The Rise of the Black Plain

"Where is Demi? Isn't she with the tribe?" Minos asked as he stood next to the strongest elders of the tribe, his wives, the members of the Sea Folk, and the strongest mercenary of the group.

The rest of the group had separated from them to get to know the tribe, rest, trade, etc. Thus, only a part of the large group that Minos had assembled so far accompanied him along with the elders of this tribe.

When Blake heard his question when they arrived at the tribe's headquarters in the middle of the city, he answered truthfully. "She is no longer with the tribe. After we arrived from the Central Continent, she barely had time to rest from her journey and was sent to the Phoenix Tribe by the tribe leader."

"If you want to see her, you must go there. She'll be staying with the Phoenixes for the next year." Another elder said.

Demi was like the leader of the tribe at the moment, and she was supposed to stay in this city to perform various functions that only she could do. But whenever the tribe's leadership needed to travel to an important meeting with allies, she was the one to do it since the de facto leader of this city only had a few decades left to live.

The Phoenix Tribe had decided to hold a gathering of their allies in the coming months, where they would work on joint exercises and a series of special meetings.

The Phoenix Tribe was one of the strongest on the continent. After some recent events, the war situation between the leaders of these lands and the strongest race in the world, their leaders were worried about the future.

To prepare for the coming years, the tribe had summoned powerful representatives and leaders from each of their allies weeks ago.

Minos didn't know this, but when he heard the elders' comments, he didn't find it so strange or bad. "Really? Then it won't be a problem. After I leave this city, I intend to go to the core of the Phoenix Territory."

"That will be good for you, young Minos," Blake commented. "Perhaps you'll be able to meet several races of powerful beasts at the meeting the phoenixes are holding.

Not only that, but since they're gathering the strongest of their allies, it's possible that you'll be able to meet relevant elders of this tribe more easily than you would have without this congregation."

"Hmmm, but where are they doing that?" Abby asked.

The Phoenix Territory had the territory of the Nine-Tailed Foxes and 19 other tribes within its sphere of influence. This territory was as large as the old Kingdom of Waves, the largest territory in the northern region before the rise of Minos.

But this meeting could occur anywhere in the area, including the Spatial Kingdom controlled by the Phoenixes!

One of the elders looked at Abby respectfully and replied. "You must go to the city of the Phoenixes. There, you will find the way to where this meeting occurs."

"But young Minos, how long will you stay in our tribe? You seem to be in a bit of a hurry." Blake said as they entered the area they were going to.

"I don't know. A few days, a month at the most." Minos said.

He had two reasons for coming to the Nine-Tailed Fox tribe. The first was to bring Emlyn and Kyla home, where they could meet acquaintances, friends, and maybe even family. Minos had promised them a long time ago that he would bring them to this place one day, so he wasn't going to come and go right away.

Besides, even if the beings of this tribe couldn't advance to the 10th stage, they could be useful on the journey Minos planned to take to the North Sea.

The Nine-Tailed Fox tribe had one of the strongest mental abilities in the Spiritual World.

Combined with the mermaids in his crew, a few level 89 Nine-Tailed Foxes could help the group protect themselves from mental traps and even counter high-level mental blows from any enemies they might face.

Even though they couldn't reach level 90 or higher, these creatures could even fight beings that were 2 or 3 levels stronger than them in terms of mental power.

For the current Minos and the needs of his group, this was enough for him to be interested in recruiting some of these elders.

But in this tribe, Minos' situation would be a bit different. Unlike the places where he had recruited so far, he wanted to recruit some of the strongest beings in the tribe, beings that were very relevant to this city.

So he came right to the point and asked in a different way than he had in other places. "I'd like to meet some foxes from your tribe who are at the end of the 9th stage but also at the end of their lives."

"Huh?" The four elders looked at Minos strangely.

Wanting to meet the strongest was quite normal. But to seek out beings who were about to die was not what one would expect from a group like Minos'.

But the members of the Sea Folk and the mercenary next to Minos and his wives understood what he wanted.

Only a fox of such power, so close to death, would agree to join this crew!

Anyone else would have to think for the good of the tribe before risking themselves by agreeing to travel with Minos.

As these elders looked at Minos strangely, the being they were bringing Emperor Stuart's party to meet heard this and laughed.

"You've come to the right place, young man. I don't have much time left, and I'm at the peak of my cultivation." A soft voice said, drawing the attention of Minos' entire group to an obvious cave where a white-furred fox appeared, gradually transforming into a humanoid version.

The humanoid version looked relatively young, but its hair was white, something unusual to see in foxes of this breed.

"Leader of the tribe!" The four elders looked at her and shouted at the same time.

"Minos Stuart, my name is Bella Beech. I fit what you're looking for... What do you want?" This woman asked, smiling at this group, very grateful to him for what he had done for her people.

Minos didn't hide his interest. "I'm looking for brave people to join my group for a journey to the North Sea."

"Oh? That's quite a dangerous destination." She said good-naturedly. "Very well, I'll join your crew."

Everyone there opened their mouths in surprise, not expecting that the tribe leader herself would decide to join the most daring crew in the Spiritual World!