The Rise of the Black Plain

After Minos and Maximillian entered these waters, the group stood outside the thing for 30 minutes.

Everyone there was tense, worried about what might have happened to their stronger companions after a few minutes without any sign of them.

Some of them were sweating slowly with nervousness, wondering if they should leave their positions and venture into the place to see what had happened.

But just as Ruth and some of them were about to move, Minos appeared in the small lake at the entrance to the cave.

"There is no danger ahead." He said with a smile on his face, making everyone there breathe a sigh of relief. "Come on, follow me. This place is fantastic. There are many possibilities here."

"Aren't we leaving someone on guard?" One of the robots asked.

Minos looked at the arrays they had set up in the area and said. "That won't be necessary. Maximillian and I identified the source of the phenomenon a few moments ago. We won't have to worry about it attracting the attention of any beings in the area, and the arrays you've set up will be enough to camouflage the area."

With that, the group soon began to follow him through the crystal clear water, swimming for about three minutes toward the bottom of the area where the most important part of the cave was located.

When they reached a relatively dark spot, lit by small crystals on the surrounding rocks, they left the water they were in and walked to a small underground "beach."

Immediately upon arriving there, Minos' people looked at the surroundings differently, just as this emperor and Maximillian had looked when they arrived there.

"Incredible!" A level 98 Gorgon said as she looked at the crystals and small plants surrounding this area, sensing the powerful resources there.

Everyone's eyes, except for the robots, glazed over, as Minos explained.

"This place seems to be a wonderful cave with possibilities for advancement!" He said as he smiled and introduced the place he and Maximillian had started exploring after arriving in this area minutes ago. "We've searched the whole area, and there doesn't seem to be any conscious beings here. However, we have found a number of compartments in this underground area that could be very useful to our group.

In addition to wild resources that we can harvest and use in the future, there are compartments in this area that look a bit like the place under the elves' Tree of Life in the Spiritual World.

Maximilian has already selected the resource that caused this phenomenon and has begun cultivating it in one area. But there are other places we can use here. Let's move on."

The people there followed behind him, looking at the few tunnels there.

The place looked like an ordinary cave with many special items around it, many small pools here and there, and better lit than ordinary caves due to the presence of a fluorescent mineral that made up the surrounding rocks.

Small wild plants grew not far from the pools, some of which had reached the level of Divine Medicines.

The group didn't try to pick any of them at first as they followed Minos.

They soon entered one of the first tunnels they saw on their way and came to an area that looked like a natural sauna.

In an area of about 55 square meters, there were several pools, each of them ideally sized to hold only one person.

But they weren't exactly the same. Each one contained water plants that glowed in different colors but also emitted different auras.

The group didn't need an explanation from Minos to understand what this was all about. "This... It's like a magic fountain!" One of the level 99 Demigods in the group exclaimed as he felt the great affinity he had with one of the ten small natural pools in the area.

Another said. "If I cultivate in this place with a Divine Medicine, I'm almost certain to reach the 11th stage!" Minos smiled in agreement. "Yes, that's the case. Maximilian and I intend to take a little seclusion in this wonderful cave. I have 5 Divine Medicines with me to give to you. I'll give them to the 5 closest to level 100 who have compatibility with one of these special pools. We'll stay here until you all reach level 100!"

The level 99 Demigods there quickly approached the pools they had the most affinity with, but three of them didn't have the compatibility with those pools to benefit from this place.

Minos then gave those four with compatibility, 4 of the 5 medicines he had brought from the Spiritual World, while another 3 individuals between levels 97 and 98 split up to take the other 6 vacant spots in that area.

Unfortunately, the group didn't have enough people to take advantage of all the opportunities there.

"Cultivate in this place as long as you need to. We'll wait for you to continue our journey to Examire." Minos said after dividing the place and indicating to the other group members to accompany him to another part of the cave.

They wanted to get to Examire to understand this world better and to make better use of the possibilities that existed in Zocarro. But when faced with a place like this, Minos and Maximillian couldn't rush to that city. It would be better for them to stay in this cave for one, two, or even three years and get more Gods, or rather Sovereigns than to go to Examire right away and miss this great opportunity.

Since there were many resources in this world that could help people reach level 100, and even the possibility of reaching the 11th stage without the help of resources, Minos didn't hold such resources for himself and Ruth.

He handed over the four medicines without blinking an eye and soon led the group to another cave area.

"How long do you think we'll be here?" Ruth asked him, imagining what it would be like for level 99 cultivators to advance to level 100 in this world.

If it were the Spiritual World, it would take these four at least ten years to succeed. But Ruth expected that in Zocarro, it would take much less than that.

"I think one year." Minos came right to the point, surprising Ruth and the others.

"That's it?" One of those level 99 people who hadn't found a place for themselves in this area asked seriously.

"Yes, I believe that outside of this place, using our Divine Medicine, it would take the four of them 3 to 4 years to advance to level 100. But this place we found is extraordinary and compatible with the four of them. So their breakthroughs should come in less than half the time." Minos said, trying to analyze the situation logically. "But I don't rule out the possibility that it will take less or more time. There are still too many things about this world that I don't understand to make precise analyses of this place."

After he said this, the group beside him reached another area of the cave, a place that seemed much more ordinary than where Maximillian or those seven individuals were now.