The Rise of the Black Plain

As Minos and Emlyn were positioned facing each other in that spot, Kyla was watching the two of them with her little eyes gleaming.

This young Nine-tailed Fox couldn't help but feel excited, to be able to see a high-level fight with her mother present. After all, this was not only an opportunity for her to see her mother in action. It was also something she could learn a lot.

Usually, Emlyn just gave Kyla a few tips without making any big demonstrations. Because of this, the young fox was eager to see these two fight.

On the other hand, she also only saw the young Stuart training, unable to see what he would be like in battle. And given the close relationship she had with Minos, this little fox wanted to know how strong this 'older brother' of hers was.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't proud of him!

In fact, even though she got along well with Lee and Alison, especially the girl, Kyla liked and trusted Minos a lot more.

'Mom and big brother are going to fight... I hope big brother can fight well!' She thought to herself as she watched the beginning of the fight from afar.

In that instant, Minos and Emlyn had nodded their heads and started moving around that place.

Minos immediately activated his movement and defense techniques when starting the fight, preparing himself to dodge or defend against his opponent's first attacks.

Emlyn was truly fast. Even without one of her paws, she could still be as fast as her opponent. And by the time the match had started, she had already slashed the air with her claws, forming several translucent blades, which raced toward Minos.

At the same time, after activating his defense and movement techniques, the young sovereign ran for several meters while making various strange movements, dodging Emlyn's attacks.

At times he would lean back or sideways. At other times he had stepped back and even jumped forward. The Explosive Steps technique had a focus on speed, but that wasn't all.

This technique gave the user dexterity beyond his body's natural limits, making him feel the environment around him and move intuitively. In such an effect, in a way, Minos' senses were closer to those of a Spiritual King than his body would usually have.

Such a thing could not happen without the use of techniques with this kind of effect. The senses of the human body were directly related to the body's capabilities, that is, to the changes that the fleshy body underwent at each stage of cultivation promotion.

That is, without using special techniques to such an effect, a cultivator could only elevate his senses by increasing his cultivation!

And that was one of the essential points of this Minos' movement technique, which could improve his senses in an entire stage.

'Oh? It looks like your senses are pretty good…but you're still a step behind those of spiritual beasts!' Emlyn thought to herself as she paced back and forth in that place without much worry.

As much as she was using only a strength equivalent to level 50 in this fight, that was enough for Minos to have to work hard against her. At least, in the short term, the young ruler of the Black Plain would have no chance of attacking her since he was without a suitable weapon.

A few seconds had passed since the start of the fight. Still, until then, everything basically boiled down to Minos dodging and defending the blades created by Emlyn. Sometimes he counterattacked using his attack technique, trying to get close to the big fox.

But it was futile. Kyla's mother's only effort was to create attacks and keep Minos away from her. Other than that, she didn't seem to be trying to defend herself much from him.

'Damn, it's truly troublesome to challenge someone so much stronger... If only I had a technique specialized in mind power...' He thought to himself as beads of sweat formed all over his body.

Minos was pondering the effects of such techniques. Such an area was handy in the Spiritual World. Generally, those who had techniques or skills focused on this area could be considered the most difficult opponents to deal with.

That is because this type of skill or technique could significantly weaken opponents' physical defenses, as in the case of spiritual beasts.

In general, beasts had two weaknesses. One was their spiritual energy, and another was their mental strength.

As long as one had techniques with the Minos Devouring Art for the spiritual energy problem, it wouldn't be difficult to beat a near-level beast to cultivation. And it's wrong to think this is the same for humans. That is, while beasts, in general, have only physical strength, humans can use many different techniques!

As for mental strength, this was related to the same problem. Without techniques to protect themselves, it would be difficult for a beast to fight, for example, someone who could make them fall into an illusion.

Given that such living beings could not learn techniques, only those born with unique gifts could have any protection against these facts. And the Nine-tailed Foxes even had such a gift. However, it would only be awakened after level 60, reaching its peak at level 89!

And in this case, Minos thought that would be the only way for him to balance a match with such a difference in cultivation. But, unfortunately, he didn't have any technique or skill like that at the moment.

Or rather, Minos had not learned any such technique before.

'If I learn a technique like the one I gave Corporal Grym, it could help me a lot in the future…' He pondered.

A person's mental strength was related to the soul. And even though the soul was the recipient of most of the spiritual energy, it wasn't quite that simple.

Unless a cultivator used mental techniques to strengthen his own mental strength, it would be impossible to defend himself against a mental attack!

Even if the difference in cultivation were significant, as in the case of Minos and Emlyn, it would only slow things down a bit. Unlike the cultivation level, which could, for example, ignore the effects of the Devouring Art, the same was not valid for mental strength!

Or rather, the mental protection of a living being was naturally weaker than spiritual or physical protection. That is so much for humans, beasts, elves, etc.

That's why cultivators with such skills or techniques, as in Grym's case, could be considered the most difficult ones.

They could fight those stronger than themselves with their prowess, making their opponents lose attention in the fight, exposing gaps.

Anyway, at this point in the fight, a few minutes had passed when Minos finally managed to get closer to Emlyn's body.

He was completely drenched in sweat, while his spiritual energy was less than a third of the total. He then used the sword he was wielding in this fight to slash his opponent's massive body.

Swooish!

His sword sliced through the air, quickly approaching Emlyn's body at the same time that she made her move.

She took a step back as two of her six tails moved forward, forming a barrier against Minos' attack.

Clang!

The instant Emlyn's two tails slammed into Minos' sword blade, the rest of them whipped through the air, heading straight for his unprotected chest.

Pow!

In doing so, Kyla's mother had flung the young Stuart away when he finally fell to the ground, grating back and forth in pain.

Emlyn's four tails had slashed at Minos' chest like a whip with several small blades. And at the same time, as he felt the sting of the 'whiplash,' he could also feel some shallow cuts on his chest.

'Huh, if it weren't for the Indestructible Body, this would have left a big mark!' He thought about it as he came to a stop, finally lying on his back on the floor in that spot.