techniques, it was still worth hiring them.

They would serve as the first-generation leaders of the Black Plain Army, who would lay the foundations for the future of this territory. Furthermore, at least in the short term, they would protect this place from external threats in this northern region of the Central Continent.

However, Minos' focus was on those lower-level cultivators.

That's because they could already have Black-grade techniques from the start, can develop faster, and even reach higher levels of fighting proficiency in the future.

People who have never changed their techniques, who are at an 'x' level, would be stronger than someone at the same level 'x' who has already shifted techniques!

The difference would be so much more significant, as the level they were both at increase. For example, the difference if this level 'x' were level 30 would not be substantial and could even be insignificant. However, if that level 'x' were level 80, the difference would be as heaven and earth!

And Minos knew this very well. For this reason, he wanted to invest as much as possible in these young people who have not yet learned many techniques.

However, the reality was not just that. There would come a time when some of these soldiers would have the opportunity to learn Silver-grade techniques and would end up facing this problem sooner or later...

But concerning this, he didn't have much to do. He would not just allow his soldiers to learn these techniques quickly without making significant contributions before then.

Hell, there was no need for that either.

At this time, the dangers they faced were relative to the north of the Central Continent, a place where the strongest had Black-grade technique sets, with a few having one of the Silver-grade. So, there was no need for Minos to invest these most valuable techniques in soldiers who have Blue talent.

As for the loss some of these individuals would have when switching techniques, well, that would be worth it because of the Silver-grade ones. The difference in spiritual use that each classification had was huge, and every cultivator would be willing to switch techniques.

There weren't even second thoughts. They might lose proficiency, but they could still handle a lot more energy than before switching techniques!

Anyway, after those two friends talked to each other about the selection that the local army would make in a week, suddenly a young native of the Dry City laughed and said. "Hehehe, you two must be new around here, right?"

Hearing this young stranger talking to them, the two turned to him and then nodded. "Yes, we came from the City of Waters. Why do you ask?"

And even before the young man from before said anything, a young woman who was also there began to explain the reason for the previous young man's question. "You were a little unlucky, friends from the City of Waters. Suppose it was the last selection of the army. In that case, you could indeed participate in it and have chances to get a position, but that has changed for this new edition."

"What? But that's what our families told us!" The young man who was confident earlier refuted a little anxiously.

And so the young man from before spoke again. "It's like Trina said, you were unlucky. From this edition onwards, candidates must have lived in the Dry City for at least six months to be able to compete for the vacancies!"

"It can not be!"

"Hehe, but it's the truth. Think about it, this place is growing every day, with more and more people arriving from different places. In other words, the number of people able to compete for these vacancies is getting bigger, and now the army can impose more severe restrictions."

The girl from before then spoke again, right after her friend said that last comment. "Such a thing was expected. Before, the Black Plain Army had few soldiers and few people in the city with the capacity to compete for positions. But now, after this new selection, there will be more than 4,000 soldiers in our city!"

"For this reason, the selection will be increasingly cautious in the future. I think the next selection might even increase that time to a few years!"

And indeed, the army was getting stricter in its selections. For now, anyone who has lived in the Dry City for at least six months could participate in the competition for the vacancies in this organization.

That was not the case before, as young people from the City of Waters had been warned by their families. That was because, at the time, Minos' forces were small, and there were not enough people in the Dry City to satisfy the requirements for new soldiers.

For this reason, Minos allowed newcomers to the city to dispute the army's vacancies. But that was only a temporary measure. As time went on, the population increase and the strength of the original inhabitants of this place developed!

That allowed the competition to be more disputed, making room for Minos' group to tighten the restrictions on entry into the young Stuart's army.

With that, they could hire even more trustworthy people, who they could research the background of these possible new soldiers, preventing potential spies from entering Minos' organization.

It was tough to investigate the past of thousands of people who came from many different cities. However, if these people's history within the Dry City were analyzed, this would become much simpler.

For most people, hiding their true selves was not an easy task. Most ended up demonstrating what they were capable of in their day-to-day activities. With that, if these people had been living for some time in Minos' city, then the army investigators could get more reliable information from these people!

That was the primary purpose of adding this condition to selecting new soldiers for the local army.

But I wasn't going to stay in just six months of living in the Dry City. No, in the future, with a few exceptions, only those who were already born in the Black Plains territory could join Minos' forces!

Of course, the exception would be for special tournaments, along the lines of the Spiritual Tournament and invitations made directly by Minos. In these two cases, what would be taken into account would be just talent and strength, so the young Stuart would not limit the options for these events so much...

After all, even if this place improved in the future, talents from the Silver classification would still take a while to be born in this region ruled by the young Stuart...

Minos' army would gradually increase this minimum period of residence in this territory until, within a few years, only the native people of the Black Plain would join this force via traditional selection.

For now, the boundary was related to Dry City, but that was because there were no other cities under Minos' domain. Yet, when there was, it would extend across the entire Black Plain!

However, that wasn't just for that investigative reason. No, another reason was that the native population of the Dry City was cultivating faster and faster due to the offer of the new services that Minos had brought to the city.

Just to give you an idea, the average level of the local population of Dry City had increased by more than ten levels since Minos' arrival!

Thus, valuing the native population, who had been here since the beginning, was something that Minos considered. After all, they lag behind the immigrants coming to the Dry City because this place was one of the worst, if not the worst, in the north of the Central Continent.

So, this was young Stuart's way of bringing more equality to the competition and not leaving these Dry City natives behind. In fact, with a more balanced competition, there would be even more options for the army to choose from!

Finally, after hearing the explanation from the boy and the girl who was there in that square, the two youths from the City of Waters understood the situation. Obviously, they weren't happy with this information, but there was nothing to be done.

There were many good options in the Dry City today, and they would continue to strive to reach the Black Plain Army in the future!