The Rise of the Black Plain

While the selection of new soldiers for the Black Plain Army was taking place in the Dry City, six days passed quickly.

The physical examination and oral test results would come out today, and tomorrow, the next stage of this selection in which the competitors would fight each other would begin.

After that day of exams, the thousands of competitors had been eagerly awaiting such a moment when they could finally fight for places.

The city was vibrant, and even the fights in the local arena had increased in frequency. Some competitors felt that it was more appropriate to spend this remaining time fighting each other, improving their respective combat proficiencies.

Consequently, even people who had no involvement in the selection of soldiers were excited. Being able to see more and more fights in the local arena was beneficial for them, being something that was both educational and exciting to watch!

After all, fights have always been in the taste of cultivators, even those of ordinary people. That was a form of entertainment that moved the masses!

...

At the same time, in which the Dry City lived this special moment, a group of three men entered a specific establishment in a city full of flowers in the Cromwell Kingdom.

Of the three, one wore noble clothes, looking like a young knight, while carrying a sword on his back, which contrasted with his noble side. Beside him, two middle-aged men accompanied him. They wore different armor but with the same engraved symbol.

This symbol looked like a deer, which had several thorns around its neck, dripping like blood.

That was the symbol of the Reid family of the Kingdom of the Waves!

Of these three people, the young nobleman who the two middle-aged men were escorting was the brother of the late Tristram Reid, who Minos had killed in the Peak of the Fog.

After Christian had received the ultimatum of Tristram's wife, Misty, this 'good brother' had immediately begun preparations to settle this matter.

He had gathered all the information the family had discovered so far, which had led him to the City of Flowers, Tristram's last known location.

And by finding out about the conflict that had taken place in these areas at the time of Tristram's death, the Reid family had already found out about the person who had sold such information.

In fact, by the time Misty had 'challenged' him, the Reid family had already found out about the old man who had sold the information about the medicine. However, they had discovered this through the help of an associate in the Cromwell Kingdom, who had heard about the matter.

Then, after receiving such news, Christian had decided to take responsibility for it and come here. It had taken him over two months to get across the entire distance between the Reid family's headquarters and the City of Flowers, which he had arrived at last night.

At the same time, one of the people who had already been sent ahead, one of the two men who were with him, had already located the old man in question. This subordinate of the Reid family had been keeping an eye on that man since he learned Christian would be in charge of this matter.

Anyway, after all that, the three people were finally in a relic shop, where outside there was a prominent symbol of a bird looking at a map.

Upon entering that place, the group could see a series of shop windows with different maps and prices. Other than that, there were a few navigational artifacts here and there, as would be seen in any store of this type.

Finally, there were few customers at the time, only two of them, while an old man was attending in a small reception there.

And seeing this old man, the subordinate who the Reid family had sent before Christian, then said to the young man in a low voice. "Young master, that is the man we are looking for. He is the one who sold the information about Warrior-grade medicine at that time."

"Oh? All right, let's talk to him." Christian said at the same time that he was walking directly to where the owner of this store was.

At the same time, this old man immediately noticed the arrival of new customers, who seemed to want to talk to him. He then left his place and went straight to Christian's group with a smile on his face. "May I know how I can help you?" He said politely.

This man, of course, had sensed the strength of the three who had just entered this place. After all, they were dressed differently, as if they were a powerful group, so there was no way this man could not try to probe them.

And in doing so, he quickly realized that of the three, one was at level 45, one at 47, and the other at 48. That was a formidable force to travel across the north of the Central Continent!

With that, this old man had not taken long to get up and serve them with as much politeness as possible.

Finally, Christian looked at the person in front of him, who looked like a man without much more time to live, thin and dry and full of gray hair. He then started talking. "We learned that your store, in addition to having superb navigation materials, there is also the possibility of buying information, is that right?"

Upon hearing the compliment, the shop owner immediately smiled and commented. "Haha, you are very kind. But in fact, we sell some information in this humble shop. May I know what you want to know?"

"A few weeks before the Spiritual Tournament took place. This store sold the location of a certain Warrior-grade medicine to various individuals. I want to know about the information of each of these people." Christian said resolutely.

He wasn't here to act against this old man. After all, in addition to being the only one who could help them solve this matter, the owner of this store was also a figure who only cared about crystals. So, instead of causing a bigger problem by attacking this old man, Christian would just use the easier and faster way.

That would avoid offending the rulers of this town, who did not allow fighting in the city's urban area.

Anyway, upon hearing Christian's response, the old owner of this store was surprised for a moment, as he remembered that event. But he wasn't scared or anything like that, as situations like this had happened to him in the past.

Some individuals or organizations were very fond of causing and solving problems. Such a thing was very profitable!

'Hehe, it looks like my bet was right! Some big shot must have died at that event, and now his family is looking into the matter!' He thought.

And this old man had already got used to this lifestyle. So, he quickly thought about it, without getting too emotional, when he started to speak. "Oh, so that's it... Well, I naturally don't have the names of those involved, as I don't ask for that kind of information."

"However, I have detailed descriptions of each of them." He said this with a slight smile on his face.

As an 'informant,' this old man had long ago learned how valuable preventive work was...

If he wanted to cause and solve problems, he needed to have the means to do so. Only then could he profit the most from it!

And by selling the information about the location of that spiritual medicine, this old man already knew what could happen at that time. Therefore, competitors for this item had a high chance of getting involved in a battle for that item, resulting in deaths.

And as many nobles participated in the Spiritual Tournament, this old man knew that knowing how to identify the appearances of those people would be relevant to his business!

So, he had used one of his subordinates to produce paintings, with the approximate appearances of each of those people who bought that information...

"The descriptions? Do you talk about images or just physical characteristics?" One of the Reid family's subordinates asked promptly.

"Both things, hehe."

"Well, haha, I'm going to buy information and paintings from these people. How much do you want for this?" Christian asked with a smile on his face.

He couldn't help but be happy with this result. That would help a lot in this young man's plans.