The Rise of the Black Plain

Now that Minos had made it official in the Mission Hall that he had successfully completed another punishment mission, he now had 16 missions to complete the punishment missions.

Besides these missions, he had another 66 mandatory activities to complete in order to regularize his position in the guild and regain the ability to perform optional missions—those that generate merit.

He planned to complete these missions in the next year, when he would be rid of Artaud and most of his level 114 enemies.

As much as his allies who had helped him deal with Artaud this time would be unavailable to him for a while, Minos didn't expect to have to deal with any other level 114 Sovereigns just yet.

There were a few dozen level 114 Sovereigns in the guild, but most of them weren't involved with Jade Chainsaws. As far as Minos knew, because of Sender and Jembei, only Artaud had been willing to work for the faction until a few months ago.

Whether that had changed recently or would change in the future, they couldn't say. But at least in the short term, Minos was reassured that he wouldn't have to deal with such strong superiors looking out for his head.

Sender had told Minos—before he began his seclusion—that it was unlikely that the Jade Chainsaws would get another General to act against him in the short term, or even one of the level 114 Senior Officers.

It was very expensive to pay for the services of such powerful cultivators. And Artaud would return in the future to complete the mission. So the faction would most likely wait for the man to return.

In that case, Minos had the next few months to prepare for a new high-level battle!

...

After completing his business in the Mission Hall, Minos was back in his faction's lair, now with Artaud's storage item in his hands.

As soon as he could remove the spiritual mark from Artaud—who must have been too weak by now to keep the artifact safe—Minos broke into a broad smile as he realized the riches he had collected.

In addition to the millions of Qilnats, various artifacts, pills, and 5th-grade resources that could arm even high-level Sovereigns and aid in their cultivation, there were also some special items in it.

The one that caught Minos' eye the most was an amulet in the shape of a hexagon, each end of which had a gem of a different color—ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, amethyst, and black diamond—shining brightly.

Picking it up, Minos felt the coolness of the amulet's body, forged from rare metals.

Feeling the vibrant power of the item in his hands, Minos opened his eyes in shock, not believing the sensation enveloping his body.

'What is this?' he asked himself, feeling a regenerative aura envelop his body as a special field appeared around him, creating a powerful barrier.

'This item... It has many high-level abilities for 11th-stage cultivators! Why didn't Artaud use it against us? With this artifact, he could have easily defeated us.' Minos narrowed his eyes, not understanding the situation.

He did not know that in order to use the amulet from the Hydra Tribe, one had to be a Hydra, or have powers similar to those of Hydras, or have something like the Incorruptible Heart on their side.

Artaud didn't have any of these characteristics, so the Hydra Tribe Amulet was just an item with barter value, but no potential use for him.

Minos didn't know that, so he remained doubtful while he sensed the other properties of the amulet.

Like the hydras, the amulet had several special powers related to the different heads of the serpent. Besides the regenerative power of the barrier that now surrounded Minos, it could enable elemental manipulation, spiritual connection, invisibility, and intangibility. It also had some weak temporal powers, which proved to be an attribute with a lot of potential when in contact with Minos' Temporal Sands.

'This is precious!' Minos clasped the amulet in his hands, his recent worries suddenly disappearing as he imagined its potential in action.

'As far as I know, artifacts that can affect Divine Journey cultivators always affect the formation of divine powers. If I use this artifact, it's likely that my second divine power when I reach the 12th stage will be related to one of the amulet's powers.' Minos thought as he considered the possibilities in front of him.

That would be incredible!

The abilities of the amulet sounded impressive. Considering it would probably take him longer to reach level 114 than it had taken him to reach level 100, these abilities of the amulet would be strong in his next skill and he might not even need the amulet in the future.

While the amulet was a "dead" item that could not change, Minos was alive and developing. The best thing about the artifact was not its powers, but the possibility of giving him something that could grow and become stronger with him!

'Hehe, Artaud, looks like you made a big mistake leaving it behind.' Minos looked out of his cave, from where he could see the horizon beyond the floating island he was on. 'This won't be enough for me to run the guild smoothly, but it can certainly get me out of the desperate situation you've put me in!'

Minos stood up, feeling full of energy and the will to continue.

"Otis, I'm going to visit Ruth, Gloria and Abby today and leave tomorrow for my next mission outside the guild. You should prepare to use the resources I'm leaving behind." He said as he placed the items from Artaud's room storage in his faction's resources and artifacts section.

"But already?" The robot asked, not expecting Minos to leave so soon after his return.

"I want to test something and seize the moment. The enemies are still not ready to give me an answer after what happened today..."

...

Meanwhile, in the Council area, Elder Navey, level 121, was watching toward Minos' faction's cave.

'Artaud has failed... Although he didn't die, he lost the Hydra Tribe Amulet to Minos.' A smile appeared at the corner of the alien's lips.

'Good. So there will be some balance in your next encounter. I look forward to your next high-level battle!'