The Rise of the Black Plain

Meanwhile, the young Luke was in his father's office, patriarch Marvin, sitting in a corner, watching his father and a gray-haired young man talk actively.

Luke was quite anxious, which could be easily seen by the expression on his face. Yet, at the same time, he was delighted and nervous about what would happen next. After all, this was the day that this young master's dream would come true.

The man who was talking to the patriarch Marvin was none other than an envoy of the Elemental Sect of the Western Empire!

Today, Luke would finally be leaving Stone Island, which he has been looking forward to since the end of the Spiritual Tournament!

Luke didn't even call much attention in that tournament since he only wanted to reach the top 10 to fulfill his father's requirement.

He, like any young master, had his own arrogance. But, for him, even if some of those competitors in that tournament were stronger than him, as he was going to a much stronger empire, in the end, he would be in the highest position.

Therefore, he only kept his profile low in that competition, departing from the Cromwell Kingdom as soon as he completed his goal. Finally, he spent the past few months looking forward to this day while training with even more vigor.

Upon arriving in the Western Empire, he would fall from a young genius to a mediocre individual!

So, he was struggling to get stronger and had already reached level 42.

'Hehe, the next time I come here, I will look for that bastard Minos! Even though he is a valuable ally of my family, it doesn't mean I'll forget what he did!' Luke thought to himself, with a proud smile on his face.

He did not know whether Minos had gone to the Flaming Empire or not. Still, he was sure that this young man would be left behind since the Western Empire was one of the strongest on the continent and with more opportunities.

In this case, Luke could already imagine in his mind the day when he would meet the young Stuart again.

While Luke fantasized, Marvin and the Elemental Sect representative were ending their conversation.

"Marvin, are you sure you want to send your son over there? Life is not easy in a place as crowded as the Western Empire. You know, there are always conflicts with the Eastern Empire. It is not a place for ordinary people." The gray-haired man said calmly.

He was called Oriel Holt, level 61, with a Black talent.

He was responsible for bringing some future subordinates of the Elemental Sect to the Western Empire. In particular, Oriel was accountable for recruiting on Stone Island and some smaller kingdoms in the north-central part of the Central Continent, where the Flaming Empire was.

In this region, there were three smaller kingdoms, which were enemies of the Flaming Empire, so these states had relations with other areas of the Central Continent.

Anyway, Marvin then laughed awkwardly and said. "Hmm, I know he is a little stupid at times, but he takes this opportunity very seriously. Not to mention that he is still one of the most talented in our family at the moment, so if that's what he wants, I can only support him."

Upon hearing this, the gray-haired man closed his eyes for a second and sighed. "Okay, I'll see if I can help him a little during his first months there, but that's all. After that, if he fails to adapt, he will have to manage on his own."

This man saw the Nash family with good eyes, so he talked so lightly with old Marvin. As to why someone of such power and coming from such a better place treated these people that way, well, this was related to that man's ancestor.

More than 3,000 years ago, a Nash family vessel had saved the life of one of Oriel's ancestors.

After that, that person returned to the Western Empire, thrived until he became a Spiritual Saint, and then got a position in the Elemental Sect. With this, he gained the right to bring a certain number of people to the sect every ten years.

With that, he did not forget what the Nash family had done for him and presented this family from Stone Island with such an opportunity.

And as a descendant of that person, Oriel's very existence had been graced by the Nash family's gesture on that fateful day!

Finally, he then got up from his chair and looked at Luke's side. "Young man, are you ready?"

Hearing this, Luke stood up quickly and said animatedly. "Yea!"

"Okay, well, then we are going to go. Say goodbye to your father. We won't be here any longer." He said, heading toward the exit from Marvin's office.

After that, it didn't take long, and Luke said goodbye to his father, following behind Oriel, with a happy smile on his face. 'Hehe, I wonder what level I will be on when I get back here...'

...

Meanwhile, in another part of the capital of Stone Island, in a large mansion, two old men were talking while playing a game of chess.

One of them had a beard and long hair, to the point of not knowing where one started and the other ended. The hair was also wholly white as if that person was already at the end of his life.

As for the other, he was the complete opposite. He had neither beard nor hair. Hell, he didn't have eyebrows either!

But although they looked old, neither of them was nearing the end of their lives. On the contrary, both were already Spiritual Kings and still had a few centuries to live, even if one of them was almost a thousand years old.

At this point, the bald man said. "Patriarch, have we made any progress on the subject of that Nash child?"

That was the supreme elder of the Allen family, Rolf Allen, level 57, with a Black talent. He had just come out of a cultivation session, which had lasted a few months. So, he didn't know all the details that had happened in the meantime.

As for the white-haired, bearded old man, he was the current Allen family patriarch, Duncan Allen, level 58, with a Black talent too.

"Well, that young girl is taking great care. So, we still haven't been able to find out where her resources are coming from." The patriarch said before making his move in the game.

"So, this is how it is... Well, sooner or later, she won't be able to hide anymore. She can't hide for long." The bald old man commented, frowning as he watched the game.

They had put a spy behind Elen to find out from where the selling items came. But they were not very successful at that.

Elen already knew this would happen, so she was using an 'emergency' strategy. The Nash family was using a ship that would take the items from the Black Plain to a particular island, south of the Stone Island. After this, the items were being transported from there to one of the coastal towns on Stone Island.

That was the strategy she had been using and which had been working until the present moment. But Elen knew it was going to be figured out sooner or later. After all, that was not a foolproof way to act.

That was only a temporary measure so that she and Minos could buy time.

"Checkmate!" The patriarch said as he took a cup of tea from the table and drank it slowly.

...

Meanwhile, in the Dry City, the news about the inauguration of the city's fighting arena had already spread. And, naturally, many people were excited about this, as this would be another way to earn crystals in the city.

As with the ranking of cultivation, there would be the ranking of the fighting arena, which would give similar prizes. Not only that, but the city's arena would also be a good way for citizens to entertain themselves and even learn from the struggles of other cultivators.

After all, there weren't many entertainment services in Dry City yet!

The city arena would be inaugurated in one day, and whoever wanted to enter would have to arrive early!

The arena had only 30,000 seats, so there was no room for everyone.

Regarding the price, for those who would watch, admission was free for the next ten years, and only the fighters had to pay a fee to sign up for the ranking. But not everyone could fight in the arena. Only those who have already reached the 4th stage of cultivation could do so.

Because of this, each competitor who wanted to compete had to pay 100 spiritual crystals to enroll in the ranking and had to pay a fee of 30 crystals per fight. That was the operating cost of the place, so the fighters had to pay that minimum amount!

Anyway, the sun quickly set on the Black Plain, and in a few hours, the Arena of the Dry City would be open to the public!