The Rise of the Black Plain

As Minos began the evolution of his Physique, thousands of kilometers north of Dry City, in the middle of a forested region, something unusual was happening at this very moment!

In that place, thousands of serpents stood still, almost as if they had frozen while doing their daily activities. Some were on the wet terrain of that area, while others were on the branches of the trees there.

However, while most of these serpents with colored scales and wings near their heads remained still, leaning against the ground or trees, other stronger ones floated in the sky, scanning the area.

'That feeling...' One of those Feathered Serpents said this in its mind while using the unique mental connection these beings shared.

'That's the direction of the Black Plain... I wonder if...'

When Virtus, the leader of this place, heard these thoughts and realized that his entire tribe was looking in the same direction, he focused even more on that direction. He had just seen and felt intense red thunder pass by a second ago in that direction.

Such thunder had appeared in the blink of an eye, heading towards the Black Plain quickly, having for an instant formed a mirage that these spiritual beasts had noticed.

Such a thing would have been invisible to low-level cultivators, such as those in this region, or individuals without the unique abilities of the Feathered Serpents.

Because of this, only those serpents in this northern region of the Central Continent or high-level people traveling through these areas would notice the afterimage left by such a thing.

This phenomenon was bizarre and even a bit frightening as if it was creatures made of thunder traveling at high speed.

But even though many beings seeing this for the first time might be frightened by such a thing if they did not know its meaning, the same was not true for the members of the tribe of the elder Virtus.

That was because these beasts knew that only the liberation of a large amount of spiritual energy could have such effect!

After all, the unique ability of this race was related to changes in the environment that were related to spiritual energy. 

And not for nothing, just over five years ago, elder Virtus and his fellow Feathered Serpents had headed north to the Central Continent, after having seen and felt a similar phenomenon, but, of course, millions of times more significant than this one!

So, upon seeing such a thing, all of them had more or less understood what was happening. But most were not so surprised just because something like this was happening.

After all, such a thing happened quite often, considering that there were more than 2 billion people in this region. 

What had made the beings there pay attention to this phenomenon was because such thunder had gone in a specific direction, one that they were paying attention to!

"Young Minos must be advancing to level 50!" Virtus said in a low voice that only the Spiritual Kings standing nearby could hear.

He had a strong feeling that this was related to Minos since he had felt something similar to when he had met that sovereign. And when he noticed that this natural effect had moved towards where Dry City should be, this elder of the Feathered Serpents tribe was sure that he was right.

"Hehehe, prepare some gifts!"

"Let's send some of our members to Dry City to visit young Minos and congratulate him on reaching the 6th stage!"

"Haha, come on, brothers and sister! Don't delay in doing this!"

"Who's willing to..."

And immediately, several voices sounded throughout that area, as many snakes celebrated, with broad smiles on their big serpents heads.

...

Meanwhile, on the Dry City...

Dozens of people were watching the beginning of the evolution of young Stuart's Physique while they had anxious countenances on their faces, looking steadily at the figure of Minos in the middle of that 'quasar.'

Simultaneously, Minos was meticulously utilizing all that energy to evolve his Physique, which was turning his skin completely red, as if he were being cooked.

Every part of his body was immersed in an enormous amount of energy that was almost entirely concentrated within a two-meter radius of him. And while his Physique was changing, his soul was growing in size!

Due to the special conditions for raising a Physique's rank, Minos could only successfully perform such a thing after reaching level 50. After all, his mutant Physique would only 'open the doors' for such an evolution during stage advancement.

However, young Stuart could not wait for that to happen to begin the process, as he would risk missing the opportunity. Because of this, he had first swallowed the medicine and used his cultivation to suppress his body from absorbing that massive amount of spiritual energy.

Then, he circulated his cultivation technique to direct that spiritual energy through his body while absorbing energy from the surroundings to enrich his soul.

Minos was already one step away from reaching level 50, and with everything going on in his body, he was slowly breaking through the level 49 limit and entering the 6th stage!

While doing this, every cell in his body was being pressed by the spiritual energy of that medicine, while the typical advancing pains were beginning to spread throughout his body.

With this going on inside of him, it wasn't long before Minos' face changed, with him making a pained expression as every muscle in his body tightened.

At the same time, as his body seemed to be testing its limits, with much sweat pouring out of his pores, young Stuart's soul was expanding and contracting like a beating heart. But unlike a heart, every moment his soul expanded and contracted, it became a little more voluminous.

And this was not at all comfortable for Minos!

As such, every millisecond was like an eternity for this young man, who was pressing his jaw with an absurd force.

But while enduring all this suffering, after a while in that state, this young man's soul finally began to stabilize until it reached a volume equivalent to 3% of his body.

Crack!

At that instant, red beams of light began to enter that young man's body, while the typical sound of level advancement resounded through that room, causing every person there to realize what had just happened.

'The young master is reaching level 50!' Several people there thought briefly, as they struggled not to lose control over their cultivation techniques.

And while they were trying not to pay more attention than they should to young Stuart's advancement to the 6th stage, changes in Minos' body were beginning to happen!

A black goo was starting to seep out of the pores of Minos' skin, coming out of every single part of his body, in large quantities, almost as if he had a pit of tar stored under his own skin...

As the impurities began to pour out of Minos' body, he shook vigorously and used his arms to keep from collapsing to the ground.

"Ahhh!" Finally, young Stuart's first cry of pain resounded through that place as he agonized in pain.

And it was not long before he spat out a large amount of blood, almost entirely black, as if it were another substance other than this one.

But as Minos felt the spiritual cleansing generated by the stage advancement in his body, he quickly sensed that his Physique was about to advance in rank!

All this time, he had been enduring the pressure of that medicine's spiritual energy, and as soon as he had 'touched' level 50, the evolution of his Physique had been activated.

The two processes were happening simultaneously. Because of that, the spiritual cleansing of the fleshy body and soul was much more efficient than it would be in other people who tried to do it differently.

As a result, the number of toxins released soon reached the point where liters of substance left the young man's body, spreading a strong odor throughout the place...