The Rise of the Black Plain

After talking to Ruth for a while and seeing a few more men finish their recovery, Minos turned his attention to the artifact left behind by Fah'um of Dunov.

Now that he was no longer exhausted and felt at least minimally comfortable examining this item, he took some distance from his people to not endanger them and summoned the great artifact that the giant had left behind.

Minos had been hiding this artifact for a long time, but now that his situation wasn't easy and it was showing strange signs, he couldn't hide it any longer.

If it could help his group, he wouldn't mind revealing it to everyone.

As soon as his cultivation reached the peak of level 94 and he activated his Soul Avatar, Minos saw the artifact that Fah'um of Dunov wore on one of his wrists appear in front of him.

Such a thing was as big as a house compared to the size of him and the people around him.

But its size was the least of the group's concerns the moment it appeared. When it landed on the ground, the sizeable golden object with a crystal in the middle and two openings at the ends of it shone brightly.

Free energy from the surrounding area quickly entered it, like water entering a newly unclogged drain.

Everyone in Minos' group turned their attention to the artifact, especially the two robots standing guard.

"This artifact..."

"An ancient telescope?" The level 98 robot asked with interest, seeing the device recharging without Minos' command.

"Telescope?" Minos opened his mouth curiously.

"A telescope is a device that facilitates the observation of the universe, Your Majesty. There are no such devices in the Spiritual World, but the Mechanic Empire has a few of them on its already-dominated planets.

With this type of artifact, we can identify potential targets throughout the universe, locate interesting or dangerous areas to visit, and even locate where we are in relation to other known parts of the universe." Said the robot with great enthusiasm.

The artificial beings in The Adamant Land had their own personalities and preferences. They would be just as excited about something important or interesting as biological beings would be about the same topics of interest to them.

"With such an artifact, we can find out where we are and estimate the real level of this world!"

"Oh?" Ruth looked at Minos with a smile, the first good news for them.

This world was definitely interesting for them because of the opportunities it held. But with these opportunities came many dangers that they had to worry about. They also couldn't stay there without knowing certain kinds of information since they had a mission to fulfill: to sabotage the plans of the Mechanic Empire for the Spiritual World.

Therefore, the item Minos had just summoned was a huge benefit over everything they had seen so far!

"How do we use this?" Minos asked as he felt the thing sucking in huge amounts of energy, like a boundless black hole.

"First, we must let this device recharge itself, Your Majesty." The robot said. "It's very old and hasn't been used for a long time. Let it continue what it's doing. When it has stabilized, I'll guide you to activate it."

Minos agreed and soon stepped away from the item to let it finish what it had just started.

After half an hour, Fah'um of Dunov's ancient telescope would reach its full charge, stop glowing as it shrank in size, and gradually move toward one of Minos' wrists.

This artifact had been attached to Minos decades ago, so only he could use and manipulate it.

Previously, it had never shown any signs of its power due to its condition, without the form of energy that no longer existed in the Spiritual World. But now, in this world where the existing energy was compatible with it, it recovered and soon demonstrated its functionality.

As it settled on one of Minos' wrists, he soon felt it activate without him even commanding it, causing him to bring his right arm closer to his eyes as lenses formed one after the other in the artifact's crystal.

Minos looked through the pink sky of this world, noticing for the first time in his life the universe without any barriers in his way, feeling the free power throughout the universe, areas rich in energy, others poor, and the planets and stars.

Some planets and stars were just celestial bodies with no activity. But others seemed to be vibrating magically, indicating the possibility of cultivation and fantastic things on them.

"Superb!" He commented as a smile appeared on his lips for the first time since Isabella's death.

"Indeed it must be." The level 98 robot next to Minos commented in an interested tone.

After letting its master play with the artifact for a while, the robot pointed. "Your Majesty, please, in order for us to know where we are, you must first enlarge the viewfinder of your telescope." It said as it formed with its own energy something the shape of the telescope and showed Minos how to do what it asked.

The analytical abilities of the robots of the Mechanic Empire were incredible. With just a brief observation of Minos playing with that item, this level 98 learned how to use such an artifact.

Minos followed its instructions and soon had the item showing the space to the others in the area.

The robot continued to guide him, gradually making the telescope show less of the great universe and more of the solar system in which this great planet was located.

The robot also saw the galaxy in which that solar system was located until it identified the galaxy in which The Adamant Land and Irpoll should be.

"As expected, we're nowhere near our destinations." It said after a while. "Where exactly are we?" Ruth approached them. The robot said. "I don't know what planet this is or what solar system it's in. But we're in the Omega Hyperion galaxy near the Snowflake Nebula."

The only ones who understood the importance of this information were the two natives of The Adamant Land, who turned pale upon hearing it.

"It can't be..." They both said the same.

"What does that mean?" Ruth asked strangely.

Another robot said. "We are about 2 billion light years from The Adamant Land. Without a universal wormhole, reaching the Mechanic Empire would take us 2 billion years.

But even with universal wormholes between here and our destination, we may never reach the Mechanic Empire in our remaining lifetimes."