A few weeks earlier...
In a city of the Cromwell Kingdom, there was a girl with black hair, fair skin, a beautiful face, and sensual curves. She was eating at a restaurant while thinking about the information she had just gotten.
Crunch!
'Hm, it looks like the Spiritual Tournament at the Cromwell Kingdom is going to take place in 7 months. The youths under 18 will compete for the glory of being the best in the North of the Central Continent.'
'The awards follow the following order: first place will receive a prize of 500 medium-grade crystals and a Silver-grade technique. The second takes 300 crystals of the same level and a Black-grade technique, while the third gets 100 crystals of the same grade.'
The Spiritual Tournament in question was a competition held every eight years in the North of the Central Continent.
It was also a way in which future specialists in the region could get to know and understand the differences in power that could exist between regional geniuses. It was also an opportunity to see stronger places.
This tournament took place in different kingdoms with each edition. This time, it would be in the Cromwell Kingdom, but the last edition had happened in the Kingdom of the Waves.
The Flaming Empire sects organized the Spiritual Tournament as a selection form.
That is because, even if this region was impoverished in spiritual energy, there was still the possibility that talented individuals would appear. Although unusual in these areas, there were always some individuals with Silver talent in previous editions of this tournament.
And as people with such talent always looked for stronger places to go… So, the Flaming Empire sects were happy to profit from it.
That was why there was such a generous reward for the first place!
For this competition, due to the age limit and the average talent found in this region, the participants' strength was mainly at the beginning of the 4th stage, with many being in the final parts of the 4th stage.
But now and then, there might be some individuals who were already in the 5th stage, above level 40!
These individuals generally dominated the competition and were in the top ten!
'Hmm, let's see if that Minos will be at least at the beginning of the 4th stage, which is the minimum cultivation to participate in this competition when the tournament starts.'
'Hehe, if he agrees to participate as my master said, I want to see his face when he sees how big the world is.' She thought with a mocking smile on her face.
This girl was Ruth Miles, a disciple of Minos' mother, Maisie Coleman, and of the Gray Cloud Sect of the Flaming Empire. She was now at level 45, at the age of 18.
She was someone with Silver talent, as was her teacher and many of the members of the Gray Cloud Sect.
"Ahh, when I think that now I have to go to the Black Plain and accompany that disgusting Minos for the next few months, I feel so bad..."
After that, she paid her bill at the restaurant and headed north to the Cromwell Kingdom, where the kingdom's border with the Black Plain was.
…
Hours passed when the three carriages of the group of Minos passed by the plains of the Black Plain. The group had recovered well from the battle against coyotes the night before.
Now they were only a few kilometers away from the Maritime City.
The smell of salt in the air could already be felt from where the group was.
Then a beautiful view was ahead of Minos. An average city, very well-built and preserved. There were palm trees near a beach, not far from the town.
There was a bay at a point on the far side of the beach, with a large building and several ships.
The city was also quite green, which was in stark contrast to the reality of the Black Plain.
Anyway, the group's carriages then entered the city. After that, they decided to go to the pier and rent a boat to travel to Stone Island.
"Young master, the Maritime City, despite not being as big as other important cities, you can find many things here. So, we should look around to see if there is anything." Corporal Pyke said with a smile on his face.
What he said was indeed the truth. Even though it was in the Black Plain, this town had many merchants from the Brown Kingdom and Stone Island.
So, there was a lot of business here, but not only that, but the prominent families of these two states also passed through this place when they went from one region to another.
Consequently, there were many opportunities here.
And when arriving at the pier, the group of Minos was soon attended by a uniformed young woman. "Welcome to the pier of the Maritime City. Are you looking for a boat to go to Stone Island?"
Minos then replied. "Hmm, I would like to rent a boat for Stone Island."
The young woman then explained. "Well, we have two types of options for this service."
"First, it is a boat without a crew, which costs 2,000 crystals for a group like yours."
"The second is to rent a boat with a crew, which would cost 5,000 crystals. I recommend that you choose the second option if it is your first time traveling by boat from here to Stone Island." The young woman said with a sincere expression on her face.
"I understand. We will take the second option."
After paying for the boat's booking with a crew to travel in two days, Minos and his group proceeded towards the city center where they would stay.
…
On the street, while Minos went with some of his soldiers to a restaurant near the hotel where they were staying, two people passed by talking loudly.
"Believe me, Bill, I heard that a low-level grade-2 sword, is going to be sold at the auction that will take place tomorrow." Said a muscular man with long hair.
"Mick, even on Stone Island, there are few places that can sell grade-2 weapons, let alone our city..."
"This must be a rumor that Chief Ryan, from the Ocean Market, dropped to attract people to the monthly auction." A middle-aged man who had a large sword on his back replied.
When he heard that, Minos soon became interested in this auction that would take place at the Ocean Market the next day.
After all, he had a high-level sword technique, but he did not have an adequate weapon. His current weapon was a medium-level grade-1 sword, which he had obtained in the Dry City.
As for the weapons of the inheritance that Minos had received, they were all grade-3 and grade-4!
He simply had no power to use a weapon of this level.
And, even though Minos was level 33 and grade-2 weapons require a user to be at least level 40, he was able to use weapons that required additional levels due to the Indestructible Body technique.
That was because the technique made Minos' body much stronger and more resilient during the 10 seconds of duration. And in this time, his defense would be impenetrable for those up to 100% stronger than him.
To give you an idea, level 40 had precisely twice as much energy as someone at level 35. However, due to Minos' Physique's innate ability, he would achieve the equivalent energy of level 35 at level 34!
That way, the young Stuart had to go up just one more level to be able to use a low-level grade-2 weapon!
Of course, he could also only use a weapon of this classification for 10 seconds that the technique gave. And considering his strength, Minos would also need to activate the Devouring Art not to exhaust himself completely!
But for him, a grade-2 sword would be worth it, even if he has to fulfill so many requirements.
…
On the other side of the city, three people were around a young man with blond hair. On his clothes was the symbol of a silver eagle.
These people were members of the Silva family!
"Young master, are you sure you want to stay here another day just for that rumor?" Asked one of the three men, who seemed doubtful about such a story.
"As you are aware, I will compete in the Spiritual Tournament in seven months; therefore, if I have a grade-2 weapon, I will have a significant advantage in the competition." The young man with blond hair said.
This was Darell Silva, the son of the Silva family's patriarch. He was at level 38, had a Black talent, and was 17 at present.
But even though he was at level 38, Darell was confident that he could reach level 39 during the tournament and also be able to use a grade-2 weapon.
"This is a great opportunity for me. Even for our Silva family, it is not easy to obtain a weapon of this grade. And even if we did, we would have to spend hundreds of medium-grade spiritual crystals to buy one."
In the Silva family, weapons of such a degree were given only to those Spiritual Kings and some high-ranking members of the 5th stage of cultivation.
And despite being the son of the patriarch, Darell would still take a long time before his father gave him a weapon of that level. After all, his family had a limited number of weapons at that level, just 20!
"That's true…" Protector Philip sighed in lament.