The Rise of the Black Plain

Time passed, and the night gradually began making room for the first rays of daylight.

The city that had slowed down during the night quickly began to regain its liveliness as the sounds of carriages and pedestrians started to fill the streets.

This was a city with a large population, and with the Spiritual Tournament just around the corner, the city was even more bustling than usual.

It was customary to have a lot of activity in a city like this. However, one had to know that the day had just dawned, yet the avenues of the many competition structures had already been crowded and had thousands of people.

Although only a specific age group who were going to compete in the Spiritual Tournament were permitted to use these structures, a large crowd had gathered to witness the accomplishments of this younger generation.

Simultaneously, as thousands of people prepared for another day at this Spiritual Tournament center, Minos and Ruth were in their room, having 'the pleasures of the flesh.'

As was their routine, the two started the day in the best possible way, which was by having a lot of fun. And as soon as the two were finished with their things, Minos and Ruth took a long shower together before having their breakfast.

And since this was a high-end hotel that housed even some of those responsible for the Spiritual Tournament, the food provided here was also top-notch.

As soon as the two finished their matters, the duo received a lavish feast in their room. The spread included several different high spiritual concentration fruits, roots, meat from 4th stage beasts, coffee, milk from the 3rd stage beast, and many other delicacies.

It was evidently a luxurious hotel within the Cromwell Kingdom. No wonder the daily rate was 20,000 low-grade spiritual crystals!

And since it was the Gray Clouds Sect that was paying for the expenses... Minos didn't bother to stay here for long!

While sitting on one of the four chairs surrounding the dining table in their apartment, Minos was relishing the taste of the 4th stage beast meat when Ruth, who sat by his side asked, "Do you plan to go to the cultivation competition this morning?

Even if you don't wish to expose your abilities, you can still meet the many high-level cultivators who would be participating in this edition of the Spiritual Tournament."

Nhoc!

"Hmm... Ehh, yes, we'll after we're done here. I am also curious to see how impressive the greatest geniuses in the north of the Central Continent are." Minos nodded as he ate with enthusiasm.

The meat of a 4th stage spiritual beast was even more delicious for Minos, who lived in the Black Plain, where there weren't any options like this.

...

Before long, Minos and Ruth had already finished eating and were headed towards the location of the mobile structure from the Flaming Empire.

This place they wanted to go was not far from their hotel and was conveniently just about a 15-minute walk away.

And while Minos enjoyed the sight of Capital City, he soon realized that the density of people on the streets was gradually increasing!

'I doubt that all these people are going to participate in this competition. Why don't they do something productive?' Minos wondered in his mind thinking about why they might be gathering without any reason.

He was not a person who was particularly fond of being in a crowd.

As Minos and Ruth entered the crowd, they finally caught sight of a large screen that was displaying the constantly changing rankings.

This screen features 1,000 names listed on it, and the rank was ordered from the best cultivation speed to the worst.

Additionally, there was also a little more data on the screen other than just the name of these cultivators, indicating the level of these people and the rate of their spiritual growth.

At this point, someone amidst the onlookers exclaimed out loud. "Look, it's Ford Carline. He reached level 41 while cultivating there!"

Upon noticing the red-haired young man leaving the structure, a young woman exclaimed as well, "Wow, he's so handsome! I wish he would notice me..."

Another young woman chimed while smiling. "Dream on! Young Ford is ranked at the 7th position in the Cultivation Ranking. He will certainly be one of the chosen ones to go to the Flaming Empire. He's far beyond your reach!"

"Haha."

While several comments were made in the crowd, there was occasional laughter and even clapping sounds which filled the air and made it look like a circus, in Minos' opinion.

But as Minos looked around, Ruth's voice turned cold as she pointed out, "Look at position number 9."

He focused his gaze on the screen and saw a name in red. 'Leroy Chambers.'

The young Stuart frowned, remembering what this guy had tried to do to them just a few days ago.

"Does he think I won't go after him?" Minos said coldly. The Spiritual Tournament was a competition that could be pretty dangerous.

And it was particularly because it had a phase where the participants were left alone in a forest. And although it was forbidden to kill in the other levels of the tournament, the second test of the competition allowed this...

"But it's good that he showed himself. At least it didn't bring me the trouble to hunt him down in the future..."

After a while, Minos and Ruth continued to pay attention to the other names on the big ranking screen.

There was one particular name that caught Minos' attention. At rank number 10, the name 'Luke Nash' appeared with level 41 below his name.

'This guy is also here?' Minos contemplated with a smile forming on his face. He had defeated Luke when he was only at level 33. Imagine what would happen now that he was at level 38!

Minos grinned and remarked, "I can't wait to see what that clown's face would be after he sees me around."

"Who are you talking about?" Ruth asked curiously.

"Do you remember that idiot who tried to set me up in Old Stone? I'm talking about him. He's here as well," Minos said while pointing at the tenth rank.

"Oh! I didn't expect that an old 'opponent' of yours would show up here. Hehe," Ruth responded with a smile on her face.

A few minutes later, a beautiful red-haired young woman suddenly left the place. Her presence triggered the crowd to almost burst into comments, ranging from loving confessions to pure admiration for the young woman's talent.

"Wow! Not only is she extremely talented, but she is also one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen!" a middle-aged man exclaimed in the crowd.

The girl who had just left the structure was Kara Carline. She was at level 42 and was the younger sister of the young man from before, Ford Carline.

"Unbelievable! She is only 17 years old, and yet she still managed to secure 4th place!"

"Ahh! That way, I will fall in love with her," shouted a young man from the middle of the audience.

Noticing the clamor, Minos gazed in the young woman's direction and agreed with a few of the comments. 'She is truly amazing! Even then, I think that Ruth is even more beautiful. This young ginger doesn't lose out on almost anything!'

After a few more minutes, Minos and Ruth started getting tired of staying there and decided to go to the fighting arena, not far from their current location.

However, just when the two were about to leave, another commotion erupted in the crowd.

"Look, it's Mr. Troy Newman, the number 1 in the Cultivation Ranking!"

"Ahh! With young Troy participating in this tournament, the first place is already decided..." lamented one of the young onlookers in dismay.

Many nodded in agreement while someone added, "Indeed, the other competitors have very little chance now. They are really unlucky. It's not common for someone at level 44 to participate in this competition..."

Hearing this, Minos turned his head to look in the young man's direction. The young man had black hair and just entered the structure which measured the competitors' cultivation speed.

"Oh! Not bad. He must have a Silver talent and also a Silver-grade cultivation technique!" Minos murmured under his breath. The cultivation speed of this young man was really exceptional, even for the northern region of the Central Continent.

Minos then thought curiously, 'But I've never heard of this Newman family. What region is it in?'

"Ruth, have you heard of any family with that last name?" he asked her curiously.

"No, after all, I am familiar with only a few families in this part of the continent..." Ruth shook her head.

"Hmm, never mind, I was just curious," Minos nodded, and the duo turned in a different direction.

With that, the two finally left the place and headed towards the fighting arena. But before that, Minos had scanned for some surnames on that screen, but he didn't find any of them. The names were of the Silva family and the royal family of the Brown Kingdom. It was not uncommon for a large house not to participate in this competition. After all, there was an age limit!

Therefore, there was a possibility that these families didn't have any prodigy who was up to 18 years old to send them for this edition of the Spiritual Tournament.

After all, it was not easy for a family to have many geniuses simultaneously. Take the case of the Miller family for instance, which had sent only two members.

Additionally, the tournament was held every eight years. This meant that a prodigy who started cultivating five years ago would be still too young and ineligible to compete as they would still be weak!