The Rise of the Black Plain

After Minos' words, Naomi tried to say something. Still, she was soon stopped by her mother, who was already watching their sect master watching her daughter strangely.

"Be quiet, Naomi." Sibley said in a low voice as the old subject leader of the Holy Sect diverted his gaze from her to look at Minos.

"Sect Master Stuart, congratulations on your advancement to the 8th stage. From now on, the possibilities in front of you will be endless." He said with a smile on his face, greeting Minos once again.

"Hmm, thanks for the words." He smiled back before saying. "On my return to the northern region, I will make it a point to visit your sect. When I return, I want to stop by Vogel to find out what the Assembly people are up to..."

"That's certainly a good idea... With what's happened, I'm sure many changes will occur." The level 79 Holy Sect master commented before moving on to the matter he wanted to address there. "In any case, I know that you have been negotiating rights and properties of the Gray Clouds Sect... Could I know the reason for that? Or is it a secret?"

Minos then said. "Not at all. It's not a secret. I'm just changing the power structure in the sect to make it fit your new priorities."

"Oh? Is that true?" That man asked, as the people in the vicinity of his table silently watched these people talking, interested in this question.

That was so important that the people at that table and everyone in that hall listened intently to what Minos and the Holy Sect master were talking about.

Spiritual Saints had a great hearing, and given that many there did not know about Minos' plans, his moves with this sect were strange and were getting everyone's attention.

So when Minos continued speaking, the silence was present at most of the tables in that area.

"Yes, the current focus of the sect is the Black Plain Empire. So any activities not related to that are being left aside."

"The Black Plain?" That man and some level 79 cultivators there were wondering the same thing.

"So you intend to take the Gray Clouds Sect out of the Flaming Empire? I feel like it won't be easy..." That man in front of Minos said, feeling that it was actually impossible to do this peacefully.

However, he and the other leaders there did not doubt Minos at all. Not for his recent deeds in Vogel and then with the elders of this sect. But for what had been happening recently with the strength of this organization.

All the major powers of the Flaming Empire were monitoring the movements of the most powerful organizations in the state. So, in addition to these powers already noticing that the number of members of the Gray Clouds Sect in the Black Plain kept increasing, they had noticed that the strength in this city had increased rather than decreased.

For thousands of years, this organization usually had only one Spiritual Saint at level 79 in its command, with rarely more than one appearing in the same generation. In fact, the most common thing to happen for a long time in this organization had been that there were no individuals at this level.

As in the recent past, for several centuries, Oswald had led this organization from levels 77 to 78.

But recently, after the ascension of Minos as sect master, suddenly, an elder who no one had expected to reach that level so soon had achieved his advancement to level 79.

That had surprised many in the Flaming Empire!

But besides the case of this elder from House Coleman next to Minos, several cultivators who had spent time on the Black Plain had returned stronger from that place. It was as if such a part of the northern region was actually superior to one of the best places in the Flaming Empire, that region where the sect was located.

Considering this, it was not impossible for Minos to go out of his way to take this organization out of the empire!

Minos then answered that sect master's question. "Not entirely. I will only extend my territories to that remote point while keeping the main forces at the core of the Black Plain Empire."

He looked at the surroundings, gradually glancing toward the other important people there. "In any case, I already have an agreement with the imperial family, so you can all be assured about the legality of my movements and the negotiations I am making."

'Why would the imperial family accept that? He's stealing power from the empire!'

Several people there wondered the same thing, ignorant of Minos' promises to the Edwardstone family.

Minos had promised stronger experts in exchange for the weaker ones from the Grey Clouds Sect. In practice, this would slowly unbalance the number of sect members between this territory and the Black Plain Empire.

At first, the ratio was 1:1, but the point would come when it would be 99:1, or even something even more favorable for the Black Plain.

However, in order to get all the 8th-stage experts from that sect out of the Flaming Empire, for example, Minos would have to put some Spiritual Sages in that place.

In return, these 9th-stage people, who would eventually allow all the other sect members to live in the northern region or wherever, would have to obey the imperial family.

That is, in the absence of Minos or his family, these men would have to obey the orders of the imperial family if such orders were not against the rules of House Stuart.

That was quite a trade-off!

The Edwardstone family had at most one Spiritual Sage per generation throughout their history. Still, Minos had made a deal that could guarantee that such an organization would command some individuals at that level.

Because of this, Isabella's family accepted his proposal, even if the supreme elder and the other high-level individuals in that family did not believe that Minos would succeed.

Those people in that hall of the Gray Cloud Sect did not know this, so they wondered why the imperial family would accept this or if Minos was not acting according to the rules.

Meanwhile, Minos continued greeting the people in that place, answering more questions, and also taking care of business.

Some there were members of rising powers, so they were not so concerned about whether Minos' moves were illegal or not. Instead, they wanted to know how much they would need to get some sect rights and properties from this emperor.

"Sect Master Stuart, I am interested in the core territories of your..." Minos listened to yet another offer, promptly making his subordinates in the vicinity take notes of those interested and listing those with the most potential to negotiate later.

But he would not sign any deals at this meeting. He would only talk to those interested in business but also to the leaders of local powers that might be affected by the imbalance of forces in the empire.

But then, someone asked. "Sect master Stuart, now that you are so strong, what are your interests? I mean, these displays of strength are not gratuitous, right? You must have ambitious goals, considering your power and history."

Everyone heard such a question and once again fell silent to hear that answer.

...