The Rise of the Black Plain

Meanwhile, in the Flaming Empire...

At this moment, Ruth was in her Miles family's area, within the Grey Clouds Sect's property.

The Gray Clouds Sect had a massive headquarters, more significant than average cities typically found in the northern region of the Central Continent. Because of this, even if this organization had a large number of members, there was room for all of them on this property.

But not only was this place prominent, but the sect itself also had several other properties around its territory in this southeastern part of the Flaming Empire.

So, the headquarters of this great sect had much more than just the necessary structure for the disciples and elders to carry out their activities and live around here. It also had the headquarters of the prominent families behind this sect!

Among them was the family of Minos' girlfriend, the Miles family.

Anyway, within the main property of Ruth's sect, the prominent families of this organization were scattered around the best areas to live.

Such places either had a natural concentration of spiritual energy denser than others through the arrays of this estate or had land with certain qualities, in general, areas of great value.

So, Ruth's family estate was not close to the village of ordinary disciples like her.

Even though they lived on the same property as the Gray Clouds Sect, this organization did not allow young disciples like Ruth to continue living with their respective families.

At first, this might seem strange, but such a thing was nothing more than a measure to maintain order in the sect. That was to show that all disciples were equal until they proved themselves independently.

One could have a noble background, like Ruth. Others could have humble origins. It made no difference. They would live in similar places and have some primary, equal opportunities.

Only after one began to prove himself on his own would such an individual stand out from the rest and gain privileges.

And by the customs of this organization, even someone with support like Ruth, if she did not try her best, could fall behind someone humble but with talent and effort on his side.

Because of this, Ruth did not live with her family and had to cross this large estate to reach the place where her parents lived.

In any case, as she made her way along White's back, Ruth did not take long to reach her destination, one of the many houses in a residential area near a lake.

...

Passing through the front door of her parents' house, Ruth immediately made her way down the main hallway without paying much attention to the modern and luxurious decor of that place.

Scanning who was around, she quickly ignored the faintest signs of beasts and some of the humans who took care of the place and went directly to where someone at level 70 was.

Upon arriving where that person was, Ruth immediately saw a woman who resembled her but had a very mature look, which she would only achieve after a few millennia in this world.

Anyway, that woman was gorgeous, and her vitality seemed much better than Ruth's.

In fact, if one ignored their level and the experienced look of that woman, one might well think that these two were sisters, maybe even that Ruth was the older one.

However, Elise Fitzgerald, Ruth and Talia's mother, was undoubtedly many times older than her daughters.

But even if she was almost 2,000-years-old, this woman could perfectly manipulate her appearance due to her stage!

And even if she did not, her life expectancy of over 6,000 years would still give her an excellent appearance and vitality, like that of a level 0 woman in her thirties.

But Elise values her youthful appearance, so she kept herself using small amounts of her energy to accomplish this.

Anyway, Ruth was used to her old mother, and the only thing that caught her attention in that woman with black hair, dressed in a green dress, sitting on a white sofa, was the black and white cat on her lap.

This cat was lying on Elise's lap, with his belly up, enjoying the massage she was giving him.

That was Ruth's family pet, Milo.

In the Spiritual World, humans not only used animals, low-level beasts, for food. Some of them, like cats, were usually seen as specimens to have as part of the family.

In the case of cats, these Spiritual World creatures had the strange ability to soothe, to cause positive feelings in their fellow humans.

And so, many wealthy families in the Spiritual World had cats as pets.

That was the case in Ruth's family, and the moment this woman saw that 'fluff ball,' she smiled, waving to her childhood friend whom she had not seen in years.

"Meow!" Milo said in his language, jumping out of Elise's arms, running up to Ruth, and then jumping into her arms.

As she felt Milo rubbing his face against hers and making some sounds typical of that species, Ruth sat down next to her mother.

"Ruth, I hear that you have been spending little time in the sect recently..." That woman's mother said this, observing her daughter with an interesting look on her face. "What have you been doing in the northern region?"

"I hope you're not making any big mistakes..."

"Don't forget from where you are," Elise said, warning her daughter of the dangers and bad decisions that young people could face on their path.

She knew the basics about why her daughter was so interested in the northern region. After all, not only did Talia already know about it, but Maisie had already talked about it with her.

Elise might not have a much better position than Maisie in the sect since Minos' mother was more talented than she was. But still, as someone stronger, who had been at the 8th stage for quite a while, Ruth's mother had the privilege of respect.

And for that, Minos' mother had given her some answers.

But still, Elise wanted to hear directly from her daughter such things and the intentions that this young woman might or might not have.

Purr!

Upon hearing her mother's question, Ruth continued to play with Milo while she looked on in silence to Elise.

After thinking for a while, she then said. "I think you already know what I was doing in the northern region, mom."

"Haha, but of course. But I don't know everything..."

"Why don't you explain it to me properly? I heard from your sister that you are not protecting yourself." Elise said, looking at Ruth with a disciplinarian expression.

She had no problem with her daughter hanging around the northern region and having fun with Minos.

She particularly did not approve, as she desired for her daughters to have the best that the world had to offer.

In this case, in her opinion, Ruth could find more suitable partners in the empire.

She had nothing against Minos. But there were so many options that could be better than him in the Flaming Empire that she could not help but think that her daughter was being too hasty in her decisions.

The people in the northern region were less talented, with lower grade Physiques, and had access to few resources. But not only that, Minos had already shown intention to stay in that region, even considering the possibility of Maisie bringing him to this place.

That only made it worse!

So, considering that she wanted her daughters to one day to surpass her and live longer and better than her, Elise was not okay with all of this.

Especially since she had already discovered that Ruth seemed to want to get pregnant, something that in itself could be a danger for women!

Pregnancy always has its risks, and after a successful one, the mother would be in a weakened state for a while. However, this was not the worst-case scenario!

Complications could happen during the birth or even before. And such a possibility could even put the mother's life at risk!

In the case of a pregnancy generated by cultivators with different talents and degrees of Physique, this risk would be even more significant!

People of differing talents and degrees of Physique had lower chances of making the first step of pregnancy, fertilization. But achieving this step would not mean guaranteed success.

Before the baby was born, several stages would occur in that woman's belly, which could take several years before it was finally time to deliver.

And in the meantime, things could go wrong!

On the other hand, even if everything went right, having a child would still not be easy. What would happen after the birth of a little Minos or a little Ruth?

Would the child have the opportunity to grow up with his father and mother? Or would he have to live with one of the two, as Minos would certainly not come to the empire?

With all this in mind, Elisa was worried that her daughter's decisions might lead her to the same mistake Maisie had made in the past...