The Rise of the Black Plain

While the new day dawned, the group inside the cave was already awake and had even resumed cultivating.

Since Peter and Maxwell had suffered some serious injuries last night, even after using pills and cultivating, the two still remained very weak. After all, even with the spiritual energy they had, it would need at least 2 or 3 days for them to recover completely.

On the other hand, Minos has already recovered the energy which he had expended fighting with the yellow monkey after cultivating last night just for a few minutes.

And while they were having breakfast this morning, Minos learned a little about the backgrounds of the two people whom he had saved last night. Maxwell was a member of a noble family that hailed from the Snow Kingdom, a region located at the east of the Kingdom of Waves.

Peter, on the other hand, was an ordinary person who had cultivated independently in the region of the Kingdom of Waves and had come to test his skills at the Spiritual Tournament.

For some reasons that Minos didn't know, Peter had not joined any of the noble families in his region, even after discovering his Black talent.

After having breakfast, Minos decided to make his move, trying to recruit Peter to the Black Plain.

The young Stuart's forces didn't have many members who had such talent. In fact, there were only three people who had Black Talent, namely, the two youths, Lee and Alison, and Butler Dillian. Thus, Minos knew that he had to take the chance of recruiting anyone with Black talent who seemed willing to listen to his offer.

"Peter, you said you were going to help me if I needed to, right?" Minos asked, his voice filled with mystery.

Hearing him, the short-haired Peter raised his head and replied in a resolute tone, "Yes, as long as it's within my capabilities."

Minos then said while maintaining an expressionless face, "Hmm, you mentioned that you haven't joined any of the noble families in your kingdom. Why not join my forces?"

"Ehh?" Maxwell almost spit out his drink after hearing Minos' offer. The young Stuart had said this so normally as if he was saying, 'the coffee is over.'

Maxwell found it a little strange that Minos was trying to get a subordinate without any subtlety. He went straight to the point at once without any hesitation...

"But you don't know anything about my past. Aren't you worried about the problems that might arise from that?" Peter asked with confusion. It would be a really great opportunity for him to join a powerful family. He just had no luck so far...

In fact, entering a powerful faction that had produced a monster like Minos seemed rather much attractive even to young Maxwell, let alone Peter.

And, of course, they didn't know that the force Minos was affiliated with was the Black Plain...

"It doesn't matter, as long as your problems don't become an immediate concern for us, it is possible to solve everything. But take your time and think about it calmly. There are still many days left in the Spiritual Tournament," Minos said, reassuring Peter.

After saying that, the three finished their breakfast and cleaned up the cave before finally leaving.

Today, they would continue their journey towards the center of this forest, where Minos planned to hunt Leroy.

...

Meanwhile, in Capital City, many people were engrossed in the recent events and even discussed what had happened the day before.

The surveillance headquarters had captured numerous battles in the forest and transmitted these videos to the audience that was gathered in the square where the competitors had gathered before the start of the second test.

"Dude, you should have been here to see Ms. Kara's performance yesterday. She single-handedly killed a 5th-stage spiritual beast!" a young man exclaimed to his friend who stood next to him.

"Hmm, also, I heard that. But although this is very good, it cannot be compared to what Minos did. He is only a Spiritual Warrior, but even then, he was able to kill a 5th-stage beast!"

"Are you really serious? I also heard about this, but I thought that it was just a rumor and didn't believe it. I can only believe in something like this when I have seen it with my own eyes!"

"Hahaha, I understand you completely. Even I myself had a hard time believing it when I was watching the fight!" his friend chuckled with a wry smile.

Meanwhile, many others were also commenting on the performances of the best participants thus far.

The one who received most of the attention was young Troy, who had fought against two 5th-stage spiritual beasts and won!

Troy had the most significant cultivation base and was also considered the most talented contender among all the participants. And though there were many others with Silver talent, they were still months younger than him, which gave Troy a clear overall advantage.

