The Rise of the Black Plain

The day had just dawned in the Dry City when the nine carriages were already lined up in front of the mansion in the central part of that city.

At this point, there was a thin layer of dew on the grass in the garden of Minos' mansion, while the daylight was dimmed by the cloudy sky that hung over the Dry City at this time.

It was 12 degrees celsius (53.6ºF), and there was a delightful light wind at this moment, at the same time, in which the morning silence prevailed in that place.

The young Stuart's town wasn't big yet, so there was that tranquility typical of small towns and the countryside at certain times of the day.

And, at the same time, in which this smooth start of the day passed little by little, the 40 soldiers chosen for this rescue mission were already in front of their respective carriages.

Some of them were sitting on some stone benches in front of Minos' mansion. Others were congregating in several small groups, talking without causing any disturbance.

If anyone were to pass by this place right now, one would occasionally hear the sound of some of these soldiers yawning as they talked in low tones about ordinary everyday things.

One could even smell coffee in the air, coming from the various mugs that could be seen in the hands of some of these people.

Coffee was a culture that Minos had introduced to the Black Plain almost half a year ago. This was a plant native to a kingdom in the eastern part of the Central Continent that he had the opportunity to bring here through the Cohen family store.

This culture was perfect for making spiritual drinks and had great potential for stimulating energy in the cultivators' bodies.

...

Anyway, while Minos soldiers were drinking coffee to wake up, the young Stuart was already ready for this trip, being at this moment in the Spatial Kingdom.

He was sitting in a chair outside the house in that place, in front of two foxes.

Kyla was licking one of her tails while she was on her back, moving from side to side. She was still very young, so she still behaved naturally, even though she was already in the third stage of cultivation.

But this was common for spiritual beasts. Only when they reached the 5th stage would they develop their intelligence more and behave much more like humans.

Obviously, each species has its own peculiarities, but certain behaviors are somehow related to an individual's intellectual level.

Because of that, even though it was widespread for beasts like foxes to lick themselves, after reaching the 5th stage of cultivation, they wouldn't do it anyway like Kyla...

There was a sense of shame or rather integrity that came with intelligence. So, even if Minos had seen Emlyn licking herself before, he would never be as childish and flashy as tiny Kyla did.

Finally, as he watched the young fox, Minos looked at Emlyn, who was lying on the ground there in front of him, eyes closed.

Emlyn looked pretty good, with her orange and white fur that even glowed as she'd never come in contact with dirt.

She was full-bodied, with a firm, strong body. And apart from the absence of one of the paws, the mother fox looked very healthy.

The young Stuart then said. "It's time for me to leave. As I said before, during this trip I'm going to, I may need your help, so be ready for that, in case I suddenly show up around here."

He had already discussed this with Emlyn. In fact, Minos trained every day in the Spatial Kingdom, at least when he was in the Dry City, so he and Emlyn always talked.

Aside from Dillian, the mother fox could be regarded as the only individual Minos could speak to openly, hiding nothing.

Consequently, they had already formed a particular friendship, in which they talked about their affairs to the other.

Of course, Emlyn didn't have current things to talk about, as the Spatial Kingdom didn't have much action... But she always talked about her life on the Continent of the Beast, specifically about the tribe of the nine-tailed foxes.

Minos had already discovered a lot about the origin of this fox, but that is not convenient at the moment...

She opened her eyes and then looked up to see the young Stuart's face. "All right. I hope you don't have to face any Spiritual Kings, but I'll be ready to help you."

"Hmm, thanks for understanding." Minos then reached down and rubbed his hand over tiny Kyla's head before finally activating the special ring and heading back to the Dry City mansion.

...

Finally, after a few minutes, Minos made his way from his residence to the mansion's entrance hall, where Abby and Eda were already waiting for him.

Halfway there, he had met Dillian, who would stay in the Dry City this time, commanding in Minos's absence.

Finally, arriving at the entrance to his mansion, the young Stuart soon saw the two Miller women standing by a glass door, dressed in woolen coats over their armor.

Abby then looked at him and pouted, saying. "Finally, you are here!"

"Hehe, I'm sorry to keep them waiting. Then? If you are ready, we can leave now."

"OK, let's go!"

After that, the group of four went to the row of carriages that were parked in front of that building.

In addition to the soldiers, Pyke and Mia were also standing by the mansion's entrance gate, waiting to say goodbye to Minos.

"Well, guys, I hope you take care of the Dry City with love, as you've been doing for the past two years. A lot of things can happen while I'm away, so I hope to find a lot of improvements when I get back." He smiled as he said goodbye to his people.

The Dry City had already received 2,000 immigrants from the City of Waters, and this migration should continue for five months. Therefore, during this period there would be a good increase in the local business.

Other than that, many buildings were under development in the city, just as recruitment for new Black Plains Army soldiers was approaching.

This was an event desired by a large part of the current population of the city of Minos, who yearned for the opportunity to serve the local force, improving their families' budgets, as well as their own speed of cultivation!

After hearing Minos' words, they nodded in understanding. They exchanged a few words before he and the two women got into one of the carriages on that convoy.

As they got into that carriage, Abby suddenly asked the question that wouldn't leave her mind. "Minos, don't you think we're going with a few people? We are talking about the Black Market, an organization with many members!"

"Hehehe, my soldiers are much stronger than you think... But even if the enemy side is very numerous, it doesn't mean that we have to fight them all at once."

"And I also don't believe there are many cultivators above level 47 in this organization."

After all, every cultivator near the peak of a given stage was someone with the potential to rise to new heights. But if there were so many individuals of this level in average organizations like the Black Market, there would soon be many Spiritual Kings out there...

It wasn't easy to get to level 47 or above for ordinary people without the support of large families!

Young nobles like Abby, Troy, Kara could only do this because they were showered with resources from the beginning of their cultivation journeys, enjoying the best years of their lives!

But for ordinary people, as was the case with criminals who got involved in the Black Market, they missed their best cultivation years due to lower-rank cultivation techniques that slowed their cultivation speeds. Also, they didn't have spiritual crystals to cultivate!

It was a real challenge to be humble in the Spiritual World!

Therefore, those who came close to the Spiritual King stage were not numerous outside the large families. And that was what gave the young Stuart confidence.

But they didn't even know if they would need to attack the Black Market. That was just the first chance the Minos group had. After all, there was no way for them to know whether or not Peter had already been sold to one of the noble families in that region.

Obviously, they would prefer to fight the Black Market before Peter was sold. Still, the reality could be different from what they wanted...

"Oh?" Abby then let out a sound before ducking her head and thinking about what Minos planned to do.

Shortly after that, the convoy continued through the Dry City streets, leaving Minos' mansion behind as it approached the southern gate of the city's wall.

There were two ways to get to the Cromwell Kingdom's northwest coast from the Dry City. One option was to run right from Minos town to the coast, west, and then drop south, following the coastal strip all the way.

But this was not a good way. There were no towns on the coastal side of the Black Plain to the Cromwell Kingdom, and there were no good places to camp in that region either.

The other way was the best, which went south from the Dry City, past the City of Waters, and then west to the Cromwell Kingdom until they passed the Farmland region, which was not far from the town where the Black Market was located.

Minos then laughed for a second as he watched the arid horizon of the Black Plain's terrain as he thought something. 'Unfortunately, I won't be able to stop at the City of Waters... Maybe on the way back, hehe...'