The Rise of the Black Plain

"Huh? You want to exchange Qilnats for merit points? That's not an ordinary exchange." Said the man in charge of the Armhands Exchange Office, not knowing the identity of these six.

"Yes, you do that, right?" Minos asked with a smile on his face.

"Yes, we do. But to be honest, the exchange isn't good. Since we value merit points more than Qilnats, the conversion factor is twice as bad as if you were to exchange merit points for Qilnats." This level 107 alien told the group.

Usually, guild members would come to this place to get resources to use outside the guild on missions or long journeys. As such, the Exchange Office was always willing to deal with those who wanted to leave Qilnats in exchange for merit points. But since merit was the only currency for growth within the guild, the conversion factor wasn't good for people in Minos' position.

"No problem." Minos wasn't bothered, since he and his companions had no merit points to grow within the guild after everything that had happened.

"I would like to convert 100 million Qilnats into merit points and split half between my five companions and the other half for myself." Minos said as he handed the alien a spatial ring.

"100 million?" He opened his seven eyes wide, not believing the amount Minos had just said.

But when he quickly examined Minos' storage item, he realized the young man before him wasn't exaggerating.

"We can do business, but let me warn you. Merit points exchanged in this manner are not valid for class advancement within the guild. You can use them to buy resources, property, and other things within the guild, but for promotion exams, your merit points must be earned through quests."

Ruth frowned. "So bringing Qilnats into the guild is not a merit? We're using these resources to help the guild function properly. As valuable as merit points are, they're only valid within the guild."

The alien looked at them and explained. "I understand your frustration. But purchased merit points only become valid after three transactions within the guild.

In other words, if those purchased merit points are used within the guild to promote local activities, they will be just as valid as quest points. But until then, they can't be used to pay for "class advancement" within the guild."

If these points never became valid, they would be worthless. However, since they could be converted into valid points after a while, the group understood they could use them even with this restriction.

"How many points will we get?"

"18 million merit points. I'll transfer 9 million between these five and the rest to you." The alien said as he looked at Minos, waiting for the latter's confirmation that he would proceed with the transaction.

"All right." The six of them handed over their IDs to the man and quickly got the merit points transferred, with enough for them to be able to structure their new faction within the guild.

With that done, they headed to the guild entrance to meet up with their companions.

...

Meanwhile, Kendrick and the rest of the group had passed two of the three guild entrance exams and were about to finish the third.

They had all passed the entrance test with ease, and the group of guild members had evaluated them and determined that they would all be approved to become recruits.

When Kendrick finished the test, being the first of them to finish the third test, he approached the aliens behind the test, smiling and breathing deeply.

"Is this how you test all your new members? It wasn't difficult."

"It shouldn't be difficult. The guild usually uses this test for grandmasters. You're all already Sovereigns, so this test is just to make sure you don't have any major weaknesses despite your high cultivation level.

But since you all seem to have achieved your advancement through hard cultivation without cheating, there really isn't any obstacle that can stand in your way." The alien who would be in charge of this group of eight new guild members explained it.

As he finished talking to Kendrick, Maximillian and his three companions spotted this young man who looked a lot like Minos, stopping halfway when they felt the aura of the boy Stuart.

"That... Isn't that Kendrick Stuart?" The only one of them at level 107 asked.

"How is it possible he's already level 105? Is he, is he on the same level as his father?" Maximillian didn't understand either. He felt that something was wrong with all of this.

When he took his eyes off Kendrick and looked at the rest of the group, his eyes widened when he saw Abby and Gloria, who were at level 105, but also Callie, at the same level, and Vico, at level 106.

In addition, there was an alien of the same race as Asafe with a cultivation of level 106.

'Something is wrong here. Not only have Minos and the five increased their cultivation, but these others, who shouldn't be so strong, are at levels that are completely out of touch with reality! How did they do it? What has Minos achieved?' Maximilian asked himself, his heart pounding with doubt.

Vico finished his examination and spotted the old enemy who had forced him to fight a war in the southern region of the Central Continent for years.

As soon as he left the examination area, he approached Maximillian, drawing the attention of everyone in his group to these old natives of the Spiritual World who were members of the Armhands.

"Maximilian, how long has it been?" Vico stopped in front of the man, who had a strange smile on his face. "Why didn't you go to the Spiritual World with Minos?"

"Vico, it's good to see you so strong again." Maximilian hid his shock as he looked at the blond man in front of him. "Minos alone was enough, so we stayed behind... But tell me about your journey. How did the war end?"

"Did you see Minos?" Vico interrupted the conversation. "Didn't he tell you? It's been a few hours since they entered the guild."

"We saw Minos, but we talked about other things. We're still in the dark about what happened in the Spiritual World. Would you be willing to join us to talk about it?" Maximilian offered.

Vico's eyes narrowed as Callie, and Abby approached them.