The Rise of the Black Plain

"You may accompany her, but you will gain nothing from this place. Everything that can be taken from here can only be passed on to those marked by the Goddess." The skeleton said, kneeling in front of Abby.

"That's not a problem..." Minos looked at the creature kneeling in front of him and Abby.

Abby then asked. "What are you doing?"

"Answering the one chosen by the Goddess. In life, I was a follower of the Goddess of Life. In death, I chose to represent her one last time in this special place. Since you bear the mark of the Goddess, I am naturally under your orders." He respectfully said.

"Can you do that? Continue serving someone even after death?" Abby asked in surprise.

"Hmmm, by his own will, no. But that Goddess of Life could probably do something like that." Minos answered in place of that skeleton who seemed to want to answer her.

"She probably had a high-level technique that reached its limit, or an innate ability coming from a Divine-grade Physique. Either way, she must have cast her ability on this fellow."

The skeleton looked at Minos while its jaw was open to the max, surprised that the young Spiritual Emperor understood the situation so well. 'Who is this person?'

"So, that's it..." Abby understood and looked at that skeleton again. "Why do you say I have the mark of the Goddess? What does that mean? And more importantly, what is this place?"

The skeleton set its jaw in place and answered. "Answering the one chosen by the Goddess. My mistress had a powerful and unique soul sense. I naturally sense some of that coming from you."

He remembered the last things he had learned before he died and said. "You probably call it the Genetic Key. That's actually a remnant of the Goddess' soul, something that will help you receive the ultimate inheritance of this place if you pass the tests, of course."

"I see..." Minos understood the situation. 'Henricus Longus had left a soul fragment. Is that any different from that?'

But then he heard that creature continuing with the answers to Abby's questions. "As for the meaning of being the chosen of the Goddess, that is what you think. The chosen one to inherit the powers of the Goddess and her wealth left in this place."

"The Secret Tomb is a space created by the Goddess after a great tragedy happened in her homeland while she was away. In this place are the bodies of over 240,000 people, among them the bodies of the 40,000 enemies who massacred those loyal to the Goddess."

"After returning from a trip and noticing the end of her homeland, the Goddess eliminated those people and used her innate ability to leave her legacy here, using the dead to secure the tests."

"Oh? For a Goddess of Life, she's pretty cruel, huh?" Minos smiled as he joked about it.

"How? The Goddess was kind in everything she did in her life! This is nothing considering the pain they caused her!" The skeleton said in an irritated tone.

"It's okay. You don't have to care about that..." Abby said, trying to return to the main thing. "Why did this Goddess create a legacy?"

Minos then answered in the skeleton's place. "She probably didn't want to be forgotten..."

"Why?" Abby turned to him in surprise.

"Powerful people are more afraid of dying than ordinary people think. Especially those who have not yet reached their limit. For them, even though they live long lives, they feel incomplete for not taking the final step."

"In a way, it's a great waste to live thousands of years, only to die when you were so close to the apex..." He said and looked at that skeleton, noting that it seemed to have something similar in mind.

"So, they leave relics to ensure that they will be remembered and that some of their powers will continue to exist, even after they are gone."

The skeleton then raised its voice. "That is true. But some high-level cultivators believe that if someone inherits their powers, they will have the chance to see those people's journey in their eternal sleep."

"Some even believe they can revive if their heirs reach the peak."

Minos shook his head and said. "That's nonsense. It's not possible to do that."

"How can you say that? Maybe it is possible!" The skeleton insisted on this, hoping the Goddess could see it through Abby's eyes.

The skeleton looked into Abby's blue eyes and said. "Anyway, the Goddess created this place to leave a part of herself before she perished, but also someone to avenge the people of this place."

"Avenge? Do you realize how long it has been since this place was created?" Minos looked strangely at that creature. "Let me tell you, in our time; there is no record of someone called the Goddess of Life."

"There are records of over 50 human Gods, but none of them had that nickname."

"What, 50?" The creature looked at Minos in shock once again. "In my time, there were only 10!"

"Oh? It's been a long time, huh?" Minos was surprised by this information.

He had expected a lot of time to pass, but he had not expected to talk to someone from millions of years ago!

Abby then asked. "Why are there no records of your Goddess?"

"That..." The skeleton looked at the ground, trying to remember. "Actually, I don't know. When I died, the Goddess was not yet an 11th stage cultivator. She was at level 98."

"What? And why do you call her a Goddess?" Minos asked although it was pretty impressive for someone of that level to have created something that lasted so long.

"98?" Abby swallowed her saliva in admiration since such strong cultivators would not be so different from Gods to her.

"What do you know?" The skeleton brandished at Minos. "The Goddess was known that way for her benevolence, for having saved countless lives with her abilities."

"On the other hand, who says she hasn't reached level 100? I can't be sure about that since I died before she had the chance. But I'm sure someone with her talent has reached that level!"

"Hmm, I don't think so..." Minos and Abby muttered since there were no records of a benevolent God who saved countless lives in their time.

There were stories of Gods of war, individuals who brought chaos to the Spiritual World, those who tried to dominate the continent, and so on. But there were not many stories about good Gods who acted for the good of others.

Each God was highly respected, and their actions were seen, most of the time, as positive for the cultivation world. But it was no secret that they were not friendly.

Even Henricus Longus, this figure so crucial to Minos, was an individual who only cared about his people, who once massacred an entire kingdom for a trivial reason.

Gods were such strong creatures that they could not see themselves as equal to ordinary individuals. Even level 99 cultivators were nothing in their eyes, something that reinforced their sense of superiority.

So, they acted as they pleased, sometimes doing some good, like leaving an inheritance, enriching a state, and leaving teachings. Sometimes they did evil, bringing chaos to those who stood in their way.

And having read the Spiritual Church history books, Minos and Abby knew that there was no such person in history.

"What are you talking about?" It felt terrible for how little trust they had in the Goddess.

"Forget about it," Abby commented. "So, what do I have to do in this place? What are the tests of that inheritance like?"

...