"Hmm, that's fine with me, but if there is a second time, don't wait for any negotiations," Minos said as he stared at Luke.
He did not need a Silver-grade technique, as he already had many that Henricus Longus had left. In fact, getting Black-grade techniques was more critical to Minos.
That is because he had not yet reached a level where he could exhibit Silver-grade techniques as if they were common things by giving them to all his subordinates.
Thus, Minos needed a good number of Black-grade techniques to make them available to the soldiers of the Black Plain Army. And he didn't have many techniques like that since his father had only left 3 of these as an inheritance.
For this reason, gathering techniques of this degree was a priority in relation to obtaining other techniques of a higher grade.
In doing so, he would avoid exposing his secrets and would maintain a force well-prepared for the standards of the northern region of the Central Continent. As for the Silver-grade techniques, Minos would only allow the best and most talented soldiers to learn.
And for the Golden-grade ones, only he and Dillian would have the pleasure of training them. At least, it would take a long time for someone else to have this opportunity.
'Oh! He doesn't seem to care much about a technique like that. Does he already practice any equivalent classified cultivation technique?' Elen thought to herself as she saw that Minos didn't even try to negotiate an even higher price.
'Huh? That was easier than I thought… Haha, I bet this guy is afraid of losing his alliance with our family. But this is better. It makes things easier for me.' So, Luke thought with a slight smile on his face.
"Well, since that is the case, I will give the crystals to you…" Elen said as she took a bag out of her spatial ring.
After that, Minos returned the Silver-grade technique that he had 'collected' from Luke and handed it to the young Elen.
They also took advantage of this occasion to settle the final points of the negotiation of the Black Plain with the young trader Elen.
…
Meanwhile, somewhere near the border between the Black Plain and the Kingdom of the Waves, there was a place with some rock formations, with a river running between the mountains and going on to a cave.
There was a spiritual beast about 1.5 meters high in that place, with fur in orange on the back and white on the belly. She had big brown eyes with an upright pupil and an utterly black snout.
But what would surely catch the eye of anyone who saw it would be the five beautiful tails, which were stretched upward.
Many people might not recognize this spiritual beast in the north of the Central Continent. However, if Minos saw it, he would immediately know that it was a Nine-Tailed Fox!
Minos knew this due to the inheritance of the God Henricus Longus, of course, who had known every kind of spiritual beast in his long life. As for the Nine-Tailed Foxes, well, they are a breed of beasts from the Continent of the Beast, a place very far from where Minos was at this time.
As for the quality of the lineage of this breed, despite not being among the group with the best bloodlines, the Nine-Tailed Foxes could still reach level 89, the limit of the 9th stage!
This breed of beasts also had a unique characteristic in the world of beasts, which was the number of tails. Each tail in a Nine-Tailed Fox represents a stage of cultivation. So, as they are born at level 0, the fox in question was already in the 5th stage of cultivation!
The fox then walked around the cave and, after a while, stopped to rest beside the place where there was a water passage. It drank some water while closing its eyes and lying there, showing a big bulge in its belly.
'This place will serve for me to give birth to my baby…'
She was pregnant, so she had gone to that region, close to the Black Plain. That is because, for both spiritual beasts and humans, delivery is a time of great fragility for females who have to go through this.
That way, if any of them doesn't have a protected place to give birth, then the last way out would be to find a weaker and less exposed area to spend the first few days with their child.
As to why it was here on the Central Continent and not on the Continent of the Beast, well, only it knew about…
'Come on, my baby, mommy wants to meet you…' She said in a non-human language.
…
Another day passed, and Minos had already collected another round of spiritual pills in the different alchemy stores that he had previously visited. There was not much else for him to do on Stone Island, so he was already preparing to leave Old Stone.
But before that, he was going to meet the graceful Elena tonight. He was almost ready to leave as he watched himself in a mirror in his room.
He was wearing gray jeans, a long-sleeved blue shirt, and a comfortable black overcoat. He then left his room and went to the apartment's living room, heading towards the exit of the place.
At that moment, Ruth saw that Minos intended to leave, and then she approached and asked him. "Where are we going now?"
"Hmm? I'm going to Elena's residence, but I think you better stay here…" Minos said with a provocative tone.
"Huh?" When she heard that, Ruth's face was completely red with embarrassment. Just by remembering that woman's way of behaving, she was already uncomfortable.
She then turned and left, heading for the room she had rented at the Hotel Olson. 'He really will do that with that bitch…'
After that, Minos followed with four more soldiers towards the south side of the capital of Stone Island, the place where the Neel family's mansion was. Not long after, Minos' carriage drove for a few minutes through the Old Stone until they could see a beautiful mansion on top of a mountain.
A large area was covered with trees, with a small road leading to the mansion's entrance. At that point, a gate over 3 meters high had a beautiful red hammer symbol in its center.
That was the symbol of the Neel family, a family of blacksmiths!
Upon arriving at the mansion, Minos soon noticed that this place was completely different from the Nash family's palace. While the latter had a large building, with no other buildings nearby, the Neel family mansion could be seen as a collection of different structures that formed a beautiful mosaic.
In fact, from a distance, one would think that this was just one building, but getting closer, one would see that they are different buildings. Also, between these places, there were buildings of different sizes and colors.
While enjoying the view of the beautiful landscape created by the combination of these buildings, a guard stopped Minos' carriage.
"Welcome to the Neel family. Identify yourselves and declare your purpose for this visit." The guard said politely.
One of the soldiers, who were in front of Minos' carriage, then answered. "Hmm, the young master Minos Stuart is here to visit Ms. Elena Neel."
After hearing this, the guard smiled and replied while making some hand gestures to the soldier who had responded. "Oh! I understand. Ms. Elena had already left her permission for Mr. Minos to enter. Follow that path."
After a while, Minos' carriage stopped at a place close to Elena's residence, and the group of four soldiers stayed in that place. At the same time, Minos followed the rest of the path alone.
It didn't take long, and he arrived at a building with four floors, which had a fascinating shape.
It looked like several squares stacked in two different models. In one, there were glass balconies, and in the other, there were large windows surrounded by a beautiful brick wall.
Minos then went up to the top floor, where Elena's residence was.
Ring!
The low-level spiritual array that simulated a bell rang.
After that, a beautiful young woman with blond hair opened the door. She was wearing a short white dress that accentuated every detail of the sensual silhouette of the beautiful Elena.
She indeed was charming, to the point of attracting even heterosexual women.
Minos watched her slowly with a smile on his face. Soon he said. "It's good to see you again, Elena. Soon I will be leaving Stone Island, so I came here to have that special 'dinner' of yours."
"Oh! That's right?" She asked as she approached Minos slowly.
She brought her mouth close to the young Stuart's ear and said it sensuously. "I hope you are prepared to taste my meat. It is truly spicy. I hope not too much for you…"
"Hmm, although I've never tasted this kind of flavor before, I'm sure I can handle it…" Minos said, pulling on Elena's thin waist.
They began to kiss, with Minos started to explore Elena's good curves while she had both hands behind the young man's neck. It didn't take long, and the two went into the apartment…