The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon hearing Minos' words, Grant immediately looked at that masked young man with curiosity in his eyes, trying to understand what this strange person wanted from him.

After all, he was crippled not only spiritually but also physically. In other words, he was an invalid who could not even walk on his own, so how would he be of any use to any organization?

That was the world of cultivation, where those unable to cultivate or live on their own were marginalized and ignored by society.

In this way, Grant had found Minos' offer unusual.

He could even understand if the royal family of the Western Empire exhibited such behavior. After all, crippled or not, he had done meritorious service for a long time, and getting at least a pension within that organization would not be impossible.

And even if that family did not believe a single word he had to say, that still would not stop its leaders from giving an artificial position to him.

Still, this young 'Albert,' what would he gain from this? Or perhaps he was part of the imperial family?

But seeing the confused look on that man's face, Minos then said. "As I said, I don't believe that others will believe your stories. But I do, at least partially. With that said, the intelligence you have may be of use to me in the future."

"I can also benefit from your knowledge of this vast world..." Minos said this, giving that fellow a reason to understand the advantage for his side in making that invitation.

And this was indeed true. Minos knew little about the rest of the Central Continent due to the dire situation of this region. Moreover, the worldly knowledge left by Henricus Longus would not be so helpful in ordinary situations when the contemporary time was more relevant.

Hence the importance of a figure from outside the northern region of the Central Continent, someone coming from one of the strongest empires in this world. A place that had should have more detailed information than the sects of the Flaming Empire.

And having been an expert on the Western Empire, Grant certainly had knowledge that could be pretty useful for the future journey of the Black Plain.

That was why Minos wanted this man on his side!

As for the possible revenge he had promised, well, such a thing would take a long time to have even the slightest chance of realization. Even a level 76 Spiritual Saint had died against this man's opponents, so there was a long way for Minos to go to think about it.

In the meantime, Minos was sure that his business would leave the northern region of the Central Continent and spread to the rest of the continent.

With this, he can use Grant's information long before any North Sea adventure, which would already guarantee him immense benefits for just one promise.

As for actually fulfilling it, that could be done someday, but Minos was not concerned with such a thing when inviting this man into his organization.

These enemies would first have to show themselves, somehow be perceived by young Stuart himself. Otherwise, he would do nothing before he was sure of whatever such beings were.

Therefore, young Stuart saw no disadvantages to this offer!

"That..." That fellow muttered something, trying to think more about this unusual offer.

'I possess knowledge about many things regarding the continent that might be of use to people even from the empire... But where is this person from? Is it dangerous to give information to him, even if he says he will help me?'

He then asked. "Will you at least tell me where you are from? How can I accompany you without even knowing that?"

Minos then smiled under his mask but did not answer such questions. "If you accept my offer, in six months, at most a year, I can have someone here in this city to take you to my territory."

"After that, you will naturally find out everything yourself."

But that man did not like that answer from Minos. He shook his head from side to side while saying in a tone of disagreement. "That won't do. I may be a cripple, but I'm not going to put my life in the hands of a stranger!"

"What guarantee do I have that you are not an enemy of my state who is looking for information?"

"Simple, I could just kidnap you right here and now if I were an enemy, but I am giving you six months to a year to consider it."

"Even if you don't want to do such a thing, you can just pay someone to take you to another city in this region. I'm sure that at least you can do that."

Minos then opened his hands and said in a righteous tone. "How about this? I'll send someone to pick you up here at the agreed time. You can think about this offer in the meantime, and if you decide to reject it, just leave this place and ignore my offer."

"If my people don't find you here, I will just consider that you have given up the offer and go on with my life as if this meeting did not happen."

"However, if you decide to accept the offer, come to this place at least once a week between the next six to twelve months. My subordinates will come to meet you."

"Also, if you join my organization, I promise that I will take you back to the Western Empire in the future. If the family you were a member of believes your words and takes you back, I will not make things difficult for you."

That man then looked even more strangely at Minos. "Are you strong enough to kidnap me?"

He was able to sense other people's cultivation since, although his spiritual cultivation was crippled, he was already a level 70 cultivator at the time. That is, he had already finished the transition of the soul from metabolic form to individual form.

At the beginning of cultivation, the soul would only be a part of the body of living beings, part of the metabolism. But after the Transition, the 2nd stage, the differentiation process between soul and body would begin.

At such a stage, the soul would no longer be just a part of metabolism, but it was not a big deal, and without a body, it would naturally disappear. However, after reaching the 8th stage, a cultivator would have his soul wholly differentiated, independent of the body.

Such a soul could not live forever outside of a body. Still, it was capable of inhabiting objects, living people, or even corpses under certain circumstances.

With this peculiarity of independence from the body, this part of Spiritual Saints and higher-level people had innate abilities that did not need spiritual energy to be used.

As in the case of soul sense, a version of spiritual sense, only many times more powerful!

With that, even without spiritual cultivation, this man could sense Minos' level 53, as his soul sense could not be fooled!

And, of course, Minos knew that. "Do you doubt it? Don't be fooled by my level. I am capable of dealing with someone with a remaining raw power similar to that of an ordinary level 60 cultivator!"

"That..." That man frowned his eyebrows, sensing that Minos knew many things about those of levels far above his own.

'How does this boy know how to measure my strength so well? Even if he has contact with powerful people, that's not the thing one learns without experience!'

'Has he been possessed?' That question popped into Grant's mind.

However, immediately afterward, he realized that he was wrong. 'No.'

'If so, his soul would have to be stronger, but Albert's soul is definitely in sync with the spiritual cultivation of that body.'

'He hasn't been possessed!'

'But how does he have this knowledge? Is it an inheritance?' His eyes sparkled as he considered this hypothesis.

Grant was an expert, after all. So, he had seen and heard a bit of everything, including inheritances left by high-level experts.

Among these inheritances, some could leave resources, others knowledge and cultivation understanding, often related to specific techniques.

But since building an inheritance was not simple, there were not many known cases worldwide. Furthermore, most of the known ones had been left by Spiritual Sages, cultivators who did not have as much power to develop complete inheritances.

Because of this, even for this man, it was not easy to estimate whether Minos' ability to read other cultivators was something left by inheritance.

It was not impossible, but that seemed like a thing of little importance... Who would create such an inheritance?

'Well, never mind. He may very well be my only chance. And perhaps he can help me at least return to my empire!' He made up his mind right away after remembering that he had never come across someone like Minos in the past centuries.

"I will believe you." He said after thinking in silence for quite a while. "I will use these months to think it over."

"Then just do what you have to do!" He finished before standing up using two crutches, waving to the women waiting for him.