The Rise of the Black Plain

"Do you want to buy Black-grade techniques?" Caesar asked in disbelief.

Even though many people wanted to buy such things, not many could afford it, and not everyone who had it was willing to sell such items. After all, such a thing was at the top of the region.

While the Blue-grade techniques business wasn't bad, with many people willing to sell copies of techniques in places like this, the same couldn't be said for higher-grade ones.

So, in general, deals involving Black-grade techniques were somewhat more unusual to happen. Some events sold techniques of this classification, such as the auction that Minos had visited in the Maritime City during his trip to Stone Island. But such occasions were not so common.

Minos then looked at the old man without changing his expression and nodded in agreement. "It's possible?"

"Cough, ehh, hard to say, at least I don't have the authorization to make such a deal myself."

Abby then asked. "And who has it?"

"That would be the director."

"And how can we talk to him?"

Caesar then put his hand over his mouth, thinking for a moment. "Usually, the director is only here once a week. And that totally depends on his will... So, I think you'd better look for him in his restaurant, in the central part of town."

"That place is called, 'The Jewel of the Sea,' it won't be hard for you to find."

And hearing this, Minos smiled and thanked Caesar for his help. "Hmm, thanks for the info. But tell me something. Do you think we will have a chance of being able to negotiate these techniques with such a person?"

"This…" He looked down for a moment, still holding his hand over his mouth, just below his nose, and then said. "Young Minos, I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure he'll do business with you. The principal owns most of our school's Black-grade techniques, and I believe it is unlikely that he will sell any of the copies."

"Most? And the other techniques, are there other people who donated them to this place?" Abby questioned him.

"Ehh, yes. Some noble families in the region have an agreement with us. They are like members of the Jalene City Culinary School." He responded without delay when he stopped for a moment and sighed. "But it will be difficult to get techniques from these powers. They just gave us a few copies of their techniques, and I think it's unlikely they'll sell it."

"After all, this thing only worked for us because we can earn crystals for these families monthly. In your case, just buying the techniques would yield something for them." He explained.

Caesar was kind to Minos and Abby because there was no harm in saying such things. All this information could be easily obtained through Jalene City, as none of this was a secret.

On the other hand, Caesar was very pleased with the deal he had just made with these two!

That's because in this establishment, whoever made deals like this could take a slice of 2% of the negotiated value!

And for a person like Caesar, who was at level 48 and wouldn't typically earn much, 6,000 low-grade crystals was a considerable sum!

"Hmm, I see," Minos muttered under his breath, already thinking about what he should do next. 'Well, I'll try to get to know this director's restaurant. Maybe I'll get something from him...'

After that, it wasn't long before elder Caesar left that room and went to bring the 60 Blue-grade techniques that Minos had purchased.

"Minos, what are we going to do now?" Abby asked, taking one of the hands of the young man who was sitting beside her.

"Let's get to know a little about this city, and then we'll visit this restaurant, The Jewel of the Sea."

"Hmm, I heard that this person is already a high-level grade-2 cook. I can't wait to taste his dishes." Abby said with a smile on her face.

She had already tasted the food of cooks of that rank a few times in the Brown Kingdom. However, unlike this city that had a restaurant with a professional of this level, it was not so easy to get such an opportunity in the homeland of this young woman.

The most prestigious restaurants in the Brown Kingdom had only medium-level grade-2 chefs. After all, it wasn't easy to reach level 56, the minimum to go the next step in the rankings.

So much so that, even in large noble families, the number of people above that level, regardless of profession, was usually no more than 10!

In fact, only royal families had more Spiritual Kings above that level in their ranks!

Hence, it was not easy to find cooks of that level. In fact, in the entire Brown Kingdom, there was only one chef of that classification, who was the royal cook of the Brown family.

And from just a few royal occasions, Abby had had the chance to try the dishes of someone of that level.

And for Minos, he had experienced it in the Cromwell Kingdom, in that hotel where he and Ruth had stayed.

"Hmm, it's true..."

And after a while talking in that place, finally, Caesar came to bring the techniques that Minos had bought.

He came bringing it in a silver tray, where Minos and Abby could see 60 blue-colored scrolls that appeared new things.

"Hehehe, thanks for the preference in this business, young Minos. If you need more copies of techniques like these in the future, just contact me, and I'll try to prioritize it." Caesar said, right before Minos and Abby said goodbye to him and left this building.

At the moment, it was almost noon in Jalene City. The couple was already decided to head to the central part of the city, know a little more about this place, and go to the restaurant of the director of the culinary school.

...

After a few minutes of walking around this town, Minos and Abby were slowly approaching the center of Jalene City.

This place had an excellent size, but, in general, the city was extended in the areas adjacent to the beachfront, so it didn't have such a large central region. Hence, even though this place was big enough to support a population of over a million people, Minos and Abby had crossed much of this place in a few minutes.

And in doing so, the two finally got to know a little more of this important place, for the region of the Gulf of Waves.

While this place had an evident focus on gastronomy, there were many other establishments, with grade-2 professionals of all other specializations. Along with that, while probing many places he had passed, Minos had noticed that there were thousands of cultivators from the 5th stage of cultivation in this place and several from the 6th!

Such a thing in itself already demonstrated the importance of Jalene City, not only for the Gulf of Waves but also for this kingdom.

This place had a very well-developed economy, exporting resources both to other parts of the kingdom and to other states in the northern region of the Central Continent. In addition, the entire population of the Gulf of Waves was polarized by local services, further increasing the power of this area.

And no wonder this town looked like a developed place!

The streets looked very well planned, there were lots of light arrays posts on the streets, and the places open to the citizens were all clean.

On the other hand, the movement of carriages was very intense, with hundreds of them coming and going through the places that the two youths had passed. And even though the beasts on the streets weren't powerful, considering their numbers, that was something to admire.

Such things even generated a certain amount of traffic at some points, where civil servants had to regulate the movement of carriages, beasts, and people.

The construction of the city itself looked pleasing to the eye. Moreover, due to the type of architecture adopted, this place gave a feeling of tranquility, even if it was a big city, super busy, and hectic.

Anyway, in the middle of this tour, the couple approached the central part of Jalene City, where the restaurant, The Jewel of the Sea, was located.

In that place, there were many high-end stores of the various spiritual professions, but the restaurants were what stood out. Several were in a single street, but one of them drew attention, not only for its magnificent structure but for the six stars that appeared in its front!