The Rise of the Black Plain

With the barrier activated, the Dry City would have only four entry points, precisely the points already controlled by the local army on the wall.

At these points, only those who obtained the soldiers' authorization at the entry posts could reach the city protected by this entire dome. If this were not achieved by one of the visitors, it would be impossible for one of them to reach the territory of the Dry City unless, of course, that person destroyed the barrier!

And with that, situations like the arrival of Elen and Elena, which had happened earlier, would no longer be possible. After all, the dome-shaped defensive barrier would stop all living beings who tried to enter this region from the sky.

In fact, aside from living beings and spiritual attacks, anything else could enter this protected area. An example of this was the gases and the spiritual energy itself, which could pass through these dome areas as if there were no impending action.

The same was true for objects devoid of spiritual energy, dead beings, or part of them, as in the example of leaves.

That's because this type of barrier was not fully activated all the time!

Those greenish barriers that had just covered the dome around the Dry City represented the fully activated state of the defensive arrays, with all defenses raised.

However, this state was only activated in two cases. The first was if any living being or object with spiritual energy tried to penetrate the territory under the influence of these defensive arrays. The second, if someone manually activated these barriers.

Thus, in typical situations, these spiritual arrays would be in a state of waiting, without the greenish barriers, as if this place were completely open, as it was before the beginning of this test.

But in times of need, such a thing would come into operation and raise those barriers covering the city sky to protect the interior from attack and prevent living beings from entering.

And as a consequence of that, the Black Plain Army could focus its forces entirely on these four entry posts, improving local security to a whole degree!

Previously these forces had to patrol all points of the wall to prevent irregular entrances or exits. But with this change, just a few soldiers patrolling would be enough!

Anyway, after Minos watched the darkened horizon of the Dry City through his office, he soon returned to his activities.

This sovereign already knew that defensive arrays would be turned on for the first time today, so he quickly composed himself and dropped the subject after the initial moment of admiration.

...

At the same time, outside the local government mansion, the greenish barriers gradually diminished in space, until finally, the light returned to penetrate the interior of this region of the dome.

And when that happened, soon people who knew the reason behind this strange effect started to celebrate in the Dry City streets, with some smiling happily and others even hugging strangers...

Finally, when the entire barrier had disappeared, strong breezes began to pass through the streets of the Dry City, immortalizing this moment in these people's minds.

"Ahh, finally, our city can take off!"

"I wonder when Mr. Minos will open the Black Plain to the world... But I can wait to see the development of this place!"

"Don't say that! I just arrived at the Dry City. I hope to have some opportunities here before more competitors arrive!"

And so, several comments sounded around the Dry City Defensive Tower.

But it wasn't just the citizens that were very pleased. No, the workers who had built such a place were all rejoicing for this feat.

They might not have the strength to fight for the good of the Dry City, as soldiers in the local army did. However, they had still made this city safer, using what they knew or could do!

And that was something fantastic, something that made them feel part of the community even more than they usually were!

"Hahaha, guys, the food today is on me!" One of the men suspended from steel cables on the tower walls said this to two of his fellow servicemen.

"Then I'll buy the drink!"

"We can have this meeting at my house…" They then started talking about it while they finished painting that part they were working on.

And after a few hours, earlier in the evening on the Black Plain, the Dry City Defensive Tower had been finished!

This place was very high, but it was full of lighting arrays, which allowed it to be visible from many different city points.

And even though this place had the obvious purpose of defending the city from invasion, many people had liked this tower even more because it gave a new look to the town, something unique, which differentiated this city from many others.

There were no cities fully protected by medium-level grade-2 spiritual arrays in the north of the Central Continent. Consequently, no other place in this region had a building like the one in the city of Minos!

With this, thousands of inhabitants were delighted with the new local attraction, which could be admired even more during the nights.

...

While the population of the Dry City experienced the new reality brought by the defensive arrays and that tower, a couple was traveling in a part of the Black Plain, on top of a single spiritual beast of the 5th stage.

They both had resolute expressions on their faces, with their brows drawn tight and a steady look in their eyes.

One of them was a young man who shouldn't be older than Minos, who was now following behind that woman, holding himself with his hands around her waist.

As for this woman, she looked like a mature beauty, looking as 'healthy' as the City of Waters ruler, Mirya.

This woman had milky skin, and her hair was a brown color, which seemed to glow slightly even though the two were traveling through a forest at night.

Anyway, she was controlling that spiritual beast, as she felt her body sway and jump into the embrace of her traveling companion every time that beast's only two feet touched the ground.

This being looked like a bird, with two legs, many feathers, and a large neck. However, it was big enough to comfortably carry up to two people, like those sitting in a cell on its back.

"Let's stop at the Dry City. There we can rest for a few hours and then continue our journey towards the Cromwell Kingdom." The young man said to his mate.

And on hearing that, the woman frowned even more and asked. "You are crazy? What if we leave clues in that town? Do you want to risk my husband catching us?"

"He will certainly kill me, but what he would do to you would be many times worse than that!"

"So, don't let yourself get carried away because of the fatigue of the trip. We'd better make our way through the forests, or something like what happened one month ago will be repeated!" She said with a disappointed look on her face.

A month ago, these two had thought they were safe and that they could start living peacefully in a city in the north of the Kingdom of the Waves...

However, the two had nearly been killed by an assassin hired by the woman's husband, who had managed to locate them when these two had let their guard down.

"Don't worry, in that place where we almost got caught; there were a lot of loopholes. It's different in Dry City. This place is completely abandoned, and people won't even be able to distinguish our level there." He insisted.

"This…" She tried to say something, but there wasn't much reason for her to fear such a weak place!

She, a mighty Spiritual King at level 54, might have to hide in cities with the presence of Spiritual Generals because of the persecution ordered by her husband.

However, was there any reason to fear a place where people couldn't even feel the spiritual energy of other cultivators?

Was it worth living in such fear?

"Okay, it won't hurt us to stop in this city." The woman agreed with him as she remembered something. "By the way, I heard that the sovereign of this place is an acquaintance..."