As for the partnership between Leroy and Davy, the two had been keeping a low profile while fighting only against the 4th stage beasts. However, this was not something that they had done on purpose. Similar to Minos, the two had been teleported to one of the bordering regions of the forest.

And as a result, the two had not encountered any powerful beasts. In fact, the same might have happened with Minos if it hadn't been for Maxwell and Peter's unexpected appearance!

...

While the competition was taking place in the forest, in the Flaming Empire, there was a piece of land with a few square kilometers of an area within the City of Clouds.

A young woman with brown hair and eyes was leisurely enjoying her tea outside her house in a tranquil area.

This place had a garden with an array of flowers, a white table with four seats, and a magnificent view of the city not too far away.

And this woman who was drinking tea in this place was Maisie Coleman, young Stuart's mother. She had just finished her cultivation when she received the news that her father was coming to visit her.

And since it was not an unusual occurrence, she decided to wait for him in this peaceful spot. 'Right now, little Minos must be participating in the Spiritual Tournament... I wonder how he'll do.'

'I hope that Ruth will return as soon as possible to tell me about her experiences with him...'

She thought while looking at the landscape and enjoying her tea.

Not long after, an old man with white hair and beard arrived at the place, wearing a smile on his face.

Noticing that he seemed to be very happy with something, she asked curiously, "Did something happen to you? Why are you smiling?"

The old man then laughed and replied, "I met someone..."

...

Time quickly passed, and Minos and his group were steadily getting closer to the central region of the forest. The group had fought against some 4th-stage beasts and one that was already at the 5th stage along their way.

Other than that, the only surprise that Minos and his group came across was Abby. But she had already formed her own team and did not want to stand by the young Stuart right now.

With the young Stuart's previous flirtation, the poor girl could not look at him the same way as before.

And as a result, the two groups went in different directions after talking for a brief moment. Minos wasn't bothered by Abby's reaction since he already expected something like this to happen.

However, the most important information was that someone from Abby's group had spotted Leroy the day before!

After learning this, Minos knew that his theory was, in fact, right. Leroy was heading straight to the central region of the forest, where this examination was being carried out.

It didn't take long for Minos and his companions to find a place to spend the night. However, this time, they were not lucky to find a geological structure that was suitable for them to rest, so they decided to camp near a river.

They decided that one would take turns keeping a watch while one of them rested and the other cultivated.

...

Right now, Maxwell was keeping a watchful eye at the surroundings while Peter was sleeping.

On the other hand, Minos sat in a meditative position as he circulated his cultivation technique, Solar God Breath.

There were numerous low-grade spiritual crystals next to Minos as his energy increasingly approached the limit of level 38!

'Oh? It looks like I'm going to progress a few hours ahead of schedule!' He celebrated inwardly.

Crack!

Suddenly, a faint sound was heard coming from Minos' direction. The sound was subtle, but Maxwell was still able to pick it up. After all, they were in the heart of a forest, where silence always prevailed.

'He managed to advance during the competition! This is truly good!' Maxwell silently applauded Minos' achievement.

Finally, Minos' energy crossed the threshold of his previous level, and now he was at level 39!

'Hehe, just a little bit, and I'll be able to reach level 40!'

Minos was very anxious about reaching the 5th stage. From that point on, his ability to probe his surroundings would greatly improve. This would indeed mean a big difference since it could even improve the cultivator's fighting performance.

Moreover, at every stage of his cultivation, Minos' techniques would become even more potent, and along with that, he could still add one more technique to his repertoire!

'With my current pace, I will only be able to reach level 40 when I return to Black Plain...' Minos contemplated as he gazed at the starry sky above the forest.

...

Soon another day passed as Minos and his two allies were getting closer and closer to Leroy's trail.

Minos' group had already realized that their target had an ally, and those two had also already discovered that they were being pursued.

And so, they were already preparing themselves for an approaching fight!