The Rise of the Black Plain

Just as Payne tried to start his divination about Minos, the sight of this old man began to rapidly darken as he felt a pressure that shook his soul.

It was as if he had fallen into a spiritual sea, which was quickly making him 'drown.' A feeling of awe ran through this man's body as he felt his soul shrink within himself.

"What is this?" He muttered under his breath as bloodstains began to trickle from the various orifices in his face.

His pupils were completely dilated, and his body was shaking vigorously.

Crack!

All this had happened in less than 20 seconds of the session when cracking sounds could be heard in that place.

Seeing and hearing this, Vivian still had her hands braced over Payne's as she tried to make sense of the situation. 'What is happening? Did something go wrong?' She wondered, given the strange turn of this divination.

This young woman had already experienced trying to predict her future before, and because of this, she knew very well that the seer should not react in this way.

Vivian could feel Payne's spiritual energy rapidly diminishing, like a water bottle, losing its water after being opened.

"Mr. Payne? What is happening?" She asked anxiously.

Crack!

But at that moment, instead of receiving an answer, Vivian could see one of the Orbs of Destiny shattering into thousands of pieces, while cracks began to appear in the other five!

"Ahhh!" The old figure screamed in pain as he gradually managed to 'end' the divination session.

He immediately jumped up from where he was sitting earlier, already vomiting a mouth full of blood into that spot. Payne looked completely pale at this point, with an expression of dread and exhaustion mixed with a glint of relief in his eyes.

He had faced death right away, but luckily the other side had allowed him to live. "What a terrifying thing!" He exclaimed in shock, trying to understand the force that had nearly wiped him out.

'Luckily, I don't insist on continuing with this session. Otherwise, that power would have destroyed me!' He thought for a moment, still feeling pain throughout his body.

He then looked at the table where the orbs were and lamented. 'I lost one of my Orbs of Fate, and the other five are all cracked... That's my end as a seer!'

A seer could not spy on the future without his orbs!

Because of this, for Payne, someone from the north of the Central Continent and with only Black talent, recovering from this defeat would be practically impossible.

The only way to succeed in refining a new orb would be through increasing the stage of the cultivation that he was. However, he was already in the 6th stage and was already over 900-years-old. In other words, for him, there was no hope of replacing the destroyed orb.

As for the other five, it wasn't in perfect condition either. If he forced a prediction of the future in this state, it could be a lot worse for him. Not only could he end up obliterating the orbs, but he could also die!

Anyway, at that moment, Vivian finally got up from where she was and tried to help this old man. "Mr. Payne, what happened? The divination seems to have gone wrong."

Hearing that, Payne felt grumpy as he looked into Vivian's pretty face and said resentfully. "Girl, you destroyed my career! See my 5th Orb of Destiny. It's destroyed!"

Vivian was then helpless as she stared at the damaged orb formation.

She understood all too well what that meant to this man, so she felt even worse right now.

'Why did this happen? I've never known anything like that, happening before!' Such a thought crossed her mind as she tried to find an answer. "Sir, I didn't know something like this could happen. But I will ensure that you are rewarded."

"And how do you intend to do this?"

"I will report what happened to my father. I'm sure he will allow you to learn the Black-grade techniques of my Hayes family." She said regretfully for what had happened but resolute for what she purposed.

Vivian had made that suggestion because she had seen that the larger orb, the one in the middle of the others, was still whole, with only a few cracks.

That was the orb linked to the cultivation technique. With such an orb still whole, it meant that this man could still cultivate. That is, his cultivation had not been crippled.

With that, even if his future as a seer were over, he would still have a chance to take on another profession, becoming a warrior. After all, even if he was a non-fighter, he still had the cultivation of a Spiritual King, so he could still have his worth...

Anyway, that was all Vivian could do to reward this man.

After hearing this comment from her, Payne sighed deeply, trying to calm down. The milk had already been spilled, and there was no point in continuing to cry about it.

This man had already lived a long time, so he knew there was no way out for him. At least he could still have a minimally comfortable life with Vivian's suggestion.

He also couldn't act against this girl due to her past. But not only that, because he doesn't have attacking techniques, he probably wouldn't even have the strength to go against Vivian, even if he lost his lucidity...

Finally, he closed his eyes and began to speak. "Let's leave that for later. There's nothing to do here, you couldn't have known, and I also made the mistake of trying to guess the future of someone I shouldn't."

He then looked at Vivian and said firmly, still with awe in his expression. "Don't ever try to calculate this person's future again, or you'll just destroy other seers!"

"What? But you need to tell me something else. That's not enough." She replied unhappily.

"In my experience, for some divination to go wrong like what happened here, there are only two possibilities. One is that the person who will have his past spied is much more powerful than the seer. However, this cannot be the case, as this individual was only at level 42 a few days ago." He started to explain.

He knew about Minos's level because he could see that information in the memories Vivian had allowed him to see.

"The other possibility is that there is something or someone mighty protecting that person." He sighed for a moment as he tried to guess how strong this person or item would be. 'This must relate to a seer of at least grade-3, medium-level!'

"This last possibility is the most likely. So, it's no use insisting on guessing that person's future. You'll just witness the same situation happening again."

He then caught the shards of the broken orb in his hand, feeling very sorry for it. He had practiced this profession for so long, but it had all ended overnight because of an innocent mistake.

He then finished giving another alert. "Don't think that finding a grade-2, high-level seer will help you. The power on the other side felt like an ocean, while mine was just a glass of water."

'What? But how can this be? That person is from the same organization as that Minos… Does that mean there is such strong power in our region?' She paled in fear, thinking about what this seer's statement meant.

'No wonder he didn't go to the Flaming Empire... He was already a member of such a dominant force!'

Finally, a few moments later, Vivian said goodbye to that man, promising that she would fulfill her previous promise. She was feeling pretty bad about destroying Payne's seer career, but at least in part, she'd discovered something about the organization behind Minos.

'Now I know there is a hidden power in our region... If only I can find them, I can bond with them and get some benefits for my family!' She concluded this, already running back to her residence at the Hayes family's headquarters.

She could now talk to her father about that matter and solve the problem she had created with Payne. As someone of exemplary character, this young woman could not let the old seer lose everything he had without her rewarding him for what had happened!

...

A few moments ago, in Dry City, Minos was in his office taking care of the daily business when he suddenly felt his Spatial Kingdom's ring vibrate softly...