The Rise of the Black Plain

After strolling for a while, Minos and Ruth soon arrived at a square that was as busy as the place where the Cultivation Ranking was present. This was an open place, with many trees and several kiosks selling food which filled the air with an enticing aroma.

And amidst the smell of the delicious food that could be smelled in the air and the refreshing atmosphere as that of an open place in the middle of a big city, an arena was set up at the center of this place.

The arena had four expansive stands, which accommodated thousands of seats for the eager visitors to come and witness the intense battles. Outside the arena, many massive screens were set up which displayed the results of the most recent battles and also featured the 100 best individuals in the arena.

A few advertisements also mentioned how much one could gain by entering the ranking, which was more or less similar to the rules of the Cultivation Ranking.

The first-place holder would be awarded a low-level grade-2 pill and weapon if they managed to hold that position for at least an entire week.

For the second position, the competitors would have to follow the same rules. However, they would only receive a weapon and a high-level grade-1 pill if they could achieve this goal, provided that they also maintained just like the first ranked. And the third position could win a high-level grade-1 pill.

There were also many other awards for lower rankings, but these awards were comparatively less attractive, such as spiritual weapons, arrays, or low-grade crystals.

Only the first three positions won enticing prizes, which were capable of making a big difference for the competition participants.

It didn't take long before the two of them managed to find a place to observe a few battles.

As Ruth and Minos sat down at a corner of one of the stands, the two noticed that there was already a pair of cultivators having a battle on the stage.

Pow!

A young man unexpectedly landed a punch on his opponent's chest after he was taken by surprise and tried to put down the enemy's counterattack!

Boom!

An explosive sound filled the air, and the young man who had been attacked was hurled through the air while making a wailing sound that echoed in the distance.

"Ahh! Damn it!"

After that, the judge came over and concluded the end of the duel, declaring the young man who still stood in the center of the arena to be victorious.

Seeing the outcome, a group of people beside Minos got up and left while talking loudly as the clamor in the arena made it hard to hear.

"It looks like there won't be any exciting battles today..."

"Hmm, those young people who fought so far were weak. I would prefer to go and do other things," one of them remarked with dissatisfaction.

"Well, it was to be expected. I heard that the current first-place contender in the ranking is competing for a spot in the Cultivation Ranking this week."

"Hehe, this is normal. Young Troy fought two days ago, so it will be a while before another high-level battle takes place!" a middle-aged man exclaimed with a smile on his face.

He had watched a fierce battle between the top two cultivators in the battle arena ranking just two days ago. According to him, that was one of the best battles he had seen in his entire life. Considering that it was quite rare to witness this type of battle in a relatively weak region of the North of the Central Continent.

After all, life-and-death battles were not something that would take place publicly.

After hearing this, Ruth turned to Minos with a disappointed look on her face and sighed, "Did you hear what they said just now? It looks like we are not lucky."

"Hmm, we will just watch the next two battles. And if it is not better than the last one, we will simply look for a place to train," Minos replied with a resolute look on his face.

"Alright, let's see if there are any surprises for us here..."

After a few minutes, another battle had already begun, but much to the disappointment of the duo, the participants were only at levels 35 and 36, and because of that, this battle had not caught much of their attention as they were people who were accustomed to facing opponents at 5th stage.

And it wasn't long before this battle also came to a conclusion, and, as anyone would expect, the level 36 youngster won.

After this, two girls went up to the center of the arena and then started the next fight.

One of them was at level 37, while the other was at level 39. And though it wasn't a bad fight, it still wasn't enough to make Minos and Ruth spend more of their time at this place.

Realizing that there was nothing better in this place, the two decided to leave in search of a suitable place for their training. It would simply not be reasonable to waste their time here.

However, just when Minos and Ruth were about to get up and leave this place, they noticed young Abby and her group not far from them.

Seeing this, Ruth couldn't help frowning, thinking about Abby's quirky comment from just a few days ago.

The moment she noticed Minos, Abby hurriedly ran towards him and eagerly came over to talk to him.

After she stopped in front of the duo, Abby exclaimed with a wide smile on her face and embraced Minos, "Haha, it looks like our destinies are linked! We found each other so easily..."

"Hmm, it's truly a coincidence." Minos hugged her warmly before greeting the rest of her group.

