The Rise of the Black Plain

'As for this opportunity to join one of the Flaming Empire sects, I have no interest in that. If I could get such a sect as my ally, it would be great, but getting something like that, at this moment, would be impossible. So, in this case, I will not try to interact with any power outside the northern region of the Central Continent…'

Minos was right. If he joined one of the Flaming Empire sects, he would be just an external member of those forces.

That's because the sects that organized the Spiritual Tournament were all powers with dozens of Spiritual Emperors and even had Spiritual Saints leading them!

So, if the young Stuart joined one of these sects, it would take him many years to achieve sufficient status so that the doors could be opened for Minos to do his business in that empire.

Minos also had no way of providing services to such a distant place.

Hell, he was barely starting to bring his business out of the Black Plain!

While Minos was seriously thinking, Ruth waited for his response with a satisfied expression on her delicate face. 'He must be very tempted by the Silver-grade technique!' Ruth thought to herself.

After a while, she finally broke the silence and said. "And then? You want to participate, right?"

Minos finished his conjectures and looked at the beautiful lady in front of him. He smiled and said. "Yes, I am interested in this tournament. It can help me a lot."

"Haha, I knew you were going to say this. After all, a Silver-grade technique is precious."

"Mnn, indeed…" Minos vaguely agreed while having the tips of his lips pointed upwards.

"Okay, since you've already decided, we'd better go to the Cromwell Kingdom right away," Ruth said as she got up from the couch where she was sitting.

"No, I have other matters to attend to before we go."

"Another matter? What can be more important than this? Just so you know, even on my 4th stage spiritual beast, it takes at least three weeks to reach the capital of the Cromwell Kingdom, departing from here, from the Stone Island."

Minos then asked. "And how much time is left for this competition to happen?"

"In 6 months from now."

"Ah! So, we have enough time. The way you said it, I thought it was already close!" Minos replied with a satisfied look.

"I know there is enough time, but it would be better if we went there soon."

"Many of the Spiritual Tournament's participants arrive at the competition site up to 4 months before the scheduled date. That's because, in doing so, they can better understand the situation they are in."

"Many of these participants achieve good results in their final training because of the pressure imposed by themselves when meeting other high-level geniuses." Ruth looked at Minos with a disapproving look after saying this.

She thought he was underestimating the opponents of this great competition by leaving to go to the competition site later. After all, even if he had an insane speed in cultivation, that didn't mean he would be the most powerful participant in this event.

"I must warn you that, while your cultivation speed is excellent, based on previous tournament results, a cultivator at the start of the fourth stage like you can only be considered average."

"The strongest in this competition has always been at the beginning of the 5th stage. Since there is always one or other competing that has already reached level 42, or even a little stronger than that!"

"After all, even though the northern region of the Central Continent has significantly less spiritual energy than the rest of the continent, having a few individuals with above-average talent is quite common in such a large population."

That was indeed true. Even though it was difficult to happen, people with talent more remarkable than their parents were not so difficult to find. Such a thing can be seen clearly in the examples of Lee and Alison, who Minos had brought to his side.

Ruth then stared into the young man's eyes in front of her and said. "That's why you shouldn't underestimate the Spiritual Tournament, you don't know that, but some of the great specialists from the Flaming Empire came from here, from this region. Even some 'small' families from here, on the north of the Central Continent, have completely changed after having a single member going to our Empire."

"To give you an idea, nearly two decades ago, during the tournament of that period, one of your Brown Kingdom's families had a member with Silver talent who competed in that competition. They hid this young man wisely, and in the end, that person won the Spiritual Tournament and went to one of the Flaming Empire's sects."

"After that, he grew considerably and gained an important position in the sect he went to, having even reached the stage of Spiritual Emperor under 40s."

"It wasn't long after that before his entire family left the Brown Kingdom for a region of high spiritual concentration, which that young man had obtained as a reward for becoming an elder in the sect in which he was a member."

"My master told me this story a few years ago when I found out about this competition. If I'm not mistaken, that expert is called Dennis Red." Ruth finished speaking while watching Minos.

'Oh! So, that's why the Red family left the Red Valley in the Brown Kingdom…'

"But don't worry about it. I'm not underestimating this competition." Minos said with a confident tone.

He honestly did not think of himself as an invincible being who acted hastily without making the proper plans. But his priority was the Black Plain. After all, making contacts was important, but if he neglected his responsibilities as sovereign, then having such connections would only hinder the development of Minos' forces!

And Minos understood very well what he could and could not do. So, he would never pay more attention to something secondary than his main objective.

'Hmph, you don't know what you're talking about! But that's okay, hehe, you're the one who will go down in the end.' Ruth thought to herself, as she imagined a future in which Minos would leave this pose and tell her how wrong he was…

"So, why do you want to stay here any longer?"

"I have a lot of things to do here. I have to buy weapons and spiritual pills for my organization. I also have a business to do with the Stone Island." Minos said sincerely.

"Ah, business? Regardless of what it is, you could do it all in the Cromwell Kingdom instead of doing it here." Ruth said with a disapproving expression on her face. For her, Minos was doing many things that only made matters difficult for himself.

Minos then shook his head and said. "It is not that simple. You don't understand my situation to know where it is better or worse to do my business. Stone Island is the best place of all for the Black Plain to start negotiating."

"Hmph, if you say so, then I won't say anything anymore…"

Ruth then asked. "So, you came to see this Elen Nash for this?"

"That's right. I made a commercial agreement with Elen. Anyway, since you've said it all, it's time for me to look for her. Will you come with me?" He asked after getting up from his chair with a smile on his face.

"Since my teacher assigned me the mission of accompanying you to the Spiritual Tournament, I will accompany you for this time, as returning now would be pointless." She said with a bit of reluctance in her eyes.

Ruth did not like to stay in a place with a spiritual density as low as the north of the Central Continent, but she could not return to her sect during this period.

The Spiritual Tournament was only six months away, and just for her to go back and forth between the Flaming Empire and this region, it would take more than three months.

Because of this, it was not worth it for her to try to return to her sect while Minos resolved his final issues.

"Since this is the case, let's get going. I want to find Ms. Elen as soon as possible."

After saying this, Minos and Ruth left the room that they were in and headed for the exit of the hotel. The three former soldiers and Sergeant Pyke also accompanied them.

They drove in a carriage from the central part of the Old Stone, where the Hotel Olson was located, to the west of the city, where the Nash family headquarters was.

'I hope Miss Elen is there. Otherwise, it could slow me down a bit.' Minos thought to himself as he watched the view of this beautiful city as his carriage wandered the streets.