The Rise of the Black Plain

Hearing his son's response, Railan nodded and commented. "Hmm, but do you think you can beat them? We can't shame the Gill family name!"

"Uh, I can't say for sure since I haven't seen them yet. But I believe with the practice and resources I've had in the Gill family; I doubt Lee and Alison have any deeper experiences than mine."

"After all, in the Gill family, there are thousands of people in the 5th stage of cultivation and several Spiritual Kings who can pass on their experiences further!"

"On the other hand, there was no such thing in the Dry City when we left..."

"Hahaha, you're right, son. I'm worrying too much!"

"How can such an organization be comparable to the Gill family?" Railan commented aloud, laughing and slapping one of his hands on his son's back as he directed his beast, side by side with Ralf's.

"Dad, what do you think happened in the Dry City after we left? I remember that there were rumors that it would be possible to plant in the terrain of the Black Plain..." Ralf was talking when he was suddenly interrupted by his father's laughter.

"Ralf, even if the local agricultural problem has been resolved, what could they gain by planting in the Black Plain? A land without nutrients, without natural vegetation, with low energy density. How would something planted here be valuable?"

"At most, they got food to be sold locally... That is, something that has no potential to make a profit!" Railan said this with a resolute expression as if he couldn't be wrong about this issue. "I'm glad I'm not naive, and I didn't believe that brat's words!"

"Even if they have some Black-grade techniques, the Black Plain will never come to the feet of a noble family like the House Gill!"

"Even if they work hard to develop this town and have a few lucky moments, the limit on these lands is probably at level 49. But, in the meantime, you can go above level 50 in the future, as long as you keep working and staying loyal to the Gill family."

After hearing his father's wise words, Ralf nodded, indicating that he understood such advice.

But this young man wasn't too worried about the Dry City. In fact, he had only asked that question because he had grown up in this town and was curious to know how things had developed locally since his departure.

It was over four years, and while this period is considered short in the cultivation world, Ralf was less than 15-years-old, and that could be considered quite long for him.

So, naturally, there was a specific curiosity in this young man's mind.

As for his father, Railan wasn't thinking of the Dry City the way Ralf was. In fact, what was going through this middle-aged man's mind was to review his old acquaintances and show his new life condition!

He had been accepted into the Gill family because of his son's talents, having risen several levels over the years. Consequently, for a superficial person like this man, he couldn't wait to demonstrate the advantages of living in a superior area and having a gifted child.

Railan already planned to ask Ralf to demonstrate his prowess to his dad's old friends. So that middle-aged man could be recognized as successful in this town of backward people!

'Hehehe, I can't wait to see the old man's face...' He was thinking about something when suddenly Ralf's voice interrupted his thought.

"What is that?" The young man asked his father dubiously, almost simultaneously, as he stopped his beast on top of the highest point of the slope they were climbing.

"What happened, Ralf?" Railan asked as he changed his range of vision from the ground of that area to his son's side.

"Dad, look at this in front of us. There was no such thing here before!"

Hearing such that, Railan immediately looked ahead and saw a piece of the Dry City wall and part of the great dome that covered that place. "This... A wall?" He said aloud, as surprised as his son by such a discovery.

"Dad, are you seeing that? There seems to be a big tower near where the Dry City should be... What have they done in that place?"

"Uh, this... Maybe this is just to scare people!" He muttered in a low voice, slowly understanding the situation. "Hahaha, got it, son. That brat must have done this to scare the outsiders and pretend to have control over the city so that the locals will believe him!"

"Hahaha, he's astute." He chuckled as he watched that spot in front of him and gave the order for his beast to turn back on its way to that spot.

"Come on. We'll look at the Black Star Academy problem, and then we'll talk to your colleagues tomorrow. After that, we'll leave this place to go back to headquarters."

Ralf then tossed his surprised expression aside and hurried to follow his father, heading quickly for the eastern entrance to the wall.

"Remember, we'll keep the Gill family name a secret if any local guard asks where we came from... It could delay our plans to attract those two."

"I understand. I won't say anything to anyone, Dad!"

...

After that, father and son quickly passed through the Dry City wall without difficulty.

They were just two travelers from the 4th stage of cultivation and did not carry any regional noble family symbol on their clothing or equipment.

And that wasn't strange. After all, these two were just two low-ranking subordinates who barely had the resources to cultivate and definitely couldn't have custom items.

As for the identification item Lionel had given Railan, well, this man wasn't going to take it out of his spatial ring in a situation like this.

Despite his personality, he knew how he should act in this situation and wouldn't flaunt to the wrong people...

It would be one thing for him to talk to a close friend, an ordinary citizen. Another would be for him to speak to a local guard, subordinate to the person he intended to take two subordinates out of, through irresistible offers.

As for the side of the Black Plain Army soldiers, well, there were no clues that these two were suspects, and given their strength, they hadn't been stopped from entering the city.

All the border immigration service did was give these two travelers a few tips, just as they would every other person of the same profile as Railan and Ralf, who passed through one of the four entrances to this place.

The most basic rules, recommendations of what to do and what not to do during and after departure from that place, in case, of course, they wanted to live in that city in the future.

But at first, despite their surprise at seeing so many people at this post at the eastern entrance to the wall, Railan and his son hadn't given much thought to what they had heard.

They couldn't distinguish the strength of the people in that place, so they just had to think that those individuals were ordinary people...

However, things slowly changed as the two left the border post and entered the protected area of the Dry City wall.

...

"Dad, are you seeing what I'm seeing? Or maybe I'm hallucinating?" Ralf asked in a shocked tone as he stood midway between the east entrance to the wall and the Dry City built-up area.

They had only walked a few seconds when they finally saw the many buildings in this town. And despite it being concentrated in a small area, were tall and well built, typical of big cities.

After seeing that, the two instantly felt as if they had lost their support, disbelieving what was in front of them.

"No, because I also see that…" Railan said in a grave tone. "But I almost can't believe it!"

"How has this place grown so much?"