The Rise of the Black Plain

After Sergeant Dumas gave his order, the group of 16 people soon split into 4, preparing to go separately to the city of Hadia.

None of them wore the typical uniform of the Black Plain Army. Still, if they walked into town together, they could end up drawing unnecessary attention.

As strange as it was for a group of 16 people to come and go from the city, these soldiers were not ordinary at all. Each of them was somebody who had already reached the 5th stage of cultivation, and even though they could not yet be considered experts in this region, they were already halfway there.

Spiritual generals were usually members of one of the many organizations that existed in the region. It wasn't widespread for people above level 40 not to work for any power. After all, with these forces, there were already many services for people like that.

Even though many individuals in this cultivation range were not members of large noble families, they were usually members of lesser families, mercenary guilds, alchemists, array masters organizations, and so on.

There were many different types of organizations in the Spiritual World. Noble families were just those with which, in addition to having some essential activity, like commerce for the Nash family, they had great strength.

Because of this, the noble families were usually the most relevant. But there were many other organizations, which could affect ordinary life if they wanted to do that.

And precisely because of the many forces that existed, most people above level 40 were already involved with one of these powers.

And that made sense. The closer one got to the Spiritual King stage, the harder it was to advance in the cultivation with the low-grade crystals.

Therefore, cultivators needed some support, guaranteeing them a good supply of crystals, or better yet, ensuring they had the opportunities to get enough crystals.

And only by being in one of these organizations would anyone be able to do that!

As a result of all of this, if the 16 soldiers from Minos' forces entered Hadia together, as people above level 40, they risk attracting unwanted attention and possibly causing a problem that would impede their operations within this city.

Anyway, it didn't take long, and everyone left that place, entering the city through the two different entrances there.

At the moment, it was still night, but the group could not leave the investigation for later. Peter's life was at risk, and the longer they took, the less likely that the young man would return to the Black Plain.

...

Quickly two days passed, and in this period, many things had happened in the city of Hadia in this northwest region of the Cromwell Kingdom.

In the past few days, the young Kevin still had not arrived at the Chambers family's base, a few hundred kilometers from Hadia.

But the problem wasn't the distance nor the potency of the spiritual beasts pushing the carriages of Kevin's group. No, the problem was that they constantly had to fight against various groups of cultivators!

Initially, four groups were chasing Kevin, but another six different groups had joined the chase after just over a day.

Not all of them were from noble families, but most were members of wealthy families, organizations with some influence.

And even if none of them liked having to piss off the Chambers family, this was a golden chance for them!

Kevin was in a group with no Spiritual Kings and was far from the nearest stronghold of the Chambers family. If any of them got the Spring of Life, then even if they had to flee or face the raging power behind Kevin, it would be worth it!

Virtually every organization had one or two dying old men who needed items that could restore lost vitality. And such figures were significant to their respective powers, as they had a lot of power and influence.

So, given this unique opportunity, these people hadn't cared what the Chambers family would think of it and had rushed in trying to steal the item Kevin had bought!

Anyway, due to this pursuit, Kevin's group had to make some detours, increasing the travel time to the Chambers family base in this region.

It wasn't that they thought spending more time off base would be safe… It was that they didn't have the option to travel faster and safer.

Or they would go through the terrain that carriages usually passed and could run at full speed, where they would be vulnerable to attacks from all who were chasing them. Or they would have to travel through forests, places with rugged terrain, and the presence of many spiritual beasts, where they could lessen their vulnerability.

And Kevin's decision was obvious. Despite being an arrogant person, he was not stupid. He wouldn't face all these pursuers at once!

Going over rough terrain and danger would make the pursuers slow down their respective speeds, as well as the intention to attack his group.

There were also the spiritual beasts, which made those people more afraid to attack. That's because they could be attacked at any time, and it wouldn't be interesting if that happened after they've been fighting each other and getting drained of energy!

Kevin's group was also more numerous, so even if the stalker side were to come together, the difference in powers wouldn't be that big!

But even so, some fights had taken place in that past time. A more hurried and greedy group had attacked the young Kevin's party during this period...

And as expected, Kevin and his subordinates won.

Anyway, while Kevin's group was being chased through the northwest region of the Cromwell Kingdom, in the city of Hadia, the Black Plain Army's soldiers had already started their investigation. They were close to discovering what had happened to Peter!

...

At this moment, in a popular restaurant in the city of Hadia, four men were sitting around a table. At the same time, several transparent glasses could be seen on that table, with a golden liquid inside them.

The cups had water droplets on the outer surface, as if it was sweating, making it look nice for who looks this.

There was also a basket with snacks in that place, which appeared to be some kind of fried snacks, from which those men picked up from time to time, with toothpicks.

Anyway, the four seemed completely common in the middle of that place. There were many other people, at their respective tables, happily eating and drinking while talking in loud voices.

At that moment, the group that seemed utterly mixed with the place suddenly began to speak in low voices. From time to time, they changed the subject and talked about everyday things, like the rest of the customers of that establishment.

Then one of them, a strong bald man, said. "Chief Dumas, I found out that there was a slave auction in this town a few days ago, and about 15 people with Black talent were sold on that occasion."

"Hmm, I heard the same too. I believe Sergeant Peter was sold with this group. Ehh, it looks like three different powers bought these 15 people." Another soldier added the speech of the previous one.

Dumas then put a snack in his mouth and, after a while, said. "Well, let's try to bribe someone from the Black Market to find out exactly to which family Peter was sold. There must be some people from that place willing to speak."

"OK."

After that, they talked for a while longer until the last soldier who had not yet reported back to Dumas said. "Sir, my group has already found out about those responsible for the kidnapping of Sergeant Peter."

"Oh? Where did they go?"

"They are here in the city of Hadia. It seems that there is a place a few kilometers from the city's port, which has a famous place among the pirates who come to this city..."

...

And while the four soldiers were talking about their discoveries and planning what to do next, a few dozen kilometers from Hadia, a group of 9 carriages were rapidly approaching that place.

From that group of carriages, several beasts that looked a lot like horses pulled those means of transport, leaving a trail of dust wherever they passed.

There were more than 40 people in that group, with the weakest of them at level 42 and the strongest at level 48.

This group left the Dry City a few days ago, traveling to regain young Peter's freedom.

During this period, when Minos and his party were traveling, they had passed through the City of Waters without stopping, running as far as possible towards the northwest coast of the Cromwell Kingdom.

They had even passed through Farmland, but the young Stuart had no way of staying and seeing this place, which was undoubtedly one of the rivals of the Black Plain.

Of course, Farmland did not produce items of high spiritual concentration, as did any other agricultural region in the north of the Central Continent, except for the Black Plain. But given the turnover of this place, it deserved to figure as a rival for Minos territory, at least for the time being...

Anyway, the group of Minos didn't stay in that place any longer than they should have and soon continued their journey to the city of Hadia, where they were about to arrive at this exact moment.