The Rise of the Black Plain

Meanwhile, in the capital of Veora Kingdom...

In the central area of this state, which was only slightly larger in area than Stone Island, was the local power center, where this large family mostly lived.

Even though they had direct members of their family living all over the state to maintain local order, most of them were obviously in this large city of over 8 million inhabitants.

In this place, several Spiritual Demigods were stationed, working, keeping watch, or cultivating in seclusion in the royal family's headquarters or around the city.

There weren't many people at this stage of cultivation in the entire kingdom, only 50. But, there were people at every level up to level 96 in this city.

Among them, the local heir, level 91, was currently standing next to some of his family members, dealing with everyday matters.

Due to the form of government, his family used in Veora, members of the royal family always took on relevant roles in the state, and it wouldn't do to have at least a few hundred thousand people under their wing.

Even though the Veora family was more numerous than one would normally find in families throughout the continent, they were also not as numerous as the descendants of the Mcbride family. As such, there was no shortage of activity for royalty, and one would not see useless princes or princesses locally.

Case in point, the local heir was at this instant talking to his people about the situation of his neighbors, Black Plain Empire to the north, Flaming Empire to the east, Western Empire to the west, and Mairin to the south.

"Your Highness, the kingdom's situation could become more complicated in the coming years." One of the women there with the local heir said, trying to predict what would happen ahead. "The Western Empire seems to be preparing for something. Meanwhile, the Church's situation with Emperor Stuart has been making the Black Plain Empire strange...

Some family experts even think this will generate some kind of commotion on the continent."

"Commotion?" The prince frowned his eyebrows.

His state had already communicated with the Black Plain Empire, as that state had already shown itself to be quite capable and with a minimally promising future ahead. So even his powerful family was no longer ignorant of Minos, and both kept informed about this state and already had contact and business there.

But this man did not believe a situation in the northern region could cause a continent-wide commotion!

That, to him, was an exaggeration!

That woman explained what she and family experts saw in the problem. "This is not because of the growth of the Black Plain Empire but because of the powers involved. The Spiritual Church and the Evergreen family seem very interested in that area.

There are also reports that the Flowers Kingdom is very close to Emperor Stuart's state and his alliance with the Flaming Empire."

As much as the Flaming Empire was not a worry-level state, it was strategically positioned in the Central Continent. It bordered virtually every region on the continent and was an essential passage for people traveling across the continent.

At the same time, it had a significant population, which higher-level states placed great importance on.

The reason for this? Something called faith.

Anyway, the state of Harold was a means for Church troops to reach this kingdom, and naturally, the local forces kept their attention on this area.

That woman finished her speech. "Because of the increased movement of Spiritual Sages in these two states, with even some Demigods showing themselves there, this could bring about major changes before long!"

One of the cousins of the local heir then said. "Your Highness, the situation in the northern region may well decide some critical things for the kingdom.

For example, our plans against the Church could be greatly undermined if your group continues to develop through the domains of the Stuart Emperor."

Hearing this, the prince became more serious, knowing that the future of his state depended on it.

His state was a theocracy. As such, it opposed the Spiritual Church and had plans to keep its population loyal to its leaders.

But this could be threatened if they had that organization even closer to their domains, growing in the northern region, where the population was getting stronger and stronger.

There was a possibility of cultivating the figure of the leaders in the Spiritual World. And the stronger that leader's followers were, the better the benefits to those people.

But faith was somewhat complicated. It wasn't enough for one to gather hundreds of millions of devotees. They also couldn't allow others to have too much faith in them nearby. Otherwise, this would nullify one's gains.

It was like a mountain having two leaders. It wouldn't work, one of the two would have to perish, or neither could flourish to their full potential.

In the Spiritual World, there were only a few 'spaces' for people who gathered faith in themselves, so it was in the interest of each group battling for it to ward off or lessen the gains of their opponents.

The Spiritual Church was the largest hoarder of faith around its leader in the entire Central Continent. So the best way to act against it and benefit in this matter in the present times would be to prevent this organization from gaining an advantage in the northern region, a growing place in terms of population and spiritual strength.

Since it was in this prince's interest to diminish the faith of the inhabitants of the northern region in the Church, he couldn't help but worry about the local situation in the empire of Minos.

"Let's send some people to Dry City. If Emperor Stuart is willing, we will help him counter the actions of the Evergreen Empire forces as long as he doesn't sell out to the Church in the future." He said to his group.

"If we help his group, maybe we can get something in that region..." The wife of the First Prince said, smiling, as there were over 3 billion people currently under Minos' sphere of influence.

These 3 billion were weak, but still, the faith of 10% of them would already be equivalent to the faith power they could accumulate if their state grew by 30%, something practically impossible to happen.

...

Meanwhile, the king of this state was dealing with matters of a higher level than his first son.

King Veora was with his right-hand man, the supreme elder of the family, walking through a courtyard of the royal palace.

The two had worried expressions on their faces, making their middle-aged faces look uglier than usual.

The supreme elder of that family said. "Emperor Travisani is moving. Something urgent and of great importance is happening in the Eastern Empire."

"I wonder what has happened? I heard that he had been keeping calm lately." The king commented, not understanding what could make the strongest man on the continent become anxious.

He knew that something was happening, but he didn't know what it was. Because of this, he was naturally nervous since not knowing things was highly uncomfortable.

"I don't know, but I believe that soon the Spiritual Church or the Western Empire will show us the emperor's concern." This gray-haired fellow said, sensing that a storm was brewing near them.