The Rise of the Black Plain

"If that's true, he must be pretty weakened in the elder Wren's test," Aarav commented.

"Elder Wren, put an opponent inside your illusion so we can test how this young man can get stronger. I want to see how accurate Julian's words are." One of those very strong, middle-aged-looking, level 99 men suggested.

They all trusted Julian's abilities to highlight talents and discover impressive things. So it was worth giving Minos a chance and letting him show his true powers.

Wren didn't like being ordered around like this, let alone having to create a worthy opponent for Minos. It seemed that she would be easing the test on him by doing so.

But since the others seemed to agree with the idea, she immediately manipulated her ability, creating a level 85 warrior next to Minos, while Emperor Stuart suffered not to be crushed by that puzzle piece.

"Someone at that level must be weak enough for him, right?" She looked in Julian's direction.

"Hmm, I believe so." He said, focused on what Minos would do next.

Meanwhile, inside the illusion created by Wren, Minos noticed the emergence of a level 85 warrior below his avatar.

Looking at that person, he was even more amazed at this woman's ability.

'If she becomes a God someday, she will be able to create her illusory world! This ability is really terrible!' He thought but immediately tried to activate his innate ability on that man looking at him defiantly.

Minos immediately realized that the people testing him wanted to see if it would strengthen him in any way because it wouldn't make sense for someone of level 85 to show up there to attack him or anything.

Just the 'mountain' above him would be enough to crush him in a few more moments!

Then, in the blink of an eye, Minos stole the cultivation base of that imaginary being, who had a spiritual spark he could access the same way he did with real opponents.

Suddenly Minos' level rose to level 81!

When this happened, his Soul Avatar as a whole became stronger, and he lifted his body a little more, better withstanding the pressure of that 'mountain.'

The elders outside the illusion saw that and reacted in the way Julian had already expected.

"He raised his level?"

"Is that really possible?"

"Innate abilities have no limits... This young man was born with a rare ability of energy control." The oldest of these elders commented, looking with much more interest at Minos. "It's not for nothing. That's why Julian recommended him."

Everyone commented something about Minos' ability, while Wren frowned, sensing how easily Minos had improved his conditioning.

"But is that your limit?"

Then Minos' level rose to level 82, further eroding the powers of the originally level 85 imaginary being!

In that instant, Minos could lift his entire body and successfully hold the puzzle piece above him.

The weight of it was impressive, and every muscle in his body was trembling. However, unlike moments ago, now Minos could hold it for as long as Wren would push him.

All the high-level Demigods watching him stood silently appraising him for the next few moments, watching Minos withstand Wren's movement.

It was clear to them that Minos' limit was the beginning of level 90 while not using his fusions.

But they had all heard from Julian that he could fuse techniques and had even performed the miracle of fusing three techniques simultaneously.

These men still hoped to see more of him, even if they wouldn't give him a chance to do any of these fusions.

What they wanted to judge were Minos' basics, how solid his cultivation was, how his innate ability could evolve if he reached level 100, and a Divine-grade Physique.

The foundations of his techniques were what was most relevant for his fusions to be powerful, so seeing these techniques in action was more important than anything else.

After 5 minutes of the first test, Wren made a few hand seals, and the puzzle piece above Minos disappeared, relieving the pressure on him.

Immediately after this, Minos felt a great deal of mental pressure falling on him as the floating pieces in the surroundings came together to form an exquisite square, preventing the passage of light to where he was standing.

Amidst the darkness, creatures seemed to form in his surroundings while his vision became blurred.

However, as she tried to test Minos' mental soundness, Wren frowned, noting that he was much stronger mentally than physically.

"It looks like he'll pass this test easily." She commented as she felt him activating several abilities simultaneously, not being able to stop him from doing so while respecting the rules imposed by her companions.

Infinite Dream!

Minos immediately activated his mental technique, feeling a much lighter weight on his mind.

But he didn't stop there. Elder Wren could impede his techniques, not his abilities.

While still at level 82, Minos quickly activated visual ability and Dark Sea simultaneously.

Darkness was one of his great affinities. Elder Wren's test had a major flaw due to the ability he had gained from the God of Death's inheritance.

When the darkness in the surroundings synchronized with that generated by Minos' soul, the imaginary creatures forming in the area immediately dissolved into thin air.

At the same time, Minos' eyes shone brightly, and he could see better in the dark, seeing through the enemy's movement.

Using these three movements simultaneously, Minos destroyed the elder Wren's attempt at mental pressure on him!

Crack!

The large cube formed cracked, and light again entered that inner area, signaling another success for Minos.

Seeing this, Julian smiled outside that illusion-realist, noting that his fellow council members were approving of Minos' abilities.

'Keep it up, young Minos. Two more successes, and I'm sure you'll be accepted into the Pantheon Of Honor!'

Meanwhile, the four elders watched Minos as he broke elder Wren's test, staring at the screens in front of them with smiles in their eyes.

Just as Julian had thought when he first met Minos, they were all considering what Minos would become when he reached their cultivation level.

None of them felt threatened by this thought because they thought that by then, they would either be dead or would have advanced to level 100.

So all that was in their minds at the moment was interest and anticipation for what would happen if he succeeded in the challenges on his journey and one day became like them!

...