The Rise of the Black Plain

After some time talking about Stone Island and Robin's origins, Abby and Minos had gotten to know a little better about this young woman and also about that state.

At the end of the day, this young woman's past was quite common, and there shouldn't be any problems related to it.

She came from a decent family, which did not get involved in major regional problems and would generally have no action in the lives of its members.

In fact, it was genuinely unlucky for Robin what had happened earlier. If compared to Barbara, this young woman from Stone Island had every reason not to experience the terror of slavery.

She wasn't a high-level warrior, didn't come from a belligerent, oppressive power, didn't even have enemies. However, fate had made this young woman face the unexpected and live the reality of slavery.

As for Barbara, well, no one deserves to go through what she went through, but the fate of slavery was something that was within her means. After all, she was a subordinate of a noble family who fell to their enemies...

In this case, one couldn't say that what happened to her was unexpected or a negative twist of fate.

Anyway, Minos was delighted with what he had heard from Robin. From his point of view, there were many possibilities for this young woman and her family on the Black Plain!

As for Abby, even though she was helping Minos on this date, she was doing it more out of pure curiosity. Because of that, she was pleased to meet different people from places she had never been.

And as they ate and drank, after finishing talking about Robin's origins, Minos and Abby finally turned their attention to Joey.

This old man looked very friendly, like the familiar figure of an old man, with a white beard and hair. In fact, except for this guy's height, everything else about him reminded them of some of the old professors from the days of the spiritual academy.

Finally, Minos curiously asked Joey as he enjoyed the delicacies that were served there. "Mr. Joey, I'm curious. Despite having a Black talent, you never seem to have joined noble families, nor any significant power. So, why did you choose this path?"

And when he finished speaking, everyone else in the room, not just Minos, was already intently looking at Joey, with curiosity sparkles in their eyes.

The two women who had accompanied him to this town had never asked Joey about such matters. Of course, each cultivator would have their own story, but they didn't have the intimacy to ask that kind of question.

However, even though they hadn't asked him anything, they both still had that same question asked by Minos in their minds. After all, why hadn't this guy joined any organization?

And it wasn't as if there weren't lesser powers in the north of the Central Continent, where individual liberties wouldn't be so restricted. However, they all knew that this old man had not even joined these powers.

That, of course, was related to Joey's cultivation level and his age.

Considering just these factors, everyone there knew that Joey had probably never cultivated a Black-grade technique.

Hell, his cultivation had been so slow that none of them would have thought it strange to discover that he had actually cultivated a White-grade technique!

But not only that. Considering that Joey was over 400-years-old and still at level 42, this meant that he not only lacked good cultivation technique, he also lacked resources!

So, these four people knew that he could not have been a member of any organization. Otherwise, he would undoubtedly have a much higher level!

And finally, Joey started talking right after heaved a long sigh. "Hah… That goes back a few centuries ago when I was still a young man, at your age. In fact, even when I found out I had a Black talent, I never thought of becoming a subordinate of considerable regional power."

The old man then began to tell his story, slowly and in a hoarse voice, as if he were a grandpa telling his grandchildren a story.

"But I hadn't done it because of arrogance or something. I never really thought that I would become stronger going my way without getting involved with these powers. I knew this would probably just slow me down."

"However, I went down that path because I truly didn't want to live fighting, battling for my own life or resources. I wanted to live in peace, away from worldly conflicts."

"If I had had the life of a peasant, I would have been satisfied..." He said, remembering his past, with slightly reddened eyes.

"But after many years, after I met a lord in the Kingdom of the End, I finally realized what had made me think in this peaceful way. At the time when I had chosen this path, I wanted to stay away from the affairs of the big families, but I didn't understand why."

"That had always been an open question for me. It was as if I was making decisions because of events that had never occurred..."

Meanwhile, the four people listened intently to Joey's story as they began to think about the possibilities.

It was tough for them not to imagine anything, listening to what he was saying so far...

'From what he's saying, it seems that somehow, he must have gone through a traumatic situation as a young man…' Abby thought to herself.

As for Minos, he also had thoughts along the same lines as Abby's. 'Did he have his memories altered?'

At the same time, Robin and Barbara also had their theories and were eager to hear the whole story.

'Who will be this person he met in the Kingdom of the End?'

'Ah, he must have been through something unfortunate...'

And meanwhile, Joey continued his story. "But finally, that specialist helped me to remember a forgotten part of my past."

"From what he had told me, someone had used a far-reaching spiritual technique, focused on mental activity, to seal part of my memories. Cough, Cough." He stopped for a moment and then continued. "Ehh, rather, someone had used it on the people in the town I was born."

And hearing such a statement, Abby couldn't help but exclaim in doubt. "All over your city? Why would anyone do such a thing? How did this lord know this? By..."

However, while Abby was talking, Minos took one of her hands and asked her to calm down. "Let's keep listening to his story."

"Eh, I'm sorry, I have exalted me…" She apologized shyly.

"Cough, ehh, no problem, Ms. Abby. That comment was bizarre, and I had questioned such a thing when I heard from that expert who helped me."

"But according to him, at that time when I was just a child, when I hadn't even started to cultivate, he discovered something. As he passed in the vicinity of my city, he had felt a strong technique being released, close to the city where I lived."

"According to him, that had made him faint, even though he was a few dozen kilometers away and even though he had a powerful soul." He said, remembering the strength of that man.

Even without spiritual cultivation, that individual still had physical power as robust as a peak Spiritual King! That had been by far the strongest individual Joey had ever seen in his life.

And for this, he respected that man even more!

"After that event, he said that he searched our city for many years, but he couldn't find anything. It was as if the city had disappeared overnight..."

"He had made the mission of finding my city his life goal and had been looking for us for decades. He had encountered similar situations before, strange stories from other parts of the region, and that had convinced him to keep looking."

"But finally, when I was around 50-years-old, he coincidentally found me and helped me break the effects of the seal that was hiding certain facts from my past."

"That day, I discovered the truth about my story!"