The Rise of the Black Plain

The first few days of Minos' group in Kilburn passed quickly, without any major incidents or level advancements for the group's Spiritual World personnel.

The first few days of Minos' crew in Kilburn had basically been about getting used to the place, learning more of the local language, and discovering more of the opportunities available in this city.

Although Kilburn wasn't the most interesting place for the Zocarro group to grow up, this simple place had a lot of opportunities for people as "backward" as they were.

That could be seen in Accan's shop, where resources that would make the strongest in the Spiritual World fight to the death for them were sold at 'affordable' prices.

Obviously, the price of 5th-grade items in this place wasn't low, and only those at the end of the 10th stage or beginning of the 11th stage would have a chance to gather the capital needed to buy them. But unlike the Spiritual World, where someone would only agree to negotiate for a Divine Medicine in a very drastic situation, it was possible to buy such things in this place in shops all over the world.

Kilburn was just a small city in a relatively remote area of Zocarro where there weren't even any Gods. But even there, some shops sold such impressive resources!

There were other local opportunities that might be of interest to Minos's group, such as professionals who could create special resources through their skills, fighters who were willing to demonstrate different fighting styles, and so on.

There were other local opportunities that might be of interest to Minos's group, such as professionals who could create special resources through their skills, fighters who were willing to demonstrate different fighting styles, and so on.

Realizing the value of the place to them, the group spent a few days learning about the local opportunities while improving their language skills.

After just one week, the group already had a completely different view of Zocarro than when they left the area where they had been for six months.

And with that, the group got to work, gathering resources, collecting coins, and producing what they needed to further advance their forces.

None of the group made any progress in their first few days in Kilburn, but that was about to change!

...

By the Minos group's third week in Kilburn, some of the locals who had been looking at them strangely were less concerned about their presence in the city.

As much as the locals still had their eyes open for the group of space explorers and didn't doubt that they could do something at any moment, they couldn't help but become less concerned with each passing day.

Minos' group had been very quiet and had followed the local rules to the letter. They were good-natured and always offered their help to the locals, even if there was no promise of profit.

They didn't get any valuable prizes in return for their good behavior. However, the locals' willingness to talk to them was enough for them to get information and stories from this world.

The remaining spiritual experts in the group took advantage of this to try to improve their skills, while the others merely stored useful information about this world.

With that, more pills and resources made with the skills of the last alchemist of the group were produced and delivered to each of the crew members.

The group had talked a lot with beings from this world and heard comments that agreed with what they had imagined. Their cultivation base was weak compared to what one would normally find on Zocarro. It was worthwhile for them to take in more resources and make more rapid progress before focusing on traditional meditation.

So, after several successful activities in Kilburn, the group took a day off to go into seclusion and make new breakthroughs.

After two days of meditation, the first to succeed in their attempts left their meditation states stronger than before, feeling different but without the downside normally associated with rapid breakthroughs in the Spiritual World.

...

"Level 94..." Minos awoke from his meditation and muttered to himself, unbelieving that a little over 8 months ago, he was only at level 92.

In such a short time, he had increased his level significantly, but his spiritual foundation had only evolved, becoming more stable and robust than ever.

Now that he was so strong, he felt that if he were in the Spiritual World, his cultivation wouldn't be considered level 94, but level 95!

Of course, this made him feel even more in control of his powers, and he felt he could use his Time control ability to a much greater extent than before. At the same time, he was now confident that he could face the gods who had invaded the Spiritual World months ago head-on, even without the secret weapons that had allowed him to fight so well that day.

'Unfortunately, I can't go back to the Spiritual World now. Otherwise, I'd crush those bastards!' He clenched his fists as he remembered Isabella.

However, he was in no hurry. He had a great opportunity ahead of him, and he could raise his level a few more times before returning to the Spiritual World!

He then left the place his group had been using as a meditation area and quickly caught up with Ruth, who had already finished her meditation and was currently in the middle of level 93!

"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Minos." She said as she hugged him while hearing similar words from her husband.

"You will reach level 94 in about three years at the most, Ruth. That's fantastic progress." He smiled at her, imagining how her skills would become more effective for their entire group as they continued on this journey.

He and she were the youngest and most talented of the group. They also had Divine Physiques, so their abilities and cultivation speed were far superior to everyone else in the group.

Even though the others were also getting stronger, they were improving at a slower rate than them, which might allow Ruth to become more influential in the group over time.

As someone who had a very interesting ability to save lives, Ruth naturally had high expectations for her strengthening.

"Everyone in the group has improved. Only Maximilian and the three group members who were previously at level 99 haven't advanced to the next level. But they are all stronger." She commented to him.

Minos nodded as he looked at the rest of the group. Except for those four people who were still cultivating but were unlikely to be able to advance, everyone else in the group had improved their cultivation.

Even the alien from The Adamant Land who was in the group had advanced and was now at level 93.

Why had Minos' group cultivated even this enemy? He was the official guinea pig of the group, and Emperor Stuart thought he could help them when they finally went to The Adamant Land. So, they kept him alive and even gave him opportunities to advance.

Apart from him, Ruth, and Minos, everyone else in the group was between level 97 and 100, with seven Demigods currently at level 99 and three of them already at the peak of that level.

They wouldn't be able to advance to level 100 now, but as soon as the group had a chance to stop for a longer retreat, Minos and Ruth were sure that these three could become Sovereigns/Gods!