The Rise of the Black Plain

After two days of entering that building and making their way to its underground area, Minos' group faced several dangerous situations in this place.

After leaving the place that seemed to be a library, they came across several strange creatures on their way, but also traps and terrible phenomena in their path.

In one situation, they were attacked by spears stuck in the wall mechanisms they had to pass through to reach the lower levels. In another, a parasitic plant tried to attack them and take over their bodies on the way to a valuable resource for the group.

Amid these dangers, the group also found opportunities. The first was the chance to collect the blood of an underwater creature known for its healing powers. On another occasion, they came across fantastic items that, when used, could confer special characteristics on their users.

There was everything in this world. There were even artifacts that could make ordinary people much stronger when in possession of one. In the Spiritual World, there was nothing like this. But in Zocarro, one could even threaten the lives of Supreme beings while they were only low-level Sovereigns in possession of something like this.

Obviously, there weren't many such fantastic artifacts in the world. But there were weaker variations of these things, like some of the items the group had found in this place, and could be compared to the wings on Minos' back.

The group had also found absorbable cultivation resources, which they had already divided up according to their combination. Still, no one had tried to use them, of course.

They were now on the last level of this place, where the building's most valuable resource was, but also where the most problematic creature in the whole area was to protect said resource.

...

After leaving the penultimate level and arriving at the entrance to the last part of this grand underground building, the members of Minos' group looked tired and stressed.

As much as they had all survived by following Minos' advice and trying as hard as possible, they had suffered a lot to get there.

That could be seen not only in their expressions but also in their clothing, which was dirty and partially damaged, showing some of the wounds of those who had suffered the most among them.

Ruth and the doctor from their allied group had been helping the whole team a lot. Even so, specific injuries took longer to heal, so some weren't in their best condition.

It wasn't underwater monsters from this place that had done such a thing to them. It was a strange phenomenon related to the spatial and temporal distortions of this ruin.

As much as Minos was in the group and constantly acted to protect his people, spatial distortions would occasionally appear near them, causing problems for the group.

Earlier, they were just finishing off a monster in their path when, suddenly, powerful jets of hot water shot through a spatial distortion and hit four of them.

The force and speed of that phenomenon were so ridiculous that even the thick skins of level 99 Grandmasters were pierced by it before Minos could move and prevent the situation from getting worse.

Luckily, nothing worse happened, and even without Minos using his best, he brought his group entire to the top level of the building.

"The place ahead is a little more dangerous for us. There's a level 105 creature there protecting a special crystal." He warned his people as they stopped in front of a large metal door, the only thing standing in their way of the creature. "If we can beat it, we'll get something of great value for our cultivation and security in this place over the next few months."

"What exactly is this crystal?" One of the aliens there asked.

It wasn't just anything that would justify them risking themselves against a level 105 being!

They were confident of dealing with a level 103 being. Still, level 105 was two steps too high, and some of them didn't want to risk that much, even if they had some methods for dealing with such strong beings after some of their successes in this underground construction.

Minos explained. "I don't know exactly what to call this crystal. But near it, these spatial and temporal distortions won't affect us. Then, we'll be able to stay safely in this area until the monsters on the surface depart from the area in our path and allow us to move on in this ruin.

Moreover, this crystal seems to be an interesting one to cultivate near it. As much as we can't absorb the resources we've obtained so far, we can meditate while we wait for our moment to move again."

Minos looked at the individuals who had been left with the special artifacts they had found in the last 48 hours of exploration and said. "If we fight together, we might be able to eliminate that creature and stay in this place safely for a few months."

Those beings who had been left with the artifacts that could make them stronger looked at each other, aware that their artifacts were powerful but that they could be damaged if exposed to their limits.

These artifacts and the other resources the group had found so far had been divided up in a simple way. They were divided according to the affinity of the beings there.

Three of the four artifacts they had found were compatible with two of Minos' allies and one of his guildmates.

The last item was incompatible with anyone and was in Minos' spatial ring.

They had obtained three absorbable resources, one of which could be shared between several people and two of the individual type. One was with Minos' allies, and the other with his group, in the space ring of the only one compatible with such a thing.

The three individuals looked at each other thoughtfully. Their items were precious and could help them a lot. So they didn't want to risk a fight against a level 105 being. But on the other hand, the strange phenomena of this place could threaten the lives of all of them. Their items weren't defensive, so these things wouldn't protect them.

"All right, let's do it." One of them said after hesitating for a minute about what to do.

The others agreed soon after, and Minos said. "Let's wait for our recovery potions to take effect. Once we're in our ideal state, we'll attack."

After saying this, Minos looked through the side gaps of the large door in front of him. From there, he could see a purple glow inside that area, but also a strange creature that looked like a mixture of root and slime and could create body parts at will.

As long as they managed to beat that being, the next few months in this place would be guaranteed!