The Rise of the Black Plain

Hearing Minos' comment, the two women on the opposite side of him in that carriage stopped talking for a moment as they reflected.

Someone really could not get all the impurities out of a spiritual pill, even if they were specially made for it.

Pills were combinations of different types of resources, such as medicines, the blood of spiritual beasts, some natural resources, such as the Spring of Life, which could also be used to produce pills.

And by merging each ingredient into a recipe, the alchemist would raise the potential set of those items, reaching a new level. If the ingredients separately could not make an individual, for example, jump from one step to another, this would become possible after refining done by that expert.

However, when mixing all these items, there was a cumulative effect of the toxins present in each of them, together with possible errors or imperfections made by the alchemist during the refining. Consequently, from a general perspective, there were always more impurities in spiritual pills than in fresh resources.

Of course, alchemists also removed toxins during refining. Still, it was tough to achieve the same degree of purity that could naturally be seen in fruits.

In the Spiritual World, the species most compatible with spiritual energy were the vegetable type, which was almost 100% compatible with it. And that was also the justification why there is natural Divine-grade medicine. In contrast, it is impossible, even for an elf, to reach level 100 without outside help!

Hence, when a living being tried to manipulate these items, these spiritual highly compatible resources could not be combined into an even higher quality product, concerning the impurities!

The only way to do anything close to that was if the alchemist was at a very high degree and wasn't producing pills of the highest level. Thus, for example, if a high-level grade-4 alchemist refined a pill that ranks in high-level grade-3, or below this, then he could come close to that.

But there were few people so highly ranked in the world of alchemy, while someone so well rated would hardly produce items far below their level.

There were other possibilities for this, but it was not everyday things and could be called exceptions. Thus, having such alternatives was not a reality for a place like the northern region of the Central Continent.

And as for why the pills were so successful, even though they had impurities that could affect a person's cultivation speed and even vitality. Well, that was due to the great potential of these items.

For example, the Spring of Life could restore its user's lost vitality. However, if it were used in combination with other resources in the production of a life recovery pill, then it would have its effect enhanced!

Medicines that could be poisonous in nature could be used in pills to treat illnesses, wounds, etc. In short, alchemy was the way for living things to create items with effects never seen before by combining different ingredients!

Because of all this, in general, when someone used a pill, the effect would be more positive than negative.

Anyway, the two women were thinking about the common knowledge about pills they had as they stood there in silence.

'It makes sense, but since there are no Spiritual Emperors in our region, it's hard to figure out how troublesome that would be…' Eda thought to herself as she snapped her fingers.

On the other hand, Abby had a different thought in her mind. 'He thinks about passing the 7th stage of cultivation. Is that what he meant? How would he do something like this?

After that, she laughed and said. "So, are you preparing to become a Spiritual Saint?"

"No, obviously not..." Minos just said this with a mysterious look on his face.

Of course, he wouldn't stop there. With the highest level of talent and the best techniques one could have, Minos aimed for level 100, a God, not just a mere Spiritual Saint!

"Hmph, that's what I thought." Abby muttered as she stared out the glass window of the carriage they were traveling in.

They had already left the city of Hadia behind, with no problem in the exit. The 11 carriages of Minos' group had departed separately, followed by a gap of a few minutes each, to attract as little attention as possible.

And as expected, none of those guards messed with these groups leaving Hadia in the same night. This was very common in this city, as many nobles passed through here every day. At the same time, criminals from the region also came and went.

This way, there was a lot more movement in the entrances of Hadia, which allowed that the departure of 11 carriages in a single night was not something strange.

And it wasn't long before Minos's entire group of carriages found themselves a few kilometers away from Hadia, where they had previously arranged to meet,

After they did, the entire convoy headed towards the Chambers family's base in the northwestern region of the Cromwell Kingdom, where they would look for more clues as to Peter's whereabouts.

...

"Minos, what are you going to do if your soldier is in that place?" Abby asked shortly after the groups of carriages began to travel together.

It was almost midnight by this time, and the convoy of the young Stuart's group was running through the darkness of night as they traveled the dirt roads of the Cromwell Kingdom.

Hearing his friend's question, Minos looked at her for a moment, understanding the implications of her doubt. Abby seemed to be concerned that he might decide to attack a noble family base.

And as a noblewoman, a member of the wealthy Miller family, Abby knew a thing or two about the Chambers. While this family was not as strong as the royal families of the north of the Central Continent, they still had excellent strength.

So, if Minos attacked such a place, huge trouble could follow this young friend of Abby's. That was her concern.

"If he's there and we have the ability to save him, then this is specifically what we're going to do." He responded firmly.

Peter was his subordinate, and as such, Minos would support him. But obviously, he would not do anything if he did not have the capacity for it.

After all, it would not do any good if many of them died, or even Minos himself was put at risk by just one person.

Consequently, if the difference in strength were too significant, Peter would have to wait until Minos and the Black Plain Army got stronger.

The young Stuart would never abandon one of his own if he had power, so even in the event they could not save that Seargent now, Minos would still come after Peter when he had all the strength he needed.

And if the young Sergeant were unlucky and died before then, Minos would at least smash the entire Chambers family in revenge!

Minos' forces might appear peaceful at this point, but that was not its goal. Instead, the young Stuart was building his own power, which in his view, had to be feared by enemies and even allies.

These Spiritual World's powers had to know the consequences of messing with one of Minos's army soldiers!

That was his goal and the way he was educating his soldiers. And Peter knew it. He might even have no hope of surviving, as that would be another problem. But he knew that even if he died, those responsible would pay for it, sooner or later.

As for the fact that revenge doesn't bring the dead back to life, that was bullshit. No one takes revenge to raise the dead. Instead, this is done to hurt enemies and punish them for their actions, for the well-being of deceased's relatives, among many other reasons for the constant pursuit of revenge.

Anyway, hearing Minos's answer, Abby felt reassured, seeing that her friend was not a fool who would let his emotions get carried away in the heat of the moment. 'I'm glad he thinks so...'

And quickly, time began to pass, while Minos had already eaten all the plums from before and started to cultivate to restore his energy.

So had the young Stuart's many soldiers, who were traveling in shifts, with some resting, some cultivating, and the latter leading the carriages.

Despite the dangers of night journeys, most of the time, nothing happened, and that was exactly what had happened to Minos's group convoy.

...