The Rise of the Black Plain

Two days later...

Minos and his family arrived at the territory of the Ancestral Sect, the organization whose master had spoken to Emperor Stuart regarding the Immemorial Graves Sect.

This place was on one of the borders of the Flaming Empire with the territories to the north, historical enemies of the imperial family.

Minos and his family arrived through a teleportation port in the central city of this area, 200 kilometers away from the border.

Sarah was with them, but at her current age, she could already handle travel by means of teleportation arrays.

So they arrived in a square near the local government headquarters, where many guards in the area immediately noticed their identity.

When the first guards saw Minos' face, they approached him and welcomed him with great reverence.

"Sect master Stuart, you and your family are welcome to the territory of the Ancestral Sect!" They said simultaneously, making common gestures to Minos, his wives, and Sarah.

The people in the surrounding area noticed the commotion and promptly identified who had just arrived there.

'Minos Stuart? The leader of the Black Plain?'

'What is someone so strong doing here? I heard he defeated a Spiritual Sage...'

'He must be here for trouble...'

Some ignorant citizens thought similar things.

But those individuals who knew this place had only not suffered more because Minos thought differently.

'He must be here to do business... Hmm, the sect is about to gain a lot!'

'With someone so promising associating with the sect, our city will become more relevant, and we will reverse all the damage from our recent mistakes.'

Meanwhile, Minos said. "I'm here to see the local leader. Take us to him."

One of the strongest guards in the surrounding area readily accepted Minos' command and, alongside other individuals, began to guide the Stuart family through the city.

They gave the Stuart family a lovely, luxurious carriage to go in a more accommodating manner, quickly taking the group to the Ancestral Sect headquarters area.

The Ancestral Sect was one of the eight, now seven, prominent sects in the empire.

There were other relevant organizations in this state. Still, other than the imperial family, only these organizations held the right to rule territories.

Other organizations only governed their estates, which obviously couldn't compare to the grandeur of territories with dozens of cities and hundreds of millions of inhabitants.

So this was a huge organization in the Flaming Empire, and the Stuart family soon realized this as they entered the heart of this sect.

"The Ancestral Sect is a little stronger than the Gray Clouds Sect before the departure of sect master Coleman." Ruth said, expounding her knowledge of the local division of powers. "They were not an enemy of ours in the recent past, but they were not allies either."

"Maybe that's why they stayed neutral regarding Mortimer's situation." Abby commented, thinking that it made sense that enemy powers of the Gray Clouds Sect, such as the Mountains Sect, had positioned themselves so intensely at that previous moment.

"Yes..." Ruth agreed. "Anyway, they've always been pretty strong... I wonder if this has any relation to the Immemorial Graves Sect?"

Minos heard that and nodded positively. "Maybe. That sect was one of the oldest on the continent, so it certainly had good techniques and artifacts in the past.

If this sect obtained some of the best from that sect, then they may have grown and maintained their power because of that."

"But what are we going to do here?" Gloria asked.

"I don't know. The sect master invited me to show their items and trade. I have already given them some help regarding the imperial family. Still, he will probably ask for much more for what I want...

So we'll see. If he is not overly greedy, I will buy the things connected to Immemorial Graves Sect and take the skeleton in the area." Minos said.

With those words, the carriage carrying him and his family stopped, and soon a local guard opened its door, already in the vicinity of where the local leader was.

"Please, this way." That man said, directing those five people through a garden that Sarah quite liked.

In the blink of an eye, they were in front of the same man who had approached Minos before, a refined-looking, well-dressed fellow with undisputed power within this area.

But seeing Minos there, this fellow soon made his aura more humble, knowing he could not mess with these people in front of him.

"Sect master Stuart, it's good to have you in my sect. You are here, for that matter, right?" He said, getting right to the point to finish his business with this fellow as soon as possible.

Minos nodded and left his women to look after Sarah, taking a few steps forward. "Yes, I want you to show me those things you have so we can negotiate."

"Hmm, I expected that... I already have all the books and techniques related to Immemorial Graves Sect in my spatial ring. If you want, I can show you them now."

"That would be nice." Minos stood next to that individual before he saw a pile of books and scrolls of varied colors appearing in front of him.

"My ancestors traded various techniques with those merchants, so we have even Blue-grade techniques... As for the books, many of them deal with stories of the Immemorial Graves Sect, accounts of members, some diaries, geography of the area where the sect headquarters was, and information about those skeletons."

He had read all the books, so he knew there was a lot of mystery behind those bones and hazardous stories that should be prevented from getting into the wrong hands.

Minos listened to this in silence, promptly beginning to read and scan each of these materials, many of them not so relevant, but some contained useful information for the people in Laura's sect.

What interested Minos most were the techniques and skeletons related to that sect, so he quite liked what this sect master had for him.

"That looks pretty good..." Minos commented after almost 20 minutes of analysis. "What do you want for them? Speak openly. I won't be offended, no matter what the value is."

That man looked at Minos silently for a moment and then said. "These techniques built my sect, so I can't give them up for a small value. As for the books, they are quite informative but not difficult to replace.

I myself can put all their contents into other books just with my memories.

So I ask that sect master Stuart not hold grudges against my sect and allow 10 of our mid-level elders to go and train in the Black Plain."

"Oh?" Not only Minos but his wives, somewhat distant from the two, exclaimed in surprise, not expecting that from such an individual.

But that sect master knew about the considerable improvements of the Gray Clouds Sect elders going to the Black Plain Empire. As such, in exchange for such objects, he wanted Minos to make those mid-level elders reach the high level of the 8th stage.

Through this, the sect could become stronger quickly!

...