The Rise of the Black Plain

Hearing Minos' wise words, Gloria could not refute the possibilities of this young man succeeding, nor even reject his offer without thinking about it any longer.

The northern region of the Central Continent was not so relevant to the Spiritual Church in terms of new talent but as a place to demonstrate their dominance. And, of course, there would always be the more minor services that stronger people would never agree to do, so they needed these new additions.

Hence, it was also not bad to collect the talents from this region. At the very least, such people would work hard to allow the true talents of the Church to have the necessary 'peace' on their journeys.

Therefore, there was not much pressure from the higher-ups of the Spiritual Church for people in Gloria's position to try to improve their performance in this region. 

However, if what Minos had in mind became a reality, such a thing could become something valued by the Church, which could pave the journey of power she was pursuing.

That could bring much merit and influence to Gloria!

And thinking about it, she could not help but feel moved by young Stuart's proposition.

'Even if this doesn't work out, he's only asking for 20 years...' Gloria considered this as she looked into his brown eyes, feeling that she had almost nothing to lose. "All right, I'll think about it further as I watch this region." She said, smiling.

"Great!" 

"But I have a question..." Gloria said this as she watched the young Stuart coming towards her as if he was preparing to ask her 'nicely' to leave this place. "Why did you say that we can only enter the Black Plain after these 20 years?"

"Do you have any intentions of avoiding us in your territory?" 

Minos then took one of Gloria's hands, slowly leading her toward the exit of that office. He said in a casual tone. "You misunderstand me. I just don't want to see my influence being divided with the Church while I'm still small."

"How will I keep those promises if many of the good talents in my territory are driven away by the Church in the early stages of local development?"

"Besides, the Black Plain has a lot of potentials. So naturally, we will absorb a lot of the population that comes to our territory in the future. Only when we reach a certain equilibrium will things be as I told you..." He said, hiding some of the truth but not lying.

The Black Plain naturally had almost infinite potential. But only Minos and the people who knew about the Spatial Kingdom were aware of it.

So, from the point of view of these individuals without insider information, the Black Plain was outstanding, but that was only in comparison to the rest of the northern region of the Central Continent!

Hence the reason for Minos' comment.

He continued. "So, the Church coming here before this period will only result in losses for you. There will be few talents. You will have to face competition with the Black Plain since not everyone wants to leave the region they were born. And besides, you won't be able to raise funds."

Hearing that, Gloria understood his points, but she thought she was being manipulated for some reason. She then looked sideways at him, seeing the door to that office open for her. "I'll take your word for it this time..."

"You are very thoughtful, Gloria." He smiled at her before bidding her goodbye. "Now, I'm sorry I have to ask you to wait a little longer until we have a chance to talk more privately."

"I have some family matters to attend to." After saying that, he kissed one of her cheeks and closed that door.

...

After sitting down in his armchair, Minos finally lost the smile he had on his face as he looked at Maisie. "May I know the reason for your visit?"

Hearing that tone, Abby looked at him significantly. Then, she pinched her fiancé's waist, asking him to be less harsh in his words.

As for Dillian, he was already used to this young master's behavior and just avoided looking at those two, feeling that he had nothing to do to help them.

He had already counseled both Minos and Maisie on many occasions, so there was not much left for him to try. So, he just stood there in silence, waiting to talk to young Stuart about the affairs of Dry City.

Maisie then looked at Minos, feeling bad for not being loved by him but not blaming him. "Son, it was not my intention to stay long in Dry City. But after sensing that woman's presence, I couldn't help but think that she might do some harm to you."

"That's why I'm here until now."

"So, you are protecting me? That's truly motherly of you." He said this, smiling coldly, feeling the grace in the situation. "Why haven't you ever done that before?"

"Son, this is complicated..." She said this as she looked away, feeling bad for having to answer something so complicated.

She genuinely wished that Minos had grown up next to her. But she wanted that to happen in the Flaming Empire... This young man's father, on the other hand, was loyal to the Brown family and could not accept the idea of depending on his wife to live in the Grey Clouds Sect.

With neither party giving up, young Stuart had been the victim, having grown up alongside his father simply because the region would be more 'friendly' to him.

That had been something that both Maisie and Albert had agreed on, why Minos had grown up next to his father and not his mother.

"There's a big difference between me staying here on behalf of a Spiritual Empress and doing this on behalf of the regional Spiritual Kings."

"She can threaten you in a way that almost no one in this region can. That's why I stuck around." 

Hearing that, Minos continued to stare angrily at her, clenching his fists as he felt Abby's hands trying to massage him as they glowed in blue light.

"Abby!" He said this as he turned to her, sensing that she was crossing the line. "Don't use your ability on me. I'll do what I promised you, but don't try to do something like that again." 

Minos was strong enough to resist Abby's ability. Still, he didn't want to let his fiancée unconsciously think she should help him in this situation by lessening his stress.

Sensing what he was feeling in that instant could be painful, something no one would want. But that kind of feeling had to be fought by the cultivator's own will, not external methods that would only hide the problem.

"Minos..." She whispered to him, feeling bad for having done something so selfish. "I'm sorry, my love, I crossed the line."

She did not mean to help Maisie by doing that. No, the problem was that she felt terrible seeing the anger in Minos' eyes, the unhappiness reflected in his gaze. That was why she had tried to lessen her man's stress by using her ability.

Minos then turned his attention to his mother and said. "Are you going to stick around while Gloria is in Dry City?"

"Yes!" Maisie said firmly, worried that her son would never forgive her if she did not show her commitment to protecting him.

"Then I'm afraid your cultivation will be hindered because I don't think Gloria will be leaving Dry City anytime soon..." 

He then smiled and continued. "As far as I'm concerned, she will live in this city indefinitely."

She then said. "As long as she is a risk to you, I will stay in this place."

"Good!" Minos said without any sincerity in his tone.

"Good!" She repeated just before she got up and left that place.

After that, Minos and those two people were silent for some time, with Abby and Dillian waiting for young Stuart's expression to return to normal.

In particular, Abby was at this instant holding one of Minos' hands in hers, playing with his fingers, while looking at him lovingly.

As for Dillian, he sighed deeply and then said. "Young master, changing the subject, we have many things about Dry City and the war to talk about..."

"Among them, I am sorry to inform you, but Lieutenant Pyke died in battle a few months ago while trying to protect Yellow City."

...