The Rise of the Black Plain

As they traveled a few kilometers into Vogel's territory, heading ever southward, Minos and his group soon came across creatures native to the area.

The first creatures in their path were only low-level beasts of varying species, creatures Minos had only known from his memories of Henricus Longus.

At the same time as new creatures appeared in their surroundings, the woods there also became more and more impressive, leaving behind the typical image of the woods in the northern region.

There were trees hundreds of meters high and plants that grew in the air above waterfalls, where the water droplets formed a beautiful rainbow.

Not only this, many plants there had colorful 'veins,' some were shiny in a way that Minos could not help but open his eyes and mouth in surprise.

"This place is fascinating!" He commented with a smile on his face as he observed the vibrant area in front of him.

Gloria smiled at him and explained some of the vegetation of this place. "Do you see that?" She pointed to a flowering plant floating on top of the waterfall. "That's a plant called Light As Air, one that only reaches that state once it gets past level 60."

Plant organisms could also be classified using the cultivation classification of beasts and humanoid beings. But usually, they were not, as few of them gained consciousness.

Most just cultivate unconsciously, gathering large amounts of spiritual energy in their bodies without having intelligence.

These were called spiritual medicines.

But some plants could become conscious beings, which were classified differently from medicines.

However, if one wished to consume or use them to produce artifacts, perhaps pills, they were just as valuable as spiritual medicines!

But this was also true for humans or any other living beings in this world.

Cultivators usually did not use humans or other beings to produce artifacts was merely a moral issue, not something generated by the impossibility of using such bodies.

For example, Minos knew that the bodies of dead cultivators could be used to nurture spiritual roots.

He had only never done something like this before because he did not have any high-level corpses on his hands. Otherwise, he would do the same thing he did with the Divine-grade medicine he used on the spiritual root of Dry City years ago!

Anyway, Minos knew that, and when Gloria talked about that being who was a Spiritual Emperor like them, he looked with even more interest at that creature.

'It will be interesting if we have such organisms on the Black Plain in the future...' He looked at the large body of that creature, thinking of cutting off just a piece to bring with him.

Gulp!

"What are you looking at, human?" That plant realized the strange intent of that human standing next to a level 69 Spiritual Emperor, someone too strong for it.

Minos laughed as he realized that that creature's senses were fantastic as the memories in his mind said. "I thought that maybe you want part of your body to migrate to a better place... I am willing to give you a ride."

"What do you think? I'm sure your branches will grow faster in this place..." He opened his arms and jumped off Maida's back, with the two humans and beasts in his group looking at him.

Sentient spiritual plants were different from humanoids and beasts. They could divide their bodies into many parts and maintain communication between all of them.

Also, they could benefit from cultivating a distant part and thus climb the cultivation ranks more efficiently.

These were the beings with the most excellent compatibility with spiritual energy, organisms capable of living for millions of years when they reached level 100!

They were challenging, their only disadvantage being their little offensive power and movement limitations.

For example, a sentient tree could hardly travel for long since its roots might have limitations to soil types, among other characteristics.

On the other hand, many of these beings were hunted as medicine, so it could be dangerous for them to move freely!

To get an idea, Gloria had only recognized that creature because she had inside information from the Spiritual Church and was one of the few people in the vicinity who could identify such a creature.

If it were not for that and Minos' presence there, that plant could pass itself off as an ordinary plant organism and get rid of the predatory hunting of itself!

Because of problems like this, these magnificent creatures did not dominate the world, even considering their advantages in cultivation.

That creature looked strangely at Minos, doing so through its spiritual sense since it had no eyes.

There were advantages to having parts of its body scattered around the world. But there were also risks!

For example, certain poisons could affect the soul, which would basically hit every part of its body in case of contamination. Because of this, it was not so simple for beings like this to accept having their parts taken away by humans.

They usually left parts of themselves in carriages and allowed themselves to be taken to new places without other organisms noticing.

How was this possible?

Well, these plant organisms had very high abilities over their bodies, which could even hide the presence of their parts.

The only weakness of this ability was if someone who knew their characteristics looked at them. Thus, their ability would lose its camouflage effect.

"Why would I do such a thing? I'm fine where I am, and I don't know what kind of things you can do to me if I accept such a thing!" So, it said in a somewhat childish voice, typical of these remarkable plants.

Most of them did not mature until a few tens of thousands of years, so many of them could be compared to human children in their early moments.

"Come on, if you give me a small part of your body, I'll let you inhabit the space between two floating islands in the future!" Minos smiled and made a gesture as if trying to seduce that plant.

Upon hearing that, that creature's 'eyes' sparkled in interest. "Really?"

Floating islands were like the dream place of Light As Air plants. That was because such islands were synonymous with places with dense amounts of spiritual energy!

After all, such an island only floated because of the rare metal found in its foundations, which was repelled by spiritual energy.

When such areas with this metal were in regions with a high density of spiritual energy, what happened was that these pieces of land would ascend to the skies!

Because of this, the level 67 plant there soon became interested in the trap of Minos.

'What a guy with no morals! He is manipulating the poor Light As Air to follow him because of this promise...' Ruth looked at that and shook her head.

As for Gloria, she was curious to know where these floating islands he was saying were. "Ruth, what is he talking about?"

The beautiful black-haired woman then replied. "Oh, about that, some cities on the Black Plain were built on top of Medratium deposits. So, Minos expects many floating islands to appear in the future in our territory."

Gloria's eyes sparkled as that creature looked interestedly at Minos.

"And why do you want me to go with you? What do you get?"

...