The Rise of the Black Plain

"Hey, you guys! Calm down. What are you doing? Where are you coming from? What do you guys want?" One of those Spiritual Warriors traveling in that group asked as he looked in the direction of one of those three men.

At the same time as that, each of those people had cautious expressions on their faces, not knowing how strong the enemy side was, nor if those people were bandits or not.

However, considering where they were, most of them were more inclined to assume that such people were not significantly more substantial than them in terms of cultivation... Hence, most there were not afraid of those people, despite their surprise at being approached like that.

But while most of those people were looking in the direction of those three men who had sharp looks on their faces, the same was not valid for the group leader. This level 41 cultivator could sense that the three newcomers were Spiritual Generals, each much stronger than him!

As a result, he was somewhat frightened at the moment, struggling to understand why his group had been so unlucky to come across malicious people who were so much stronger than them...

'Shit! Are there already bandits operating in this place?' He wondered as he calmly stepped out of his carriage.

"You three! Are you guys, by any chance, deaf? Who are you?" The same individual from before asked this in a resolute tone while already having one of his hands ready to draw the sword he had at his waist.

However, none of those three men answered any of the questions asked by those individuals who were traveling in those three carriages.

On the contrary, as they got close enough to that place to feel the fluctuations of those people and not to notice reinforcements, the three men immediately took action!

They began to release their cultivation pressures simultaneously, causing great hands of spiritual energy to appear in the sky of that place. Then, such things began to rush towards the ground, where those 12 people were.

'Fuck! They don't even want to negotiate?' The level 41 man thought to himself as his face turned extremely pale and sweat began to flow down his forehead.

But he didn't waste much time and soon began to counterattack.

He might not be stronger than those newly arrived men, but at least he wouldn't make their task any easier!

On the other hand, no matter how slim his chances were, he would at least try to use those other 11 people in his favor to try to escape from this damn place...

"Shit! We kicked an iron plate!"

"What a disgrace!"

"We're finished!"

Several desolate voices resounded through that place as those people realized what was happening, precisely the strength of the opponents.

That group was made up of people at levels 36 to 41, but the other side had three cultivators at level 44...

So, their chances were practically non-existent in this place. 

And as expected, each of those 11 individuals had lost their hopes the moment they felt those large energy hands pressing down on them.

'Shit! Is this where I die?' One of them thought just before passing out.

"Fuck!"

"Please don't do this! Do you know where we come from? We're from..." That level 41 person was shouting as he felt an intense pressure on his head, but when he was in the middle of his speech, he lost sight and fainted.

Pa! Pa!

One of those three men clapped his hands twice and then commented in satisfaction. "Good job, guys..."

"Now, let's get these individuals back to camp and find out exactly who they are."

"All right, Sergeant Terry!" The other two shouted just before they began to move around that location, gathering up the 12 unconscious bodies in those three carriages.

...

After some time, the three soldiers of the Black Plain Army who had approached that group form before had finally returned to one of the camps in the vicinity of Dry City.

A few weeks ago, Minos had dispatched several of his soldiers to make small camps built in the range of 100 to 200 kilometers away from the outer limits of the local dome.

But those groups of soldiers were not numerous, as there were only 100 soldiers in each of the six groups strategically positioned around Dry City.

Besides, these groups were composed of high-level Spiritual Warriors and low-level Spiritual Generals, who could act against smaller, weaker groups or send information to the headquarters.

As a result, several soldiers from the Black Plain Army were already dispersed around the outskirts of the Dry City area, where they could act more quickly or safely.

By getting close enough to Dry City, anyone above level 40 would notice that dome and have their curiosity aroused... So, preventing dangerous groups from entering the area nearest to that place was essential at this time.

Not only that, but Minos also expected that a war would break out in a short time. Consequently, these groups would be the precursors of his army's improvised camps around this territory in the future, which would be responsible for maintaining a security area around Dry City.

As for why such a thing had not been done before, well, it was because of various factors. Among them was the number of army soldiers and the possibility that this would draw more attention than necessary.

First, there were not many soldiers in the army until a few months ago. In fact, the number had practically doubled in the last five months!

Second, spreading many soldiers across the Black Plain could draw the attention of travelers who would not usually go to Dry City. And since at that time no one had discovered this place, having such a thing could contribute to accelerating this process.

But anyway, time passed, and by now, Minos thought it was worthwhile to use this kind of strategy. As a result, the group from before had been kidnapped by one of the small groups of soldiers from these temporary army camps.

In any case, such a strategy was already in action. And at the present moment, one of the army Corporals was running through that small temporary camp, heading towards a particular group of people.

"Sergeant Terry, those people are awake now!" The Corporal said promptly.

"All right, let's see where those people are from." Terry commented as he placed a jug of water on a small wooden table in the tent he and other Sergeants were in at the moment.

After these soldiers from these temporary camps started working around this territory, they would stop any group traveling towards Dry City from time to time. 

If anyone were going in a different direction, these soldiers would just watch them for a while and do nothing with such people. Otherwise, any traveler who was no stronger than a level 50 Spiritual King would receive the same treatment as those 12 individuals.

Most of the people who went through this were just ordinary people, but these groups of soldiers couldn't take it lightly for this reason!

It was better to create a slight misunderstanding with ordinary people than to let dangerous individuals, members of noble families, get too close to Dry City.

That's why they hadn't simply killed those people but had knocked them out!

After a brief interrogation, if such people were not dangerous, they would be sent slowly to Dry City, where they could have a chance to live in that town. But if they were threats, they would go directly to prison...

Nevertheless, the soldiers were doing what was necessary to survive, protect their families, lifestyle, etc. And so, it didn't take long for Terry to figure out exactly who those 12 people were!

"Subordinates of the Brown family, huh..." Terry commented in a low voice as he looked in the direction of the other two individuals who had acted with him.

"Well, it didn't take that long for this to happen... The young master sent the request for independence just over a month ago." Another person said thoughtfully.

"Hmm, well, that was already expected. But now we have to send a letter to the east wall post so that this will be reported to the young master..."