The Rise of the Black Plain

After returning to his office in the official part of the imperial palace, Minos received a letter from one of the men under Julian's staff command.

'Minos, our seer, has informed us that the entrance to the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom will soon open within your influence. Take this opportunity to grow stronger and improve the wealth of your forces.

Enter this place and go to...' Minos read the entire contents of that letter, reading the many recommendations of Julian but also noting the advantages of being a member of a peak force in this world.

Along with Julian's advice, there was a map of parts of the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom, something the Pantheon Of Honor people had created after several generations of their members passed such a place.

There wasn't the whole area of that Spatial Kingdom mapped out, but there was enough for one not to be totally bewildered when arriving there.

At the same time, there were several indications of dangerous places for people with Minos' combat proficiency, places he should avoid, but also interesting areas for him and his people to pass through.

Sometimes certain opportunities would be for those who reached them first, but others would only be for compatible people. An already mapped area did not mean that everything in it had been taken by generations of experts who came before Minos' group.

Spatial rings also had limited storage, and sometimes one could not carry all the riches they could.

Moreover, there might be corpses of former experts who entered such a Spatial Kingdom and died there, where spatial rings with relevant resources could be found.

Knowing this, Minos was naturally pleased to receive this help from Julian.

He looked at the map and soon put it away in his spatial ring, keen to settle some matters quickly and get back to focusing on his cultivation.

But he soon wrote something to send to Julian, thanking him but also talking about some of his plans.

...

Three days after Minos received Julian's letter, this level 97 Demigod received the young Emperor Stuart's reply.

'Elder Julian, thank you for the map and the earlier advice. I intend to enter the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom soon. This information can help me significantly.

In any case, I will not be communicating with the rest of the temple for some time due to my seclusion prior to opening the portals of this Spatial Kingdom. I expect to be close to advancement by the time I enter this region, so you shouldn't think it's strange to go without news from me for a while.

However, I intend to leave the Central Continent on a journey to the Continent of Beasts once I leave the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom...'

Julian read Minos' letter, liking what this young man had detailed in that document.

Unlike many people in the Central Continent, this man knew that Minos was currently at level 82, as well as with the time remaining before the full opening of that Spatial Kingdom and the time it would last, such a young man could be at level 83 by the end of it.

That was a magnificent cultivation speed!

He still felt goosebumps thinking about where Minos would reach by the time of the Continental Tournament.

He didn't know what Minos intended to do on the Continent of Beasts, but that wouldn't be a bad move. Temporarily getting away from the chaotic Central Continent could be an excellent thing. Besides, in the lands of the beasts, Emperor Stuart could find new challenges, which he did not have in his homeland.

In the Central Continent, people already knew well how strong Minos was. So either opponents of the same combat level did not challenge him, or his enemies were too strong for him.

In other words, Minos had practically no opponents to fight fair and competitive battles in his land.

But in a place where he was just a stranger, like the Continent of Beasts, he could face fairer opponents without running so many dangers of being attacked by powerful Demigods.

Hence, Julian naturally liked what he read in Minos' message.

"He's doing well... The boy is not bad at all in his plans." Julian muttered as he destroyed Minos' message, keeping that information to himself.

The others didn't need to know about the plans of his faction's hope!

...

Meanwhile, in the Dry City...

A few days had passed since the news of the opening of the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom reached the empire's capital.

Many important members of the Stuart family were now in seclusion, preparing for Minos' eventual departure to that place.

When it was time for him to leave, only non-essential personnel and some of the grandmothers of Minos' children would remain in the Spatial Kingdom. At the same time, the strongest of the state would stand guard around the empire.

That was why many of the strongest specialists were around the Spatial Kingdom training and cultivating, trying to raise their strength to the maximum in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, Sarah was doing the opposite of these people, roaming the Dry City while having fun.

Her time of freedom would probably end when her father went to the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom, and she would only have the opportunity to leave again after that time.

As she headed to one of the stores she frequented most in the central part of the city, Sarah was planning her next steps.

'I'll probably gain some freedoms after I become a Saint... But not before my father goes to the Continent of Beasts. Then I'll try to reach level 70 by the time he leaves for Aunt Emlyn's lands.' She clenched her fists.

'When I become a Saint, I will ask my father to leave me on the Black Plain during his journey to the tribe of the Nine-Tailed Foxes!' She smiled, imagining that she would finally succeed in her attempts to remain in the empire during her old man's absence.

'If he accepts, he will probably try to make things difficult for me by giving me various responsibilities, but that will still be better than being unable to leave the Spatial Kingdom for years!'

As she thought of this, she entered an art store in Dry City, where a rising painter and sculptor locally sold his services.

Not only did this person sell paintings and sculptures that could greatly help weaker cultivators become stronger through studying them, but he also offered his skills to paint portraits for people interested in having images of themselves.

Sarah had recently hired the services of this expert and came once a week to this place to model for him.

As she entered the small store of this Spiritual Sage, she came across that painter and sculptor, a handsome man at level 86 with long black hair.

"Your Highness, welcome back. Shall we continue?" He looked at her and showed the way to his studio.

Sarah smiled at him, eager to get on with it and receive her portrait.