The Rise of the Black Plain

Aside from his weaker companions who meditated in this area, confident that they would all be fine because of Ruth's skill, Minos soon focused on his cultivation.

Still under the effects of being temporarily at level 84, he took the opportunity to increase the amount of energy and laws he could absorb from his surroundings and the bone in the Spatial Kingdom.

Feeling the chaotic energy coming from his spatial ring, Minos redirected the energy entering his body and soul to his stomach, where a purple glow made his whole body shiver.

Minos knew about the problems of using alternative methods for quick improvements or breakthroughs. But since he had never used anything like that on his journey here, except when it was necessary, he had a pretty solid foundation to use the method without risk.

The most important thing was that this place was dangerous, and he needed to get stronger, or he and his wives would be in great danger from cases like this, with the snakes now dead in the area.

He felt the purple fruit he had eaten being digested by his stomach as his self-concentrated spiritual laws began to penetrate the inner walls of his stomach, searching for the spiritual part of him.

When it reached his soul essence, he felt as if he had touched something cold, and suddenly, his whole being shrank.

But soon, he felt something strange, as if his world had taken on a new color, and he slowly noticed a new essence that he had previously ignored.

'This is...' He realized what the fruit had given him, a new affinity.

Cultivators had their affinities. Minos, for example, had a great affinity for the laws of space, while Harold had the same affinity for the laws of flame.

But both could gain new affinities by consuming special resources or adding a new technique.

The second option was much better, as one would learn bit by bit and slowly build up one's connection to that law, which would come with a much stronger spiritual solidity than suddenly gaining such a thing from a resource.

But it was not bad to gain a new attribute, especially if it had nothing to do with one's techniques or innate abilities.

If such a law were not necessary for one's power, then such a thing would just become something that would give the cultivator an extra boost in power but also a resistance to another kind of power.

For example, Minos had the Dark Sea, a soul ability he had acquired after developing his killing intent when he encountered the legacy of the God of Death.

The laws behind this ability did not affect Minos' innate ability or the power of his techniques. But this soul ability was of great help to Emperor Stuart!

Even though it was somewhat 'artificial' and not gradually built up, it was a bonus for Minos.

Realizing that this poisonous fruit would give him a new ability that those snakes would have had if he hadn't encountered them, Minos smiled and quickly accepted this power.

A purple glow covered his body, and then a crack ripped from the inside of Minos' body, attracting the attention of Forrest and his group mate at the 10th stage.

"Is he advancing?" The weaker of the two Demigods asked in a low voice, noticing the sudden increase in Minos' soul power.

Forrest saw this and was not surprised. 'He was already near the peak of level 82 when we entered here... It seems that he used this opportunity to quickly reach level 83.'

While these two noticed Minos' advance, Ruth, having recovered enough of her blood and spiritual strength, opened her eyes.

She looked at her husband and felt that he was out of danger.

Ruth smiled but then looked at the high-ranking Sages in the area. They seemed fine on the surface because of Abby's skill but were slowly getting weaker because of the poison in their bodies.

"Sorry for the delay. Shall we continue?" She looked at the people and cut her wrist again.

While the weakest of the group had priority, Isabella and Harold had their bodies on fire, feeling the effects of the herbs they had received from Minos.

Minos had also given some herbs to Forrest, but the Demigod had merely stored them in his ring since no one in his group had an affinity for flames.

His faction in the Church even had people who could benefit from it, so he kept it so that he could deliver some of those people when he left this Spatial Kingdom.

After a few minutes, Abby and Gloria finished meditating, absorbing all of Ruth's blood to the point that it neutralized the poison in their bodies.

When they awoke from their meditation, they saw those two people with flames around their bodies. They focused on Minos, whose cultivation was now at a normal level, as the effects of his ability had worn off.

But to their surprise, he was now a level 83 cultivator!

Upon noticing this, they both smiled with satisfaction, realizing that Minos had achieved enough to finally start using medium-level grade-4 equipment!

He was still meditating, but soon, he would awaken from his state and change the items around his body, increasing much of his defense and offense capabilities.

"Can you use this?" Forrest watched as Minos finished putting on a medium-level grade-4 armor, something one would normally only see on Demigods.

Such an item was so heavy that Sages wouldn't wear it, even though its defensive ability could stop even mid-level Demigod attacks.

Minos smiled at Forrest but said nothing.

Instead, he saw that Ruth had already finished healing everyone with her blood and had recovered.

Then he looked at Isabella and Harold, the latter in a crucial stage of his meditation.

'Isabella will probably increase the power of her flames quite a bit after she finishes meditating.' He thought to himself before looking at his father-in-law. Harold is about to reach level 82!

Minos could have increased his strength to the middle of level 83 if he wanted to, just with the medicinal power of the purple fruit he ate. But he had suppressed such a thing and kept his cultivation at the beginning of level 83 so as not to destabilize his base.

But Harold's situation was different. He allowed all the energy of the medicine he ate to penetrate his body and soul to raise his rank to level 82.

Therefore, after a few minutes, a cracking sound came from his body, and he advanced to level 82!

...