The Rise of the Black Plain

Minos, Ruth, and the soldiers began to stroll the beautiful streets of the capital of Stone Island. At the same time, they went to the western part of Old Stone, where the headquarters of the Nash family was located.

Minos' carriage quickly arrived at the doors of a grand palace, which stood at the entrance to one of the city's many mountains. Its front was completely visible to anyone approaching from the street.

This palace was as big as the one of the Brown Kingdom royal family, and from the external look, it could be said to be even more valuable.

In it, one could see dozens of windows spread over four floors, the first two floors being the same size, and the next two were smaller than the other, like a staircase.

Other than that, one could see a large garden in front of the palace, with many spiritual plants of different colors and a beautiful fountain in the middle of it.

Outside this property, a large wall surrounded the entire inner region, and there was a beautiful, utterly green gate with a silver ship symbol in the middle.

That was the hallmark of the Nash family!

'Incredible, this Nash family must be wealthy. Perhaps only the Miller family of the Brown Kingdom can compare to them.' Minos thought to himself as he saw the beautiful Nash family's palace in front of him.

The Miller family in question was a significant economic influence in the Brown Kingdom, being one of the two great noble families in the kingdom, excluding the royal one.

That family was responsible for most of the business related to the marketing of products made by array masters and alchemists within the Brown Kingdom. They also had a hand in the spiritual weapons business, but they lost to the royal family in this regard.

They also have deep relations with the Kingdom of the Waves, which is the largest kingdom in the northern region of the Central Continent!

"Standing there! This is the Nash family's property. What do you intend to do here?" Said a tall man dressed in great silver armor with a long war hammer on his back.

Minos just replied with a gentle smile on his face and said. "Hello, friend of the Nash family, my name is Minos Stuart, I made a commercial partnership with Ms. Elen some time ago, and I am here to deal with this matter."

The man then gave Minos a strange look and then said. "Wait next to the gate while I confirm if Ms. Elen will receive you."

'Hmph, I hope that's right, it wouldn't be the first time that any suitor of Ms. Elen pretends to be a business partner to try to see her. If that is the case, the young master will not be happy to know about it...'

'Hehe, this young man had better be careful…' The guard thought to himself as he headed towards a building next to the entrance gate.

After a while, the man sent a servant to warn the young Elen about the unexpected visit of this 'alleged' business partner, named Minos Stuart.

…

Elen Nash was in a room in her apartment in one part of the palace while drinking spiritual tea with a friend and business partner.

"Elen, we better send some guards to find out what happened on the border between the Kingdom of the Waves and the Black Plain. You don't have to go there just for that." Said a beautiful young woman with blond hair and sensual curves.

"No, I will go myself. With that, I can take the opportunity to see how much the Black Plain has improved in the meantime. Even if it is not yet time to start negotiating, it is good to monitor the development of that place closely." Elen said, looking at the beautiful young woman in front of her.

She was Elena Neel, a friend, and business partner of Elen, for some years. She was also the daughter of one of the great noble families on Stone Island, the Neel family.

"Ah! So, you want to know about it… But I don't think this Black Plain is so worth it, so you have to worry about going there. Even if they manage to plant in that dead soil there, I doubt that the crops are better than those of the Cromwell Kingdom, considering how weak the spiritual energy of that region is." Elena said with an expression of displeasure on her face.

"Well, it's not easy to begin planting in a place with such a low spiritual density as the Black Plain. However, this is being done by the same person who made the planting possible. No one has achieved such a feat before him. That's why I'm giving him this chance." Elen said with a solemn expression on her face.

Elena nodded and said quietly. "That's true…"

Soon after, a servant who had just entered the room went to Elen and said. "Ms. Elen, a man named Minos Stuart says that he is here to speak with you. What do we say to him?"

When she heard this name, Elen's pupils contracted, and she smiled slightly. "Oh! What a coincidence that he came here when we were talking about him! Okay, Halia, bring him over here."

After that, the servant named Halia left quickly and headed for the Nash family palace gate, where Minos was waiting for authorization to enter the property.

"Hehe, I didn't expect to meet this young man today. I want to see what someone who did a 'miracle' looks like… Haha." Elena said with a curious smile on her face.

"You said that his cultivation was very weak, right?"

"Mnn, it's true, but it's not that simple, I ordered a survey of his past to Eduard, and from what I heard, he almost died when he was 9-years-old. He only recovered just over a year ago, just before I met him."

"Oh, so he went through such a tragedy, what a pity for him. If he was stronger, maybe he could meet this older sister here…" Elena said with an ambiguous expression on her face.

"Stop it. You are too shameless." Elen said with a flushed face.

In fact, in the Spiritual World, sexuality was quite liberal. It was pretty standard for people to have casual relationships and even have a sex friend.

It was pretty common for people to have a certain amount of 'experience' before getting married.

Of course, some people tried to maintain their 'purity' for someone 'special.' Still, not everyone thought so or was unwilling to wait that long until someone suitable appeared.

…

Sometime later, the young Ruth was watching the view of the palace, while Minos was sitting next to her without many expressions.

It was not long before the servant who had gone out to speak to young Elen returned. "Ms. Elen said that I must take the guests to her residence."

The guard heard this and went to Minos' carriage with a strange look on his face. "Okay, Ms. Elen is going to see you now. Just follow Halia to Ms. Elen's residence."

After the guard said that, the big gate opened, allowing the group of Minos to pass inside the property.

Then, they stopped in an ample open space, where other carriages stood with their respective spiritual beasts. After that, Minos, Ruth, and the soldiers who accompanied them followed the servant Halia towards the palace's interior.

Elen Nash's apartment was not far. It was on the south side of the building, on the 2nd floor. On the way, Minos and his group passed by some large halls and offices while observing the beautiful decoration of the place.

There were several pictures and sculptures through the building's corridors, which would make anyone stop for a second to admire them before going about their business. There were also some spiritual plants used for decorations, present in the places where the group passed.

It wasn't long before the group finally arrived at Elen's residence.

At first glance, it looked more like one of the many rooms they passed, but the servant made sure to explain to them how good this part of the building was.

According to Halia, the Nash family palace's spiritual gathering array was on the south side of the complex, making this part more valuable.

Of course, the entire building was affected by the array. Still, the regions closest to it had a much more significant amount of energy than other parts.

When the servant was asked why Elen received such treatment, Halia said that Elen is the only daughter of the supreme elder of the Nash family, who lost in strength and influence only to the family patriarch.

In this way, Elen had great importance within the family, which is why she had received such residency.

'Oh! So, she is the daughter of the supreme elder…' Minos thought to himself.

Shortly after that, Minos and his group entered Elen Nash's residence. Indoing so, they saw two beautiful youths blond women sitting on a sofa while they talked and drank spiritual tea.