The Rise of the Black Plain

A few hours passed, and Minos decided to go out and see if he could find the high-grade grade-1 spiritual pills for his ten soldiers.

Through the Hotel Olson, Minos had discovered that there was an alchemy guild in the city of Portland, where he could find many alchemists.

Walking through the streets of Portland, Minos could see many things that were missing in the Dry City. Numerous upscale restaurants, shops specialized in the maintenance and sale of spiritual weapons, and a few stores selling low-level arrays that were commonly used in people's homes.

Although it does not require many resources or high-level professionals, practical arrays that facilitated people's daily lives generated a good income. However, there were none of these in the Dry City since there were no array masters there. Of course, there were no alchemists or blacksmiths there either.

Anyway, the landscape of the city was also magnificent. There were many spiritual trees everywhere. There were some squares too, which gave you a feeling of being close to nature.

As for spiritual density, Minos couldn't feel it unless he started cultivating. But he was sure this place was as good as the capital of the Brown Kingdom, the City of the Setting Sun.

And after walking for a few minutes, Minos finally caught sight of a rectangular building, from which an intense medicinal smell emanated.

It was the alchemist guild of the city of Portland!

That was a bustling place.

Many people came and went as Minos slowly entered the building and saw a crowd around a counter near the entrance. A young man was selling several bottles of spiritual pills in that place.

Minos then stopped at the side of the line and asked a young man, who was waiting for his turn. "Friend, can you tell me what this line is for?"

The young man then looked at Minos and frowned as he said. "You do not know? Maybe you're new here. This front desk is selling medium-level grade-1 pills at half the normal price."

"Half-price? Is this normal around here?" Minos asked in curiosity. These pills would not be helpful for him since they could not help people reach the 5th stage of cultivation, but even so, he was curious.

"It is not normal. It looks like this alchemist is going to take an exam to move to the next level, so he's collecting crystals." The young man said with a serious face.

"Oh! I see… I have a question, where can I find alchemists of high-level grade-1, here in this place?" Minos asked with a smile on his face.

The young man looked at him with a surprised expression and then said. "You can find alchemists at such level upstairs."

"OK, thanks for the help." Minos then said goodbye and went to the next floor.

Once there, the medicinal fragrance in the air was even more potent than in the place where Minos had passed. There were about a little more than ten benches on that floor, with slightly less movement as well.

This floor looked like a large square with benches in the middle and a few rooms on the sides.

Minos then approached a bench where there was less movement and asked the person who was there. "Hello, do you have any spiritual pills to advance to the General Spiritual stage?"

The person who was there was a middle-aged man who was wearing a big white robe. At the counter, the man looked at Minos for a second and then spoke. "I have two pills to advance to the 5th stage. Each one costs 1,500 crystals."

"As long as the user has accumulated the necessary energy to reach level 40 before consuming these pills, the user will only require a few hours to advance to the next level."

After saying this, he showed Minos the bottles with the pills. In this world, one person could tell the quality of a pill by the fragrance, and the richer it was, the better the pill's effects would be.

But not everyone could differ that because it was necessary to know many medicines and pills to be able to differ the quality of two spiritual pills. In the case of Minos, he knew it due to the memories of the God Henricus Longus.

Although this God was not an alchemist, he still lived for more than 50,000 years, and so, he knew very well how to differ the quality of spiritual pills.

As soon as Minos felt the fragrance, he noticed that it had a good quality. After that, he decided to buy them when he handed over a bag with the crystals. "Here the payment. I'll take the two."

"By the way, sir, why aren't there a lot of people shopping at your counter?" Minos asked with a curious face.

The middle-aged man then looked at Minos for a moment and said with a smile on his face. "You must be new here to ask such a question. This is due to the guild. It gives support to those alchemists who join the powers behind the guild. In contrast, the other alchemists can only use the place to make their negotiations."

In the Spiritual World, the alchemist guilds and the guilds of array masters and blacksmiths were local organizations where everything related to those professions happened.

In an alchemist guild, ordinary people could meet alchemists and buy spiritual pills. In addition, young  people could learn alchemy from the basics to the guild's level and perform the necessary tests to become an alchemist and receive their due classification.

But these organizations were often supported by noble and wealthy families in the region in which they were based. These families were generally specialized in one of those professions and provided subsidies for those young people who joined them.

With that, they could either charge less for their products or improve their skills more quickly.

The middle-aged man then continued to speak. "As I didn't join any of the big families behind the guild, I don't get their support. The consequence of this is that my pills will be more expensive than that of the alchemists subordinate to these families."

Minos then understood the situation after hearing this middle-aged man. But he was not sorry to have paid a little more for the pills, knowing that information could also help in Minos' plans.

"Sir, what's your name?"

"Hmm, my name is Davis. Why the question?" Said the man with a curious look on his face.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Davis. My name is Minos. As an alchemist, you must have your ambitions. Can you tell me why you refused to join one of the families behind the guild?"

"Nothing big. I just wanted my freedom. It wouldn't help to have power if I can't do what I want." He said sincerely.

"Oh! Then that's it. Well, since you are not against joining an organization as long as your freedom is maintained, then I have an offer for you."

The man's eyes lit up when he heard that. Minos then continued. "I am on business here on Stone Island, but I will be returning to my region in a few weeks. If you want to join my forces, you will have the freedom to sell your items however you want. I will only ask you to deliver a minimum amount of pills every month."

"I will also pay 700 crystals for each high-level grade-1 pill that you sell in my territory. Of course, I will supply all the necessary ingredients as well."

"However, you must know that my region is still in development. I will give you a lot of advantages if you come with me. However, the biggest advantage of following me now is that you will be more important when we become big in the future." Minos then finished his offer after letting out a breath.

He then asked the man in front of him after a while as he pointed at the two bottles of pills. "I need another eight pills like these. How long would it take you to produce it?"

Davis took a while and then answered. "I'm sorry, but I'm currently without the medicines needed for this type of pill. It could take several days for me to be able to produce it."

"But it shouldn't be difficult to get that amount from the other alchemists here on this floor."

After saying that, Minos and Davis said goodbye.

The young Stuart told him that he would be passing by again in a few weeks when he was returning. At that time, the middle-aged man should give him an answer to this offer.

...

Time passed, and Minos got the other eight pills to advance to the 5th stage. He spent 9,000 crystals on it and had to buy it from four different alchemists.

After that, Minos and the soldiers who had accompanied him returned to the hotel. "Here, each of you takes a pill and starts cultivating. I want you all to move up to level 40 by tomorrow."

After that, all the soldiers began to cultivate while Minos thought to himself. 'Tomorrow morning, I should try to buy some better weapons for these soldiers…'

…

While Minos was planning, four people just arrived at a hotel not so far from where Minos was. These people were the young master of the Silva family and his three protectors.

"Protector Philip, go and find out where that wretch went." Darell said as he had a big smile on his face.

"Okay, young master."