A few hours had passed since Minos had started to level up when a slight cracking sound came from his body. It was very subtle, the kind that someone certainly wouldn't hear if he weren't in a quiet environment.
Crack!
Shortly after that, Minos felt a sensation like a sweaty and sticky body suddenly started to repel sweat. But in his case, it was a gooey and dark substance.
It looked like the slurry that comes out of the garbage, not only in appearance but also in smell.
And despite the small amount, Minos still felt like throwing up just feeling it.
He then ran to the big house inside the Spatial Kingdom to take a shower right away. He didn't even want to start training his first attack technique. With the current scent of his body, there would be no way for him to focus on any practice.
...
A few minutes passed, and Minos was clean and in another set of clothes.
'Wow, I didn't think the odor of the impurities in my body was so bad!' Minos thought, as he still had a queasy expression on his face.
As for what happened, well, that was the spiritual cleansing that the fleshy body would undergo each time a cultivator moves up the cultivation stage. This process served to remove toxic substances present in the body's cells.
These substances came from food, residues of spiritual pills, medicines, and even the body's normal functioning.
That is because, under normal conditions, most foods and pills would have impurities, which would accumulate in the body over time, as well as bioaccumulation.
As for medicines and body metabolism, these two could also generate toxins. The first, when in excess, could create a body reaction that would result in the release of these toxins. Second, the body had natural reactions that would generate these substances, such as aging itself.
In fact, this transformation had as its main result the increase in the vitality of the cultivator, which is usually the main objective of many people. After all, who would not want to obtain a few more years in this world?
Finally, Minos picked up a golden parchment as he stopped beside the large house in front of the lake. He then began to learn the Spatial Sword technique.
"With a sword in my hand, the fate of millions can be reaped. Do you have numbers? It makes no difference. They will all freeze and then be killed in less than 1 second…"
Minos started to think about the meaning present in the technique...
After a few hours, he performed the movement for the hundredth time. At that moment, he realized that a leaf that was falling stopped temporarily before continuing to fall.
He learned the basics of the technique and was now in its first phase. In addition to reaching level 20, he would have to complete thousands of moves to get it to the second stage.
That is because, unlike the cultivation technique, that only needed to be activated to strengthen itself, while its dominance over it would increase, with other techniques, the cultivator would have to complete a given number of executions before changing the cultivation stage.
It would not be enough to increase the energy in the cultivator's body. Someone would have to have an equivalent understanding of his techniques. This was also one of the reasons for the speed of cultivation being slower in higher stages!
In addition to devoting time to cultivating spiritual energy, cultivators would still have to train each of their techniques at an equivalent level.
Anyway, Minos then finished this training session and returned to his mansion. He had a great night's sleep after what he had just been through.
…
Another five days have passed.
Now, Minos was at level 11, and today he would answer Elen Nash about their possible partnership.
According to Dillian's team, there was nothing particularly problematic about Elen within the Nash family. In fact, the only relevant thing they found was that she had a Black talent, 22-years-old and level 42, as Dillian had said.
Thus, Minos intended to form a partnership with Elen.
After sending someone to inform Elen of his decision, just over an hour passed, and then a young blonde woman arrived at Minos' mansion, followed by her bodyguard.
"You can follow me, Ms. Nash. The young master will already receive you." Mia said with a smile on her face.
"OK."
Soon after the meeting began, they discussed some important details and then closed the deal.
In it, Elen Nash would have to supply four high-level grade-1 spiritual arrays. And not only this, but she would also have to promote the products produced in the Black Plain within Stone Island and facilitate the contact of professionals from the island with the region of Minos.
On the side of the young Stuart, he would have to market his products on Stone Island through Elen. Alone, she would be his exclusive reseller within that region.
"So, it is agreed like this. Will Ms. Elen still be in my town longer? Who knows, we might have dinner to celebrate this deal." Minos said with a smile on his face.
"I appreciate the kindness, but we can do this the next time I come. I've been here for a long time, and I have to give a return to my family." Elen spoke with an earnest look on her face.
"Oh, all right, then! Stay for the next time." After that, the group said goodbye.
Before leaving, Elen said that she would send the spiritual gathering arrays to the Black Plain as soon as she arrived at Stone Island.
According to her, it should take between 2 and 3 weeks for this to be done. But for Minos, this time would already be excellent. He would not even think about having that amount of arrays in less than a year while planting the cultures in this land.
Although the arrays had a limited effect at this level, given the Black Plain's current spiritual density, he could significantly improve this issue if he possessed enough spiritual crystals.
However, even if the effect were not so significant, for a city with no array and a low spiritual density, the arrival of four of them would be crucial for the whole town!
…
Meanwhile, in various parts of the city, a topic was being discussed fervently.
In fact, it had been two weeks since the Black Plain 'cure' rumor came out. In those days, most people in Dry City did not believe the rumor.
But at this point, the situation was completely different. The 200 people who had been hired for agriculture had now spread the word to those closest to them that, in fact, it was now possible to farm on the Black Plain's land.
But not only that, in two weeks, the crops grew to the point of being seen by anyone who passed by the plantation field near the city.
With that, the subject had spread with even more power than before. And many already said it was a miracle and the heavens had not forgotten them…
'"He actually did it! Hahaha, I can't wait for the number of farmers to increase. I will be the first in line." Said a resident of the Dry City while showing an exuberant smile.
"Hmph, get out! I am the one in line!"
Some people around laughed at the two. Then someone said. "You old people shouldn't be worried. Considering the size of the Black Plain, there will be a lot of demand for labor." After that, many nodded in agreement.
Of course, with 200,000 km² and a population of just 50,000, there would be no unemployment for the current citizens of the Black Plain.
"Not only that. My cousin works in the city's guard, and he told me that Mr. Stuart wants to increase the strength of the city's forces. They must release the number of vacancies and remuneration in the next six months. There will also be places for our children." Said someone else.
That was something very relevant for people with Blue talent in the city. They were usually ordinary cultivators who had no specializations. So, working as guards was generally a good option for most of them.
The only problem was that the Dry City did not have the resources to maintain a considerable number of troops.
Consequently, the competition was great for each new vacancy that appeared in the guard of the city. Because of that, most had to be content with doing random services in the region to survive.
'It looks like this Minos Stuart is not that bad.' That was the thought that many of them had. They were excited about the things that were slowly changing in their city.
…
While rumors inundated the city, two incredibly dazzling women were coming towards the Black Plain, from the south of that region, the Cromwell Kingdom. But they were just passing through this realm, as they came from an empire!
"Master, will we bring your son back from the Black Plain to the sect?" The disciple asked her teacher.
"I'm not sure, Ruth. He's a lot like his father, so I don't know if he'll want to follow me." The other woman said. She was wonderful, and despite being the oldest here, she still looked like a young adult in her early twenties.