The Rise of the Black Plain

Leaving the tent of leaders of the territory he was in, Minos soon caught up with his group, which was waiting for him on the north side of the camp.

When he got there, he met 35 people of various races, where the four new crew members were waiting with the others to begin their journey.

In the months he had been in this phoenix territory, Minos had acquired four new names for his crew. Among them were two phoenixes, but also two beings of different races, allies of the phoenixes, with whom Emperor Stuart had had contact in that camp.

One was a Longbeaked Hawk, and the other was a rare Pegasus!

These were two of the three vassal races of the Phoenix Tribe whose members could reach the 10th stage.

Not every tribe capable of reaching this level had high-level Demigods in their ranks. Therefore, it was very common for such tribes to be subservient to more powerful races, such as the phoenix race.

The phoenix race was the second most powerful race on the Continent of Beasts, after the Dragon Tribe. As such, it was one of the best options for one to join and have a good time in those lands.

Because of this situation, the Pegasus and Longbeaked Hawk tribes were in that camp to prepare for the chaotic future of the Spiritual World.

Minos had trained and talked with the members of these tribes many times until a few months ago when he was able to convince these two individuals, one a level 91 and the other a level 92.

As for the phoenixes, they had been easier for Minos to convince. One of them was Nite, with whom he and his family already had a history.

The other was a good friend of Nite's, also at level 91, whom he himself had convinced to join Minos' crazy crew.

But in addition to these four new group mates, Minos saw some of his old comrades, some of whom he hadn't seen in months, and they were stronger now!

Among the Fish People, out of the six individuals, three Mermeids and three Mermen, two of them who were previously at level 90 had advanced to level 91.

At the same time, one Kraken had reached level 92, the same as the leader of the mercenary group, who had reached this level a few days ago with the help of Minos' resources and the training of the Phoenix Tribe.

None of the Sea Folk members there had advanced in those 20 months.

As for the mercenaries who had previously been at level 89, they had all reached the 10th stage.

Finally, Kyla was still at level 80, but Emlyn had reached level 82 after benefiting greatly from some of her tribe's special meditation sites.

She was the one who had progressed the easiest out of everyone in the group. But that was because of something unique that only a Nine-Tailed Fox could pass if they received the tribe's privilege.

Unfortunately, this was something that only one Nine-Tailed Fox was entitled to each year, so Kyla hadn't been given a chance.

If she stayed a few more months, she might have the chance to experience the same thing as her mother. But it wasn't Minos' intention to stay there, and Kyla would have to continue her cultivation naturally.

In the end, the group was much stronger, having raised the average level of the group by about one level, which might not seem like much, but it was very good.

Seeing his crew assembled, all in their humanoid forms, Minos smiled and said. "Ready to go?"

Hearing this, Danyxa and Titus clenched their fists, a little afraid but aware that they had been standing still for too long.

Minos' group had a clear purpose; if they had stayed there for mere years, some of their members might have lost interest in continuing to ally with him. So, even though staying there for another year or two wouldn't necessarily interfere with their schedule, they couldn't stay any longer.

The two anxious level 89 beings realized this when more than half of the group cheered at Minos' words, all eager to return to their journey.

Minos then said. "Very well. Nite, Ashes, please lead the way for us."

Hearing this, the two phoenixes in the group quickly transformed into their bestial versions, having already agreed with Minos to carry the group out of this area.

The enemy Gorgons would surely come after them again very soon. And considering the level of the beings that would be waiting for them, it wouldn't be long before they had to face them again.

But that didn't mean that they couldn't do something to prolong the time these Gorgons would have to chase them before they reached them!

Minos intended to use the two large birds in his group, beings with much greater flying abilities than ordinary humans of their level.

Beings with wings had an advantage over those who didn't have them when it came to flight. Although any being could fly after reaching the 7th stage, those with wings would always have an advantage over those without.

Not only were they faster, but they could stay in the air much longer than beings without wings, and they could fly without disturbing the spiritual energy of their surroundings.

When a Spiritual Emperor or higher level being flew with the energy in their body, they were basically manipulating the energy in themselves and their surroundings to levitate their body and move it through the air. Birds, on the other hand, could do this to enhance their flight-related attributes, but they could fly without using their spiritual energy, which might make their movement undetectable.

And even though one crew member was still marked by enemy poison, it didn't mean that Minos' strategies couldn't hinder the enemies.

Even though they couldn't completely hide from their opponents, they could use those birds to slow down the enemy group.

According to Dunyxa, if they used this method and she used the same poison on the creatures in their path from time to time, they could make their enemies temporarily confuse their tracks and miss them.

It wouldn't be very effective in the long run, but she thought it might buy the group a few days or even weeks if they were lucky.

So everyone in the group climbed onto the backs of the two large birds and then set off from the heart of the Phoenix territory.

It was time for them to travel to the dragons' territory, which was further north on this continent, about three months away, at the maximum speed these phoenixes could fly.