The Rise of the Black Plain

First, Minos tested the Spatial Sword, then his supporting technique, the Devouring Art, using a spiritual array to test the new limits of that technique.

After that, he tested each of his other techniques in the following order until he was done with those tests: Explosive Steps, Indestructible Body, Infinite Dream, Chaotic Gravity, and Solar God Breath.

As he finished all of these, he had a satisfied expression on his face, thinking about the limits of each technique to his new level of power and the phases of each of them.

'Now the range of the Spatial Sword is 320 meters, and any being or object in that space will be under its spatial restriction. On the other hand, the destructive force of my attacks increased by 40%!' He thought as he remembered the experience he had just had while training such a technique.

'But my advances in this technique don't end there. I can now make my blades go through space through gaps in the space fabric, making it practically impossible for people below level 80 to predict the direction of my attack!' Minos clenched his fists.

Speed was a crucial characteristic for the survival of spiritual beings in battle. So a technique that restricted its targets while concealing its own movements was of extreme value, and achieving breakthroughs in it was shockingly important.

Now Emperor Stuart had a wider space to act, and his opponents would find it more difficult to evade him, even using escape devices such as teleportation arrays!

'If I faced Abe now, that Spiritual Sage wouldn't be able to stop me from killing that fellow without using all his strength.' Minos thought as he sensed his current abilities.

He then continued his analysis. 'Regarding the Devouring Art, the space of action has increased to 400 meters radius.'

'Also, the conversion factor of this technique has increased from 40% to 50%!'

'Now I can use 50% of the energy the technique absorbs!' He realized the feeling he felt when he fought against the arrays in that training area as he ran his left forearm across his forehead and wiped some of his sweat away.

His passive energy absorption ability, generated by this technique previously, had also improved with this current advance. Not only could it now unconsciously absorb spiritual powers thrown at his body that were 100% stronger than him, but it would also do that with mental attacks.

Before, his mental technique had to protect his mind alone. Still, this passive ability would now absorb the opponent's mental attack and turn it into mental power for him to use himself!

'On the other hand, regarding my movement technique, I can now move at 200 meters per second, and all my senses are 60% faster than before when I have it used to dodge or act stealthily.' He thought.

'The Indestructible Body has also improved significantly...' He thought with a smile as he tightly clenched his right fist. 'Now, when I activate this technique, during the 10 seconds of each activation, my body is so strong and resilient that I could punch a level 76 Spiritual Saint and knock them down with one strike!'

The Infinite Dream had also significantly improved, increasing the ability to affect a more significant number of people at once and giving Minos a new mental ability.

He now had something called Bright Eyes, which, when activated, would allow him to see the fluctuations of his opponents rather than just sense.

His soul sense, which had been born when he reached level 70, had strangely merged with part of his soul responsible for the Infinite Dream. Because of this, this new ability was born, giving Minos a visual advantage.

With this ability, he could notice the characteristics of his opponents' souls and thus utilize the enemy's weaknesses for the best results!

'I think I can use that in combination with the Dark Sea...' He thought as he noticed that this skill was compatible with this other one.

On the other hand, the technique that Minos had recently used the most, Chaotic Gravity, had also evolved with this advancement, bringing some extra benefits to him.

He could feel that his ability to control black holes had more than doubled, and now he could control even one of those regions of space capable of swallowing level 80 Spiritual Sages.

At the same time, his control over this technique had reached such a level that he could now make rocks in his surroundings gather around small masses of energy to form large meteors.

When he used such an ability, everyone watching him thought Minos was trying to destroy his palace. But fortunately, he was able to notice the changes in himself and act to only damage half of that place.

Luckily, none of the low-level cultivators in the palace were hurt at that moment...

As for this man's cultivation technique, it also improved its characteristics. Now Minos had more than doubled his cultivation speed!

However, even with that, the energy he would need to advance in level at the moment was almost three times the previous one. As such, he had concluded that it would take 2 to 2.5 years to achieve a new advancement.

But for the moment, this was already very good for him because this was an excellent cultivation speed for a person at the 8th stage, but it was also not an excessive time considering his situation.

That is, there was no conflict in the current Black Plain Empire, only Minos' expansionist interests against states that did not even have high-level Spiritual Saints...

At the same time, the Saints Killing Sect had yet to show hostility since the peace agreements had been signed with the Gray Clouds Sect.

Hence, although there were problems to be solved, Minos judged that his speed of advancement was not in the least bit worrying.

"Now it's time for me to learn my 8th technique..." He muttered in a low voice while his watchers continued to watch him intently, talking among themselves.

"Your Majesty has become very powerful." The level 79 Spiritual Saint next to Oswald commented on this, barely able to believe the things he had seen. "And that's because he hasn't learned his 8th technique yet... When that happens, I'm afraid that even I would have a hard time facing him."

At first, this man knew he would die if he faced Minos. After all, Emperor Stuart had the black hole, other fusions, and mass destruction weapons, which were beyond his power. But these were alternative methods that a cultivator could not always depend on.

Now, Minos' natural abilities had reached the level where that elder had no confidence in beating this brown-haired fellow in a more 'fair' situation.

Such was Minos' combat proficiency!

"Yes, the boy is a monster, and his Golden-grade techniques learned early on without him replacing them, are finally showing their strength," Oswald commented.

...