Abby then inquired while her gaze was fixed on Minos, "Did you just get here too?"

Ruth promptly responded with an indifferent look on her face, "Hmm, but there is nothing interesting here. So, we were already planning on leaving this place and going cultivate somewhere else."

Upon hearing this, Abby's expression slowly changed as she glanced at Ruth, who stood beside the young Stuart. 'Are they really going to cultivate?'

'No, I won't allow this woman to further stain Minos' mind.' Abby thought for a second before saying, "Minos, since you are not interested in watching the fights, why don't you spar with me? We always used to talk about it in the past."

Minos then shook his head and tried to convince her otherwise. "I think this might not be a good idea..."

"You don't have to be afraid. Abby is your friend, so she'll take it easy for you," young Mona immediately interjected after seeing Minos' almost immediate refusal, thinking it was due to the evident power disparity.

This was very obvious to her. After all, Minos was only at level 38, while Abby was at 40. And getting around that difference in cultivation was very difficult!

However, before Minos or Abby could say anything, Ruth immediately burst into laughter.

"Hahaha."

Hearing her laugh so loudly, other than Minos, everyone in the situation looked at her curiously. Abby stepped forward and inquired, feeling a bit irritated by this woman's laughter, "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing..." Ruth controlled herself and waved her hand.

Minos then chimed in, "It would be better if we don't fight, Abby..." but before he finished, the young woman had already caught Minos' hand and started pulling him towards the center of the arena.

"Stop with this bullshit. We will have a friendly match to see how strong we have become. The result is not important at all!"

Seeing what was going on, Ruth's cheeks turned red due to laughter as she thought about what was going to happen. 'This is good. At least this woman will learn to stay away from us after being decisively defeated!'

It wasn't long before Minos and Abby ascended to the center of the arena. And since there weren't that many participants to battle today, they didn't face any problems for a spot.

Despite Minos's attempts to change Abby's thoughts, she remained determined not to let him go. He then cautioned her before the fight began. "Since you are so eager to fight anyway, fight with everything from the beginning. Otherwise, you will lose without having a chance to strike back."

Hearing this, both Abby and the judge nearby were shocked by those bold words from Minos.

That was too arrogant!

A lower-level competitor had just said that he would win effortlessly unless the other side did not use all her cards!

'Ahh... The problem of the younger generation is definitely their arrogance...' the middle-aged judge sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

He had witnessed this kind of behavior countless times. However, such young people almost always end up encountering great tragedies in their lives.

'Does he really think that he is going to beat me like this?' Abby doubted in her mind. Even if Minos' speed was phenomenal, that didn't mean that his combat prowess was just as good!

'I will use only 80% of my strength. That should be enough for him to have a good challenge...' She thought as she prepared to activate her techniques.

Meanwhile, perplexed by Abby's insistence, Minos let out a long sigh. 'Why is she doing this? It makes no sense...'

The judge then declared, "Start the fight!"

Minos held a blunt sword in his right hand as he activated his attack technique, with a look of regret evident on his face.

The issue for Minos lay in his extremely limited control over his battle techniques, which would make him unable to minimize the damage inflicted.

As a result, he wasn't able to control the effect of his techniques on his opponents either. Furthermore, even if he were to refrain from fighting, the gap between his and Abby's levels was minimal. Therefore, it would be practically impossible for his friend to resist the limiting effects of his techniques!

Spatial Sword!

Meanwhile, Abby also activated her movement and defense techniques while thinking, 'Let's see the power of your attack...' Her intentions were clear, she didn't want to attack and hurt her old friend by accident...

However, when she was least expecting it, Abby suddenly started to feel very heavy, and her speed was also reduced by a large margin!

Minos swiftly approached Abby, gesturing with his sword towards the young woman's right shoulder. He didn't want to use an air blade since it might end up hurting his old friend a lot more.

He wanted to rely on the blunted end of the sword as the damage done to his opponent would be, at most, a temporary muscle discomfort that would last a few minutes.

Crack!

Abby's defense crumbled apart in an instant while her body was suddenly flung out of the arena.

Meanwhile, disbelief filled her eyes as a sudden realization hit her. This battle had only lasted a second, and yet she had already suffered such an embarrassing defeat!