The Rise of the Black Plain

In the blink of an eye, three weeks had passed since the auction where Minos had spent 200 million Qilnats for five artifacts.

In that time, the group had received no problems from the dozens of enemies who had attacked them that day. As they had expected, their opponents that day were mostly individuals new to Zocarro, coming from other worlds and with little support.

They had influence while alive, being powerful and wealthy even by Zocarro standards. But once dead, few in this world would seek justice for them.

As far as the official forces were concerned, the dispute had caused no trouble on the island, so Minos' party hadn't been bothered.

After over two weeks in the southernmost city of Ganaway Refuge, Minos' group reached the moment of their departure!

Of the five individuals who had stopped to absorb the opportunities Minos had given them over the weeks, four had already completed the essential part of taking advantage of their opportunities. The only one left to complete his mission was Kendrick, who was finishing absorbing the Ascending Dragon Prism.

...

As Kendrick finished absorbing the Ascending Dragon Prism, Gloria stood beside her two harem sisters, having finished absorbing the Metamorphosis Core.

The two women standing next to the redhead couldn't help but gape at the sight of the beautiful orb embedded in her forehead, resembling a priceless gem.

They had just seen Gloria's new abilities in action and couldn't help but be impressed by what they saw.

Gloria was stronger, with a more stable cultivation, a faster regeneration factor, and a much more refined body manipulation ability than before.

But the most impressive thing about her gains was her new abilities. By combining the power of the Metamorphosis Core with her innate ability, she could now transform her body into a living weapon, a liquid that could change shape at will.

She could take the form of anything and even use it to evade attacks and reach enemies more easily. For example, if someone were to hit her right now, one of Gloria's many reactions would be to retract the part of her body where she would be hit, allowing the opponent's attack to reach the void.

She could also create mercury clones of herself, theoretically being immortal as long as one of her clones existed. Besides that, she could still control the external environment.

If a few days ago, Abby was by far the most impressive of Minos' women, the Metamorphosis Core brought Gloria infinitely closer to Abby!

"That's impressive!" Ruth said, as she considered the possibilities.

Gloria had shown Ruth and Abby one possibility, but the two could sense their harem sister now had an extremely practical weapon with multiple uses.

"Your current capabilities are even more impressive than what the Titan Arcane Core gave Otis." Abby said, talking about the level 108 robot.

Otis had also undergone remarkable changes, with improvements in strength, intelligence, the ability to create weapons, and power enhancements. Among his new abilities were automatic regeneration and a destructive pulse.

Originally, Otis could only fight physically. The first special ability he gained was his divine ability. So, the acquisition of new abilities greatly increased his strength.

With the Eternal Flame Phoenix that Lily had begun to study, it would still need to be fully mastered by Minos' daughter. However, she had already learned the first level of the technique, and with just the first of its four levels, she had seen an increase in her combat power of around 70%!

The absorbable item Callie received brought her close to advancing to the next level, giving her a new ability capable of freezing the air itself.

She had lost a lot of her powers after the end of the Ice Age, a time that was very favorable for her powers in the Spiritual World. Even after she became stronger, she still didn't feel as strong as she did back in her home world.

But as soon as she absorbed the artifact Minos had given her, she regained that feeling and found she could expel all the heat from her surroundings and even freeze spatial distortions, an extreme ability for even the strongest cultivators.

Callie had finished her absorption work three days ago and was now preparing to leave the island with the rest of the group.

She had also caught the attention of the women of Minos with her improvements, but as far as Abby and Ruth were concerned, the ones who had made the most of their opportunities were Otis and Gloria.

But that was about to change!

As Gloria felt excited, face to face with Ruth and Abby, the three felt Kendrick's aura change as the sensation of a monstrous being suddenly emerged from his position.

Looking at Kendrick, who was in the same cultivation room as the three, they saw him open his eyes while his skin glowed, forming dark golden scales.

An exoskeleton covered his entire body, his eyes glowing brightly, while the pressure of a superior being emanated from his body, making the three women feel temporarily confined.

Dragon wings sprouted from Kendrick's back, allowing spiritual fluctuations to escape from his skin, distorting space.

Ruth, the strongest of the three, looked at Kendrick and realized the boy was closer to Minos than ever as he finished absorbing the Ascending Dragon Prism.

Even if they attacked him now with everything they had, they wouldn't be able to overcome the boy's exoskeleton defenses!

Besides, with those wings, he should be much faster than before, one of the most important characteristics for a warrior on the battlefield.

As they watched the boy awaken from his little seclusion, Minos appeared after realizing the last of them had finished.

A smile appeared on Minos' face before he punched his son in the stomach, determined to test the boy's current state.

Minos' punch was not weak, frightening not only the three women, but Kendrick himself as he realized the power of the attack.

However, when he was hit, Kendrick didn't feel all the pain he expected before falling to his knees on the ground!

"This exoskeleton is impressive! I'm proud of my physique, but I'm afraid this exoskeleton has a better defense than mine!" Minos praised as he scanned the situation of his son, who was now feeling quite a bit of pain, but was fine despite the attack that could have killed others stronger than himself!