The Rise of the Black Plain

When the day started, Minos and Ruth had quickly gone out to find out the order of the fights in this part of the tournament.

The young Stuart would only have to fight in one of these Battle Royales, so he just needed to know when his fight would be and who would be the participants in his round.

The groups of this third test were being displayed on the screens of the same square where the competitors had gone to do the second test. Thus, the two youths soon went from the central part of the town to the north region of Central City.

As usual, Ruth was very well dressed, wearing a long blue dress and with her black hair tied in a ponytail. For Minos, on the other hand, he was wearing black trousers and a light green long-sleeved shirt.

And as the two youths strolled through the capital of the Cromwell Kingdom, they passed more and more groups that were going in the same direction.

But not only that, at times, someone recognized Minos, and they began to discuss his achievements in the second exam with all emotions.

All the competitors had already found out about his achievements in those few days that had passed. Therefore, many admired him, while others were afraid of facing such a person in this part of the competition...

Anyway, Minos and Ruth arrived at that square not long after, where thousands of people were already coming and going.

After all, even though there were only 4,000 competitors at this stage of the Spiritual Tournament, almost everyone who came to the Cromwell Kingdom wanted to follow this final part of the competition.

That, of course, was because the final half of the competition was so much more interesting for the audience than the previous parts!

Upon arriving at the site, Minos met one of his acquaintances, even before seeing his group from the third test.

"Minos! What a coincidence, we came here almost simultaneously." The young Peter said out loud.

He had just arrived at the square when he suddenly saw the silhouette of Minos, not far from him.

Minos then greeted him and introduced him to Ruth.

Peter then asked with a smile on his face. "Hmm, have you seen what group you are in?"

"No, I was going to do that now. Why don't we go together?"

The young Stuart then agreed and said while waving at one of the screens. "Come on."

After passing through the large masses that crowded in front of the various screens in that square, Minos and Peter finally managed to see the groups on these screens.

"Look, Maxwell is in the 2nd group." After seeing the first known name he had read on the big screen, Peter said this, which had several names in sequence, subdivided into 32 groups of 125 people.

Ruth, who was on the left side of Minos, was also checking this list when she suddenly saw another name. "Your friend Abby is in the 7th group that will fight."

After hearing this, Minos continued to read the list while seeing his acquaintances in the following order:

- 2nd Group: ***, ..., Maxwell, ..., ***.

- 7th Group: ***, ..., Abby, ..., ***.

- 10th Group: ***, ..., Kara, ..., ***.

- 12th Group: ***, ..., Ford, ..., ***.

- 15th Group: ***, ..., Peter, ..., ***.

- 16th Group: ***, ..., Davy, ..., ***.

- 22nd Group: ***, ..., Luke, ..., ***.

- 29th Group: ***, ..., Mona, ..., ***.

As far as Minos could see, the organization of the Spiritual Tournament had separated as many participants above level 40 as possible. That, of course, was a measure to increase the average strength of the participants in the final test since people like Minos were not easy to find...

Thus, most fighters would be unable to fight opponents from other stages, and it would be a waste of the most talented competitors to group them together!

As for the young Troy, he was in group 30. As for Minos, he had stayed for the last Battle Royale, group number 32!

"Hehe, it looks like they left the best for last!" Peter said with a smile on his face.

It really wouldn't make sense to put the most exciting fights at the start of the competition!

That would cause people to ignore the rest of the fights, or it could even diminish the appeal to put the battles of these best competitors into action!

After all, it was terrific to stimulate spectators while they were increasingly anxious for the most-awaited moments!

As to why the Spiritual Tournament organization did that, it was to raise funds. In this final part of the competition, whoever wanted to see the fights had to buy a ticket to enter the big fighting arena in Capital City.

These crystals did not go to the Flaming Empire sects but to the kingdom hosting the event. After all, if there were no gain, then the event's success would certainly be diminished!

The evaluators and some experts who led the tournament could come from the Flaming Empire. Still, the rest of the people involved were from the realm where the competition was held, specifically, of the royal family of that place.

Therefore, there was a need for these powers to receive enough crystals to cover the expenses involved in this competition.

Even if tourists coming from other places to see the tournament could stimulate the local economy, this was very limited. Moreover, these resources would go to the families involved in the business, not directly to the royal family...

And not all sovereigns were like Minos, who was happy with the local development, even if it didn't return to them...

Ruth then turned to Minos and asked. "Are you going to watch these fights?"

"Maybe I will watch this guy, ehh, Troy, fight. As his battle takes place on the same day as mine, I will not lose anything by watching this match."

He then sighed and said. "But for the rest of the time, I plan to continue training at the Cultivation Tower. I can learn about the results from other people."

"Hmm."

The young Stuart then turned to Peter and said. "Oh, I will be going soon. If you see Maxwell before the fight, wish him a good fight on my behalf."

"I hope you can make it to the last part of the Spiritual Tournament too!" He spoke with a smile on his face as he said goodbye to Peter.

Peter then said with a resolute look. "Okay, you can leave it. I will also try my best to do it!"

There would be 4 Battle Royale fights per day, starting today and continuing for eight days. Minos and Troy would only have their battles on the last day, while Minos' friends were divided between the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 8th days of the exam.

Anyway, after learning of his group, Minos and Ruth quickly left this place, heading towards the Cultivation Tower of the capital of the Cromwell Kingdom.

He could cultivate and train for another week before finally having his fight. And he was very excited about that. After all, he would be fighting 124 people!

That was something that Minos had never done, but he was already making his plans for this match. And even if there was no one above level 41 in the Minos group, it was still a challenging number of opponents!

So, this was excellent training for the young Stuart!

As for those participants who would have to fight him, they were not happy. But at least they could console themselves because it was not allowed to kill in this test...

Many of them were afraid of Minos for not knowing the reasons behind Leroy's death. After all, everything they knew was passed on by their acquaintances, who had seen or heard about Leroy's beheading.

So, they couldn't know if young Stuart was a bloodthirsty cultivator or something else... Hence the relief of some, who knew that at least their safety would be guaranteed by the organization of the Spiritual Tournament!

...

Hours passed, and quickly the fights had already started!

In the first group, a young man of level 41 had been the last one standing in the arena at the end of the fight, so he had managed to move on to the final part of the tournament.

Unfortunately, in the group of the young Maxwell, Minos' acquaintance had not been the winner. There was a level 42 cultivator in his group, and even though some of the participants came together to face him, he still managed to win the fight!

That was also the best fight of the day.

The winning competitor had fought with more than half of his opponents, and they lost!

And even though he was utterly exhausted and with many injuries at the end of the fight, he still managed to get through this ordeal on merits!

This young man was called Roger Aguilar, who had a Black talent and was 18-years-old. He came from the Cromwell Kingdom and was a member of one of the great noble families in this kingdom. Anyway, he had been the second to pass to the final part of the competition and was one of the favorites to reach the top 10.

"Did you see Roger's fight? He is truly phenomenal with his spear! I don't think I will ever forget how he bravely fought and defeated dozens of cultivators who had come together against him." A young man who had watched this battle said this in an animated voice while passing through Central City's streets with his friends.

"Hmm, I think that, besides that guy named Minos, nobody else has Roger's ferocity!" Another of them said.

A short girl then spoke. "Idiots! Did you forget the young master Troy? I bet 100 crystals that he will give an even better show in his fight."

"This is different! Troy is already at level 44! So, he can easily beat these 124 opponents. But for Roger, he had to draw strength from where he hadn't even taken it before!" The young man replied this after letting out a sigh and continuing. "Roger's fighting proficiency is second only to Minos!"