The Rise of the Black Plain

In the blink of an eye, another 25 years have passed for the people on The Red Expanse, with the Millennium Massacre reaching its final 10-year point!

The various aliens in this dimension's pyramid have worked hard in recent years, making the most of their opportunities, with more individuals reaching levels 5 and 6 of the pyramid. Level 7 has also received two new aliens during this time, while the broccoli-headed alien made it to level 8 months ago.

Minos and Soli were still on level 8 when the alien they left on level 7 years ago reached them, but they didn't stay there long along with the broccoli-headed alien.

Two months ago, Minos had achieved enough to go to level 9 on his own if he wanted to. Soli hadn't achieved the same as him and thought she could only get a third of the way to level 9 without his help.

But Minos thought he was ready to take his ally to level 9, so two months ago, he set out with her to challenge the pyramid once again, this time to level 9.

As expected, he succeeded, once again overcoming the challenge in his path by a wide margin and successfully taking Soli to level 9.

For the past two months, he had been cultivating there practically on his own, and today, Soli finally woke up from her coma to cultivate in this level 9!

...

Weeks after starting to cultivate at the level 9 of the pyramid, Soli was already accustomed to the area, had regained her strength, and had cultivated enough to handle the 900th step if she wanted to.

Her current plans were no longer to challenge the pyramid, but to spend her last 10 years at this level, making the most of the advantage she had gained over the other 98 competitors.

She was certain that for the next 10 years, only she and Minos would be at this level. They would leave The Red Expanse in 10 years as the favorites for the next phase of the legacy!

But before that, today, she and Minos woke up to talk about their current situation.

Looking at the furry alien, Minos got right to the point. "You have 9 years and 7 months to cultivate here on my side. After that, you will go to the 900th step with me and lend me your powers."

According to the rules of the pyramid, in order for Minos to steal someone else's cultivation, that person had to be with him on the steps. He would need to have Soli at his side for at least a few seconds before he proceeded with his plan and she returned to the cultivation area she was currently in.

"Don't worry, I'll do what I promised." She said as she smiled at Minos, curious to see him attempt the climb to the last level of the pyramid.

She honestly didn't think he could reach level 10, so she was relaxed about helping him in just under 10 years.

"But... Do you think you'll make it?" she asked him with an interested look on her face.

"Only time will tell. I think I can make it halfway, but beyond that, I won't know until we've been here for over nine years." Minos replied as he looked towards the exit of this cavernous cultivation area.

"If you succeed, it's possible that your physique will advance to the next quality level... That would give you an impressive advantage for the next test." She commented to him before adding. "If it's possible, we could team up for the next test, you know? It will have 10 slots, so we don't have to be mortal enemies yet."

Minos narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, but he didn't disagree. "If it's possible, it could be interesting, yes. But it depends on the conditions of the next phase of the legacy."

"We can promise each other to ally if it's not against our interests in the next challenge." She suggested.

"That's good enough for me."

With that agreed upon, the two soon turned their attention back to continuing their meditation, both feeling improvements in their foundations with each passing day.

Though he wasn't sure how strong he had become, Minos now felt that his spiritual foundation was much stronger than the one he had built in Zocarro, the kind that would put him in a better position even if he didn't advance in level.

When he became a level 100 sovereign, he felt he could challenge the level 108 sovereigns of Zocarro without using his fusions. But now, he believed that his foundation was so solid that even at the same level, he could challenge level 110 Sovereigns.

But that was just his speculation, considering how much more he understood about the laws of cultivation, the use of his innate and divine abilities, and how much of his old techniques and secondary abilities he should be able to use.

He would not know his current abilities for sure until he returned to his universe!

Meanwhile, his physique was improving every day, and he was nearing the peak of the Divine grade, approaching the point where he could challenge the Celestial grade.

He didn't know if he could complete the entire journey necessary to reach this important step for cultivators of the entire universe.

Having a Celestial grade Physique in the universe would be like having a Divine grade Physique in the Spiritual World.

Only the strongest would have such a quality! ...

While Minos was taking advantage of his opportunities in the pocket dimension of the Celestial being, the situation for Kendrick and the others was changing!

Lily ran through the corridors of her sect's headquarters toward her brother, holding something very important in her hands, a smile on her face that showed her recent victory.

Upon entering Kendrick's mansion, where the young man was standing next to his squire and a sect guard, Lily ignored her agitated breathing and got right to the point, showing him the seal in her hand.

"The Grand Elder has just allowed my brother to return to cultivation. Please, Igiro, remove the suppression artifacts from my brother's body!"

As Lily spoke, a clever smile appeared on Kendrick's face, his political actions alongside his companions finally taking effect, allowing him to put his plan into action.

'I will finally be able to move!' He thought as he secretly clenched his fists and watched as Igiro confirmed he could remove the restricting items from his body.