The Rise of the Black Plain

A few days later, in the capital of the Flaming Empire...

In one part of this great metropolis, the majestic temple of the Spiritual Church, similar to those in the northern region, only much nobler and larger, stole glances from people passing by on the nearby streets.

The culture of the Spiritual Church was much more mixed with that of this empire than that of the northern region. So, there were a more significant number of devotees in this place than in the region of Minos.

That could be seen at any hour of the day in the temples of the Church, from where tens of thousands of people came and went at all hours to exercise their faiths.

Not only this, unlike in the region of Minos, where few sought to become members of the Church, this organization was definitely the most attractive to the local population in this state.

Not only because of the natural power of this organization but also because of the proximity of the Flaming Empire to the headquarters of the Spiritual Church, which was in the southern state, the Evergreen Empire.

The Evergreen Empire was a high-level empire not limited by the 8th stage like the Flaming Empire. In such a state, there were Spiritual Demigods and countless Spiritual Sages, one step above the state of Gloria.

Because of this, naturally, the people of the Flaming Empire saw this institution as their focus, and the local temples were highly well-liked by the population.

In the middle of this place, where thousands of people were demonstrating their faith by kneeling around one of the statues in the common area, a silver-haired woman was running in a hurry. As her hair swayed in the air, she had a red flashing object in her hands, and a strange look could be seen on her face.

'I don't believe it! Is it really true? How?' She swallowed her saliva as she reached her aunt's property.

"Hmm? What are you doing here, little Zoe?" A Spiritual Saint sitting outside that property asked her. "Your uncle is not around here..."

"My uncle isn't here? No problem, I want to talk to my aunt!" She agitatedly said, running into that property.

This watchman did not bother to stop her, but seeing the object in her hands, he could not help but suspect something. 'Is that a soul lamp? That red color, that...'

Gulp!

'I wonder whose that is? Don't tell me that ...'

...

While that old fellow had his theories in mind, Zoe came to the side of her aunt, a woman who looked young for someone with a head full of white hair.

And she was indeed as old as her hair showed, despite how soft and smooth her skin looked. 

But this was not surprising. After all, how could a high-level Spiritual Saint like her be young?

In any case, with her ability to use her spiritual energy to alter her body, this 5,000-year-old woman looked slightly older than Eda.

"Aunt Margot, something has happened. Look at this!" Zoe agitatedly said as she reached the side of this level 77 beauty, who was playing a musical instrument.

Margot then opened her eyes and looked at her only sister-in-law's daughter. "Zoe, what are you..." So, she was saying when she saw that rare sign among this organization's people.

"That is a soul lamp! This color..." She remembered the capabilities of this item.

Soul lamps usually held the vital sign of their owners, which could indicate to people far away from such an individual whether he was alive or dead. But arrays with this proposal that was of a high level, like that item, could indicate more than that.

For example, if the owner of one of these became seriously injured or ill, it could indicate this by flashing black. As for that red color, there was only one possibility...

Gulp!

"Whose soul lamp is that, Zoe?" The woman swallowed her saliva, thinking of the most important person to her.

Seeing the smile on this silent woman's face, Margot clenched her fists and trembled before flying away from there towards her target.

Boom!

Several glasses in the surrounding area exploded due to her movement, drawing the attention of the guard in that house. 

"Ma'am, what happened? Where are you going?" The guard from before, level 74, tried to keep up with her.

While flying at speed, she did not say much as she showed that item to the guard at her residence. "I'm going to see the person behind this here! Tell my husband not to worry about me."

"I'll make the bastard behind it come with me and take responsibility!"

...

As one of the strongest members of the Spiritual Church in the Flaming Empire departed from that temple, causing a commotion, Emperor Edwarstone received an unusual visit to his palace.

In that imperial throne area, as usual, several Spiritual Saints of the imperial guard were in their positions, along with the emperor's advisors and this individual on his throne.

Harold Edwardstone then looked up from his throne at the beautiful brown-haired woman on bended knees in the middle of that hall. "Young Maisie, you truly are talented. You have already reached level 71 at such an age... It might not be impossible for you to reach my level in the future."

"Your Majesty is exaggerating. My father didn't take much longer than me to reach the 8th stage, but it took him more than 4,000 years just to reach level 79." King Stuart's mother said sincerely.

In the Flaming Empire, reaching the 8th stage was not difficult for people with Silver talent, with good techniques and resources, as in Maisie's case and Ruth's.

That was similar to what happened before the rise of Minos in the northern region for cultivators with Black talent, with good techniques and resources by local standards, to reach the 6th stage.

Because of this similarity, reaching level 80 was challenging in this state, and each higher level of the 8th stage took much longer than the previous ones.

Therefore, she was not just humble in the presence of the emperor, the only man at level 80 in this state.

Hearing Maisie's response, the emperor laughed and asked. "So, what do you want with me? Heirs of sects or great families rarely come to see me in place of their leaders."

Maisie then went straight to the point. "Your Majesty, I come here to ask permission for my sect to attack the royal family of Vogel!"

"What?"

"Miss Coleman, do you know what you are talking about?"

"Nonsense! You want to incite another bloody war?"

Several of the emperor's guards and advisors demonstrated their thoughts contrary to what Maisie had just asked.

Emperor Edwardstone frowned his red-headed eyebrows and watched Maisie in silence for a moment. "Why do you want to attack one of our enemies like this now?"

"Answering Your Majesty, I suspect someone from the Vogel family has sent a Spiritual Saint to the northern region to attack my son. I want to attack the Vogel family to get proof of this so we can turn them over to the Spiritual Church." She said.

The Gray Clouds Sect had vigorously attacked that state recently, even battling against one of Vogel's large organizations.

Since she had participated in these attacks and the investigations regarding the people who attacked the Black Plain, Maisie had noticed certain strange coincidences regarding the Vogel family.

Because of this and her instincts, she felt she could get the truth by attacking that organization and finding a witness.

"That's a grave accusation!"

"It doesn't make sense! Why would the Vogel family risk everything for a mere Spiritual King?"

"It's bizarre..."

"Sigh..."

"That son of yours causes a lot of trouble, huh?" Harald commented as he smiled oddly, remembering that even the womanizing Oswald did not cause that much trouble in his days.

Maisie did not accept this comment and said. "No, Your Majesty. My Minos is just living his life in peace. It's other people who like to bring trouble to him."

"Is that so?" He laughed, watching Maisie defending her 'cub.' But after that, he became serious and said. "I would love for the Vogel family to disappear since that would weaken the alliance of these enemy kingdoms."

"But if I authorize your action, we will all be at risk of a new bloody war with the four kingdoms to the north." His eyes narrowed. "We already lost a lot in the fight three thousand years ago, so we can't have another one now."

"I refuse your request and forbid the Gray Clouds Sect from pursuing this matter further. Of course, if you want to investigate the innocence of the Vogel family, I don't mind. But no further actions outside the empire."

...