The Rise of the Black Plain

Amid the banquet Harold gave to Milo, Isabella stood beside her mother and stepmother, silent in that noisy hall, smelling of food and drink.

But she had a smile on her face, for she would soon be temporarily relieved of her duties so she could be permanently at Minos' side.

She had almost become the Empress of the Flaming Empire during Harold's absence. Hence, she had to shed the duties she had accepted during that period.

That was not a simple job since the Spiritual Church was involved in the process, and currently, factions of that organization were making things difficult for everyone related to Minos.

But after several months, Isabella was close to finally disposing of her commitments, returning all power over the Flaming Empire to her father.

Herald was doing well in his role and did not intend to make room for his successor to replace him any time soon. She also did not desire that at the moment. The princess wanted to move in with Minos. Not only that, Emperor Stuart had already asked her to marry him. So in this way, Isabella wanted to go and live with him as soon as possible.

Seeing the arrival of Milo, a Spiritual Sage who would be at her family's disposal, she couldn't help but feel anxious, noting that her presence in the empire would be less required.

'Soon... Soon I will be able to join Minos and the rest of the family in the Black Plain Empire.' She thought, smiling.

"What is it, Bella? Why are you so happy?" Her mother asked, more or less knowing the reason for that.

The Empress also looked at this woman, laughing.

Isabella said. "It's because of Minos... I hope I can live with him very soon."

"Oh? What about your old family? Are you going to abandon your empire?" The Empress provoked this woman a little.

But Isabella was not taken in by Madeline's banter. "You and my father will have a child at some point... I will no longer be needed when that happens."

"You think so?" Harold's second wife asked, seeing her daughter's hopes for something quite unlikely to happen.

After thousands of years of trying, Harold had only had her... So these women's hopes of him making a new child now were not great.

"Even if that doesn't happen, my father still has plenty of time to rule... At the same time, with Minos on our side, maybe my father can still advance a few levels." She was optimistic about the future. "Then I won't be needed for at least a few centuries!

I can live with my man in the meantime. Even if I have to return in the future, I will do so with a smile on my face!"

"Haha, Bella, you really are in love..."

They continued talking while patriarchs and local sect masters surrounded Milo.

Among them was the man who had made deals with Minos concerning the giant skeleton Emperor Stuart had taken to the Spatial Kingdom from this person's sect years ago.

He had men from his sect in the Black Plain Empire who had already advanced levels, which made his sect the strongest after the Gray Clouds Sect.

At the same time, those men and women from his sect who had gone to the Black Plain years ago had made connections in that state, something that could greatly help this man's organization in the future.

As such, with the emergence of Spiritual Sages in Minos' forces, this man was looking forward to the future, certain that he should be close to the Stuart family.

Meanwhile, the Holy Sect master said to Milo. "Elder Coleman, can you tell us something about His Majesty Minos Stuart's forces? I know this might be asking too much, but is there a possibility of more Spiritual Sages appearing in His Majesty's forces?"

Everyone paid attention to Milo after that question, with Harold also looking at this 9th-stage cultivator, curious as to that.

Milo smiled and said. "But of course, that information is no secret in the empire. Currently, His Majesty's forces have, counting myself, 3 Spiritual Sages. The former sect master Oswald is one of them, who was the first of us to advance to the 9th stage."

"Oswald?" Some sect masters there opened their mouths, remembering that Minos' grandfather was considered powerful in the past because of his innate ability, not because of his level.

Among the former eight masters of the major sects in that state, Oswald had the lowest cultivation level, having been at level 78 a few decades ago. But this had never been a problem for him, as his innate ability made up for his deficiency in terms of level, putting him practically at the same level as the other masters of those sects.

However, he, the one with the lowest soul cultivation, was now at level 80!

'So Oswald has reached that stage too...' Harold smiled, satisfied, for this man had always been loyal and fair to him. "That's good to know. I hope to be able to see old sect master Oswald soon... Anyway, where is he now? Doing something important?"

"He is, alongside our other Spiritual Sage, creating wormhole ports throughout the empire."

"Oh?"

The people there found that impressive, wondering if these people couldn't do that in the Flaming Empire as well.

That state had never had that in the past, as there was rarely just one Spiritual Sage around. But at least two individuals at that stage were needed for that service.

Therefore, the local experts had to spend their crystals on teleportation arrays when they needed to move around urgently, something costly for their organizations.

So upon hearing that, everyone looked at those two 9th-stage cultivators, feeling that it was time that this state also had wormhole ports.

That was also Harold's thought, so he said. "Hmm, that makes sense. By the way, can you help me with that? I'd like to create a network of ports in the empire as well... We could even join Oswald and connect some of them to the network he will develop on the Black Plain."

Milo liked what he heard, as this would make it easier for forces in the Black Plain Empire to access this state and could improve military and trade relations between the two states.

"But of course. If Your Majesty did not speak, I would suggest such a thing, haha."

After these conversations, Milo spent some time talking individually with some of the local experts until a member of the imperial family approached him and asked a personal question.

"Senior Milo, I am a disciple of the old supreme elder." A level 75 man said this before asking with a bit of concern in his tone. "How is my master doing? I know he had many problems with His Majesty Minos Stuart, and he doesn't have much time left either."

The old supreme elder of the Edwardstone family had not reported for months, something not so unusual for outside envoys like him.

In any case, that fellow was curious about his master's situation and asked the question to someone who might know how to tell him something better than letters.

"About him..."