The Rise of the Black Plain

'Not for nothing! The bastard Minos is already totally against me, so he took the opportunity also to stab me in the back and protect that brat!' Mortimer felt a mixture of anger but also the satisfaction that he had finally obtained Gavin's location.

He hated Minos all the more for it since Emperor Stuart had successfully hidden Gavin from this organization for years, making room for the Eyes of Destruction to awaken. But it was undeniably better to find that out now than ever.

Gavin was not yet so strong as to stand against him, so after hearing Abe's message, Mortimer naturally regained some of his hopes of stealing that young man's visual powers.

Since he was already fighting Minos, Mortimer felt he would soon be up against Gavin on a battlefield. And that would put him close to achieving a feat that could take him to the 9th stage!

Therefore, even considering how hateful Minos was, this man was pleased and could not help but thank Abe for the information.

"Send my thanks to Abe Vogel. If one day we are victorious in our respective interests, I hope to be able to meet him in person." He said as he looked at the subordinate who had brought him such information.

Mortimer's wife, who was also in that place of business of this sect, where many skeletons were in the surroundings, even being part of some armor, said. "Our attempt to affect Minos resulted in something positive that we did not expect... In any case, it is amazing how that person is against us."

"I wonder if everyone in the Coleman family carries that resentment against us?"

"The lineage of those bastards is really abominable!"

"An apple doesn't fall far from the tree, after all..."

Several elders there agreed with that woman's comment while the smile on Mortimer's face dimmed, and he clenched his fists. "Minos is actively acting against our sect, not only because of our organization's war with the Gray Clouds Sect. He clearly shows hostility to us."

"Yes, his grudge against our organization is not simple." A level 78 individual commented on this with a terrible expression on his face.

One enemy acting against another in a war was a common thing. In some cases, organizations like this would even 'forget' some losses at such times when peace came. But Minos seemed to be the kind of opponent acting against them, not to protect himself or ensure his victory. On the contrary, he looked like someone who wanted to destroy them, even if he had no good reason to do so.

Hence, these individuals could not help but be on guard against this fellow, feeling they had to act more vigorously against him and eliminate him if they had the chance.

Minos had done significant damage to the interests of this organization on the battlefield between them and the Gray Clouds Sect. Since he had joined the war, Emperor Stuart had killed over a thousand Spiritual Emperors and dozens of Spiritual Saints.

The forces of the Gray Clouds Sect had also become more efficient in their actions, which had shifted the advantage of the war in favor of Oswald's sect.

But now, he seemed to have been plotting against them for much longer, for reasons they did not understand!

"Send people to work with Abe Vogel." One of the strongest individuals there said. "We're not going to act directly against people in the northern region, but it would be nice if we could at least share the intelligence of this person's group."

"Hmm, that's a good idea." The local leader's wife nodded in agreement. "We will certainly face Minos again, but Gavin may continue to hide in the bloody northern region. Then we will need information for possible action in that area."

"Hmmm." The sect master nodded to his staff. "Do that. On the other hand, I want some elders here to start watching the battlefield."

"If Minos shows up again, even if we have to disregard the emperor's orders, do what is necessary to end his life!"

Gulp!

"What about the emperor?" One of those elders asked, sensing that this would be risky.

The emperor had ordered high-level Spiritual Saints not to get involved in this war unless their organizations faced high-level risks. But even if Minos were powerful, his mere presence on the battlefield would not justify it...

Mortimer then smiled. "I heard that the emperor left the capital recently... So maybe, people from the Flower Kingdom will soon emerge to take him to that person."

The whole place went silent after the sect master's words, with everyone there considering what that entailed.

...

Weeks later, in the Western Empire...

After communicating with his family in the northern region, Luke Nash finally received a return from Stone Island.

But instead of finding a letter with the eagle that Oriel Holt managed to lend him, he found a spatial ring sent by Elen's father, not his own.

"That is the mark of the supreme elder..." Luke looked at the item in his hands right after letting that eagle fly back to where it came from.

Then, without thinking much about why his father had not answered him, Luke did what was necessary to access the items in that storage item. Then, he found stacks of high-grade crystals, along with some letters.

"What?" He exclaimed in surprise, not expecting to find a fortune like that in a spatial ring sent by his Nash family.

But although he was sometimes impulsive, Luke did not think House Nash had finally understood his efforts and sacrificed for him. Thus, he soon read those letters.

The first one talked about his father's situation, who had been injured in a battle in Dry City, defending that place against the terrorist forces of Abe, who was recruiting in this empire.

The second letter was about Minos' plan, telling him to hire ten high-level Spiritual Saints with the resources in that ring.

Reading all that, Luke was silent for a moment, impressed by the financial power of the Black Plain but also by the accomplishments of the forces of that state.

He was in the dark about most of the recent problems. Still, Richard had sent some reports with news from the northern region to him, along, of course, with some cultivation resources to help him.

Elen's father had commented on how well the Nash family was doing and how favorable it would be if the Black Plain Empire had peace to develop itself.

Hence, even though this young man had his history with Minos and also ambitions, he did not think to steal the resources sent for hiring those ten individuals and decided to do what he should.

Someone was harming his family and had even put his father's life at risk. Consequently, even if he hated Minos, he had to act to help this individual succeed in ending Abe's life!

With that, he soon set out to ask Oriel for help placing the mission to hire ten high-level Spiritual Saints in a local guild!