The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon reaching the cultivation room where Ruth was supposed to be, Minos immediately realized that there was someone else with her as he watched through one of the panes of glass in the doorway there.

But both Ruth and the blue-haired woman were silent, sitting in different places as they seemed to meditate on their respective cultivation cushions.

Seeing this, Minos paused, trying to remember where he knew that woman next to his girlfriend.

He was good at remembering people's faces. Still, because of that characteristic of House Miller members, he had naturally had to think a little more about that person.

However, before he silently entered that place, he finally recognized the person next to Ruth. 'Mona Miller...' He thought about it silently as he quickly lowered the curtains of that place to prevent curious people from watching him.

And indeed, that was Mona Miller, level 50, Abby's best friend, who had gone to the Gray Clouds Sect with Kara after the last edition of the Spiritual Tournament.

After that period, she had accompanied Ruth to the Black Plain, as this woman knew that Mona could not come to the region alone, or she would harm herself by going where she should not.

With that, she had come from the Flaming Empire alongside Ruth and was currently cultivating alongside her friend.

After realizing Mona's identity and closing the curtains of that place, Minos turned to those two and finally saw his girlfriend opening her eyes.

"Did I take too long?" He asked in a low voice, smiling at her.

After hearing that distinctive tone, Ruth immediately looked in Minos' direction and ran toward him.

"Minos!" She said in excitement as she finally embraced this man she had missed the touch so much.

Unlike Abby, who had been 'only' a few months away from Minos, Ruth had spent more than a year away from him. And considering that her passion for him was not one bit less than the one Abby felt, such a woman had suffered greatly during this period.

So, when Ruth saw her love in front of her, she could not help but hug him tightly, as if the stronger she did that, the less chance she would have to part with him again.

"Minos!" She repeated his name as she smelled the masculine scent of her boyfriend, quickly trailing her lips towards his.

"Mmmmmmmmmm~"

After that, she gave young Stuart a long, passionate kiss, something so warm that the moment Mona opened her eyes, she turned red with embarrassment at seeing that.

Mona was still a virgin, but she had seen all sorts of things during her brief time in the Flaming Empire. But seeing her friend, who was usually so reserved, acting like a female in heat, she could not help but feel embarrassed and surprised.

'So, that's Minos...' Mona observed the tall, muscular young man hugging Ruth's body so that even a maiden would feel affected just to watch.

And seeing that young man, she soon sighed deeply, sensing a complex feeling deep within her being.

She had gone to the Flaming Empire, but Abby and Minos had done nothing of the sort. One of them, of course, had stayed in the region by choice. In contrast, the other had accepted her defeat in the Spiritual Tournament.

But regardless of why they had stayed, all there was now was a successful couple, with Minos being the strongest in the region and Abby, the future queen of the Black Plain.

That was simply unbelievable to Mona!

Minos was powerful back then, but this woman could never have imagined it would be feasible to achieve his current strength.

And considering the change her own family had gone through because of Minos and Abby, she could not help but wonder if it had been the right decision to go to the empire.

Not because she felt jealous of Abby. She did not. But it was undeniable that she had had a hard time in that place, a place away from her family and the people she trusted most.

Meanwhile, Abby had struggled a lot, too. Mona understood that. But that had happened while Minos' fiancée had several people to count. Even her parents were in Dry City!

So, she looked at Minos in awe, shocked at how much better he had become since the Spiritual Tournament.

'Back then, he was below my level, but now...' Mona thought of this as she saw Ruth touching Minos' face as she slowly parted her lips from his.

"Mmm~"

"You don't know how long I've waited for this..." Ruth said in a low voice, holding Minos' face with her hands as if she had the most valuable treasure in the world in her possession.

Minos then smiled at her as he played with this woman's black hair. "Me too, Ruth..."

"But now we will find a way to resolve this situation."

"Cough! Cough!" Mona could no longer keep silent and coughed twice to alert those two.

Minos was already unbuttoning Ruth's clothes, so Mona had thought that if she did nothing, she would watch something she should not in that room.

"Oh?" Minos looked in that woman's direction, smiling as if nothing had happened.

As for Ruth, she turned to her boyfriend, nodded to Mona, and said. "Minos, this is Mona, that friend of Abby that we met during our trip years ago." She looked at that blue-haired woman and then asked. "Do you remember Minos?"

"How could I forget?" Mona said in a low voice as she saw the man with brown hair and shirt unbuttoned to chest height coming toward her.

"I remember you, hehe." He waved one of his hands at Mona, indicating for her to use it to get up from the cushion she was sitting on.

However, as she made that simple movement of getting help from him to get up, Mona felt his arms wrapping around her waist.

"Uh?" She exclaimed in surprise, but it was already too late.

At that moment, Mona felt her whole body shiver as Minos' strong, warm arms pressed her against his body.

After that, Minos slowly broke away from her and placed a kiss on Mona's right cheek.

"This..." She tried to say something but did not find the words.

All that was in her mind was an immense shame, along with a strange feeling spreading through her body.

Gulp!

"You... You... Ruth, don't you think it's wrong for him to behave like this?" She finally said this while still feeling Minos' hands on her delicate waist, making her feel slight shocks in that part of her body.

"Behave like what?" Minos asked this with a smile. "Mona, you are Abby's friend, so naturally, we will be good friends too."

"Hehe, I just gave a warm hug that I usually give those close to me."

But Mona did not have the heart to look at Minos. "Ruth?" She exclaimed to her friend to support her.

"Minos, don't play with her," Ruth said in a tone that showed no discomfort. "You truly are very bold, huh?"

"How do you think your fiancée will feel when she finds out that you were being so intimate with her best friend?" She said this as she mentioned Abby and such an engagement, something she deeply desired.

Minos then looked at the woman walking toward him, sensing his partner's desire for him.

He then looked at Mona and said. "Mona, if you don't leave this room now, you will see Ruth and me having sex."

"What?" That woman said this in surprise, not expecting him to be so direct with his intentions.

As for Ruth, although she blushed with embarrassment at hearing him talk like that in front of Mona, she could not say anything. After all, that was what she wanted to do right now!

Seeing how those two looked at each other, Mona promptly left Minos' arms and ran away.

'Is this how couples are when they see each other after months apart?' She bit her lips as she continued running. 'Even Ruth can be so shameless in situations like this...'

"Sigh..."

'When will I get my own boyfriend?' She wondered as she thought of a young man who had gone to the Flaming Empire along with her group.

...