The Rise of the Black Plain

"Your Majesty, Minos Stuart is in Dry City!" The supreme elder of the Edwardstone family entered the emperor's residence, speaking loudly.

There, some of the emperor's closest people, wives, and other relatives, were standing around celebrating Harold's return.

Isabella was one of these people who had a wide smile on her face, happy as never before because of her father's return, but also because Minos had kept his promises.

At the same time, her father had told her that Minos was already at level 74, just one level below her current level, something impressive. So she was doubly happy, waiting for his return along with the rest of the family celebrating Harold's return.

So when she heard the voice of the old supreme elder, she immediately looked at that man with an extra glow on her face.

Standing next to his empress, who was currently at level 79, Harold smiled upon hearing that. "So he made it..." He muttered, happy that Minos and Oswald had escaped that nightmare realm.

The people in the surrounding area also liked the news.

Most there were in favor of Minos because of the guy's relationship with Isabella and because he had saved the empire and was very talented.

Few feared the future in which Minos would become too strong and oppress them, so knowing of his return was good news for them.

The supreme elder did not like what he heard and saw in that place and said. "That's not good news. The cursed Emperor Stuart has already reached level 74! At this rate, he will be unstoppable in less than a decade!"

Harold smiled upon hearing that and said. "He can already be considered that... I wouldn't be able to beat him myself."

"And you say this with such reassurance, Your Majesty? What will become of the empire?" The supreme elder felt terrible to hear those words coming from Harold.

"You don't have to worry about that so much. Just look at the northern region and see what has happened to the local powers... Even mortal enemies of Minos have kept their bloodlines.

The Brown and Cromwell families have lost much of their former rights, but today they still have members with the family lineage alive.

Also, it has members in its ranks who are stronger than the former regional leaders, being much stronger today than 30 years ago." Isabella said.

"Supreme elder, Minos is our friend and ally. Therefore, there is no reason for such concern." The emperor said, sighing.

It was hard to see someone so strong and who had been an expert when he was just a junior, age so much to the point of being paranoid about his family's downfall.

That made Harold sad!

So he had compassion on this old high-level Spiritual Saint and suggested to him. "Supreme elder, now that I have returned, I would like you to retire from your duties and travel to the Black Plain to become the communication link between our states.

Your position in Dry City will help the family better understand our relationship with Minos and ensure the empire's future."

Everyone in the surrounding area looked at Harold, feeling that this was his way of pleasing this old fellow a little and lessening his attempts to convince people in the family to stand against Minos.

That was not just so that he wouldn't be irritated by this man but to ensure that the family members would not lose their respect towards that man not far from his own death.

The old supreme elder saw this as a final mission for him to fulfill and didn't think it bad that Harald asked him to hand over his duties.

He clenched his fists and said. "It will not be easy to live with the enemy, but I will do my best to ensure the continuity of House Edwardstone!"

After those words, he left to make preparations while Isabella approached her father.

"I'm afraid the old supreme elder won't live another ten years..." She commented.

Cultivators had their life forces associated with their cultivation stage.

That meant that someone at the 8th stage, whether at level 70 or 79, should have a more or less similar life expectancy.

But just because a Spiritual Saint was expected to live almost 6.5 thousand years, it didn't mean everyone who managed to age would live the same amount of time.

Some died of old age at 5.5 thousand years, while others could even exceed what was expected of them by a few decades.

The supreme elder of this family was already expected to pass away in the next few decades. Still, with the emergence of his paranoia regarding the Black Plain, Isabella thought that he would not have as much time as they imagined.

Harold sighed upon hearing that, "Let him strive for the family for a few more years. That will give him the peace of mind he needs to leave.

Anyway, don't pass his title on to anyone else for now. I will appoint someone to replace him, but that person will only become the supreme elder once he is no longer around."

"That is a respectful enough measure..." Madeline said, standing next to her husband.

After that woman's words, 5 minutes passed, and the group escorting Minos and Oswald arrived at the ballroom of the emperor's residence.

Upon seeing those two, Harold approached Minos and Oswald, shaking their hands and thanking them.

He repeated what he had said to Minos last time but said his words of gratitude to Oswald for the first time, feeling that this man had been a great vassal to him, unlike Mortimer, that traitor.

Harold had discovered in his time in the Flowers Kingdom that he had only ended up in the hands of those women because Mortimer had turned his movements over to the royal family of that state.

So he hated Mortimer twice as much as anyone else in his family and wished he could go out and hunt him down as soon as he finished fraternizing with his family.

But after he asked Minos and Oswald if they would stay for a feast at the end of the day, he heard the news about that man's situation.

"... Anyway, after returning from the Flowers Kingdom, we went out to hunt Mortimer before coming here," Minos said, with Isabella at his side.

Upon hearing that, everyone in the surrounding area paid closer attention to Minos' words, eager to find out what he had done.

Given Minos' current power and what he had when he faced Mortimer, he should be able to defeat that man with ease.

As such, the people there, most of them who had seen Minos and Mortimer's fight, could already feel that the greatest fear of the empire had ended.

"And so? What were your results?" Harold asked.

"Mortimer is dead. The core of the Saints Killing Sect has been wiped out." Minos said, putting smiles on the faces of many people there, while Harold sighed that he was not lucky enough to witness the murder of that traitor.

...