The Rise of the Black Plain

After getting off his mount, that man coming from the Flaming Empire made his way towards the inside of the Spiritual Church camp.

This person was a representative sent by the imperial family of that state, who was here to monitor the peace negotiations and make a relevant announcement.

After years of war, the situation in this part of the Central Continent had disrupted the realization of the Spiritual Tournament, which by the current time, should have taken place months ago.

However, because there were no conditions for this competition to be held here, the Flaming Empire imperial family postponed it for another two years in order to protect the organizations involved.

And with the intention of not having to postpone this competition again, the emperor had sent this representative to dialogue with the regional leaders.

The Spiritual Tournament added little power to the empire's sects. Still, this competition itself was a symbol of the power of that state.

The FLaming Empire was the strongest in the part of the Central Continent where it was located. Yet, it was surrounded by several subtly weaker kingdoms, which together could threaten it.

Since the Spiritual Church had granted the empire the right to hold official competitions in this region while forbidding the other states from doing so, the Flaming Empire's acceptance of the current situation could be a problem.

One of these smaller kingdoms could use the justification of the empire's incompetence in keeping the region under control or even use the current chaos to conduct undercover operations. At the same time, this could even generate a change in the control of tournaments in this area, which could damage the prestige of that empire.

And as much as these talents from the Minos region were not indispensable for the empire, they could make a difference for some of these kingdoms!

After all, if at least three people with Silver talent were 'seized' in a competition akin to the Spiritual Tournament, with the right training and resource, they could become Spiritual Saints.

And for states that had fractions of the empire's numbers, even three Spiritual Saints meant a significant increase in power for them!

Hence, not acting in favor of solving the current problem in the region could lead to more significant problems for the empire in the future!

With this in mind, that level 65 Spiritual Emperor quickly made his way to where several Spiritual Church Bishops were gathered.

"Where is your leader? How much longer will we have to wait for negotiations to begin?" He asked as he entered that place, wasting no time in greetings or unnecessary conversation.

Hearing the tone of that powerful expert coming from the Flaming Empire, the strongest Bishop there, who already knew that man's origin, answered him. "Lord Warner, Archbishop Frost is coming here at this very moment."

"From the message we received last night, she will arrive at the Black Plain sovereign's side tomorrow morning."

"Oh? Why is she traveling with this young man?" Warner asked in interest, finding it peculiar that the mediator of this peace attempt traveled alongside the regional enemy.

'What is this woman thinking? Does she not see her actions as unjustifiable favoritism?'

That Bishop then said. "That, Lord Warner, you will have to ask her since I dare not question my superiors."

"Tsk!" That man with black hair and beard made a tongue sound in displeasure but did not pursue the matter. "By the way, I am curious to know if she has already found out about the orders of the Spiritual Church branch in the empire. Have you guys been communicated?"

"Uh? What are you talking about?" Another Bishop asked without understanding what was going on.

These people did not know about what the Silva family had gotten through the unique item that had granted them a wish. After all, they were just low-ranking people who served the church in the poor northern region of the Central Continent.

And even if such information had relevance to local events, it was not as if it made any difference to these men to know about it.

As such, none of them had any idea about the decisions of the Spiritual Church in that state, being in the dark about the assassination mission against Minos.

"You guys don't know?" The man laughed. "The Church has authorized the sects of the empire to act directly against Minos Stuart!"

"What? Is that true?" One of the more sad Bishops in that place stood up and asked this, feeling a spark of hope.

"Yes, it is true."

"However, I don't know if the eight major sects will act since that boy's family is acting on their behalf."

"Anyway, there are still many smaller organizations in the empire, and the church has authorized all of them to decide on their own whether or not to accept the mission. So, maybe these local families can get some help through this act."

Hearing that, each of the Bishops there began to think about what might happen next with the addition of even more people against young Stuart.

'Minos Stuart is powerful, but without limitations in terms of Spiritual Emperors, even he won't be able to hold out!'

'That's truly amazing!'

'I never imagined that the church would give such a surprising order as this. I wonder what happened in the empire?'

"Tsk!"

'It won't work!'

'Any sect that agrees to act against Minos will directly offend his family! That's just an empty hope!'

After seeing the thoughtful expressions on the faces of those elders, Warner smiled and left that place quietly, interested in finding an area to sit and meditate.

He found it amusing to see the people of this poor region suffering to solve their little problems, but he did not like to stay in a place as weak as this for too long. And since his perception of time was different when he was cultivating, he soon sat down in a lotus position and proceeded with his cultivation technique.

'Well, I hope this group will arrive within the promised time frame.'

...

While Warner was trying to cultivate the thin layer of spiritual energy in that area, several of the level 59 Spiritual Kings from this region were meeting at this very moment.

They were in a large tent with a table with food and drink and various luxurious furnishings similar to those found in the living rooms of the region's wealthiest families.

And right there were the representatives or leaders of the royal families of this region, with some of them sitting on sofas or armchairs and others standing while they ate.

Among them were King Snow, Jade Carline, the elder sister of the Stone siblings, the supreme elder of the Cromwell family, King Brown, and of course, Prince Blake, who was serving as regent of the Kingdom of the Waves.

Besides them, there were also some patriarchs of regional families and the people who had accompanied them to this place. Not only that but also some descendants of the regional families who had already returned from the empire, among them some low-level Spiritual Emperors.

"Lorelei, I can hardly believe you dared to come to this place!" King Brown exclaimed in anger, feeling irritated at seeing a regional traitor there.

"Tsk!"

"Because of your Stone family's absence in the war, things have come to this point where we are today!" The supreme elder of the Cromwell family said this as he looked with disgust at Lorelei, blaming this woman for James Cromwell's death.

"Calm down, let's calm down." King Snow tried to control the situation, nodding to both those two accusers and Lorelei.

Lorelei might be at the level of the regional peak experts, but among them, she figured in the top three of the strongest. Because of this, Ambrose's father could not help but worry about her so that nothing violent would happen in this place.

"Humph!"

"Don't try to blame my family for the incompetence of your organizations."

"Plus, my family already had a non-aggression agreement with the Black Plain years before this war broke out."

She then looked at Thomas Brown and said. "Minos has always behaved like a reasonable person. If not for your Brown family acting out, the Black Plain could have achieved independence without any battles, and we could all gain a new partner."

"In other words, this is all your fault, Thomas!"

"What?" Several people in that place shouted in surprise, not understanding how someone with tens of thousands of confirmed deaths on his record could be reasonable.

At the same time, they marvel at the way Lorelei placed the blame for the war on the victims who had suffered from Minos' cunning acts!

...