The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon arriving in that area of Vogel's capital, Minos' group encountered a place filled with high-level Spiritual Emperors, where they could even sense the presence of Spiritual Saints.

Obviously, they could not sense all the experts in the area since certain places with unique spiritual arrays could block the spiritual probing of people outside their action spaces.

But for Minos and Abby, who were not used to places like these, the number of experts in the surrounding area was already quite impressive.

States like Albano, Vogel and Flaming Empire were considered second-rate in the Spiritual World, while the Black Plain and the northern region were third-rate. But even so, places like these that Minos was in were quite strong and had experts that would rank well anywhere on the continent.

In the Spiritual World, regardless of where someone was, being above level 70 already meant an outstanding achievement worthy only of experts.

Therefore, being in such a place was a new experience for them, even considering the memories they had in their minds!

And considering that this city of 5 million people had almost 100,000 Spiritual Emperors, they could not help but observe the area and feel what their state would be like in a few more decades.

"This place is pretty strong, huh? Is the Flaming Empire stronger than this?" Abby asked as they walked toward the stairs of the Spiritual Church temple.

Hearing that, both Ruth and Gloria smiled from under their masks.

"Sure, much stronger," Ruth commented. "In terms of cultivators, below level 70, the difference is only in numbers. Precisely because of this, the neighboring states to the northern region are allies against the Empire."

Gloria nodded and continued Ruth's explanation. "But when it comes to experts, the numbers quite different, but also the quality of these individuals."

"Many of the Spiritual Saints from Vogel, or the other three kingdoms north of the Empire, don't have complete sets of Silver-grade techniques, nor do they even have Golden-grade techniques. So, they lose out on quality to those in the Empire."

"Also, the Empire has a greater variety of low-level Spiritual Saints, with professionals of all ranks, many of them to be precise."

"In Vogel, it's not like that. There are even professionals of all ranks, but they are scarce, and there are no high-level grade-3 professionals around here, something that there are in the Empire."

"Finally, while the Emperor is already a Spiritual Sage, the king of this state is only a Spiritual Saint."

Minos and Abby listened to all this carefully, getting some new information from these lines from Gloria.

He then asked. "Why doesn't the Emperor act against these kingdoms and end the problem between them?"

She looked at her husband's mask and laughed at his comment. "Because he is not you, dear. If he were, he would have already unified those four kingdoms and expanded the Empire's forces."

"Hmm, you know me well..." He made his three women laugh.

Gloria then continued. "Besides not being as impressive as you are, the Emperor has two major problems."

"Oh? What are they?" Abby asked.

Ruth said the first. "In the past, the Emperor won a bet with a high-level sect of the Flowers Kingdom. That helped him gain a protector, but also a problem."

The Flowers Kingdom was between the Flaming Empire, Evergreen Empire, and Eastern Empire, a state ruled by women, where men only served for reproduction.

That was the third smallest state in the Central Continent in terms of area and population, but it was one of the strongest in raw power.

Ruth continued while speaking in a funny tone. "If he ever leaves his state, he will have to marry the leader of that sect. Meanwhile, she, a high-level Spiritual Sage, is protecting the Empire from stronger opponents, fulfilling her promise to him in the past..."

"Uh?" Abby did not understand. "Then why is it a problem for him to leave the Empire? Wouldn't marrying a high-level Spiritual Sage be good for him?"

Gloria laughed and explained. "No, because the leader of that sect is rather special..."

Ruth said. "Let's just say she's not the kind of woman men are normally attracted to... So, it would be torture for the Emperor to be with her."

Minos looked in curiosity at those two women coming from the Flaming Empire. "Just say what the problem is."

Gloria said. "She is 3 meters tall, weighs about 200 kilograms, and is said to have an innate ability that when she mates, she devours her lover's testicles."

"What? Does something like that exist?" Abby's eyes widened.

"Hmm, all her husbands have turned eunuch after sleeping with her... But in contrast, she can get pregnant after once with a man. Because of this, she has more than 50 children, a true record in our world." Ruth said.

"Geez!" Minos exclaimed in surprise. 'It's a miracle this woman is still alive!'

Abby was shocked at such gossip, but she did not forget the other problem. "What about the second reason he can't act?"

Gloria then spoke of the second problem. "The kings of the four states north of the Empire have sacrificial techniques that, when combined, can be used to activate a low-level grade-4 weapon that the Emperor is susceptible to."

"So, if he took the risk of fighting, he would have a very high risk of dying along with his enemies."

"Because of these reasons, the Emperor does not act directly against these kingdoms. But it wouldn't be advantageous to fight either. All the states are more or less trying to avoid trouble because of the last war that happened."

"Such a war was so brutal that the power that existed at that time has not yet been fully recovered, even though thousands of years have passed."

"I see..." Minos muttered to himself, more or less understanding the situation these four states and the Flaming Empire were in.

'Well, if the Vogel family did something against me, then all that will change soon...' He pondered as his group approached members of the Church who were on the path to the inside of the temple in front of him.

'I will try to destroy this family with the Church, which will screw up the balance of power of these states. As a result, the Flaming Empire will have to consider the opportunity to eliminate the opponents, and the other three kingdoms will also be on alert...'

He frowned his eyebrows as he remembered something. 'But I have to help Albano. With the contract I signed, I must at least speak on their behalf and try to avoid trouble.'

"Sigh..."

'What a complication!'

'It would be better just to let them fight and open up opportunities for the Black Plain...' He regretted that he had already signed such an agreement.

'Well, I'll have to find a way to resolve any kind of imbalance peacefully.' He saw the Church symbol on the uniforms of the people in his group's path and thought. 'I'll have to use this organization!'

"Welcome to the local temple. Please, your IDs..." Minos heard the voice of one of those men dressed in black.

...