The Rise of the Black Plain

In that room where the group of five people was, the area wasn't that big. There was just a big table where the two soldiers who attended here were positioned. Other than that, only the items on that table filled the atmosphere of that place.

That was just a common army registration site where soldiers could make their registration. That way, there wasn't much to see at this location.

Finally, the group had arrived almost simultaneously, shortly after the start of operation of this service inside the local headquarters. All of them were curious and eager to finally join the army of Minos and get to know this institution.

Especially in the case of Abby, who had tried a few times to come to this place but had been stopped every time...

Due to this event, Minos' young friend was eager to see why she was barred, even though she was intimate with the local sovereign. 'If there's nothing different here, I'll be disappointed!' She thought inwardly.

On the other hand, the other four people were eager to get to know the Black Plain Army's headquarters library. These four were different from Abby and didn't have a whole set of Black-grade techniques. Because of this, the thoughts of these four were turned to this subject!

Anyway, after the two soldiers who did this identification service had sorted some papers in that place for some time, one of them finally turned to the group and said apologetically. "Good morning. I'm sorry we made you wait, but we still had to resolve some issues related to the selection that is going on."

This Corporal knew that these five people in front of him would become Army's Sergeants, one position above his own.  And in this case, even if they were novices, he wouldn't have the courage to talk to these people in a way that wasn't respectable. After all, it wouldn't be long before they could become their leaders!

And after apologizing for making the five wait for several days for this registration, the two Corporals greeted the entire group. Then one of them started talking about how the procedure would be.

"Well, first, old Grant and I will gather your basic data and produce your IDs." He calmly said as he sat down in a chair on the opposite side of that table, in front of the five people. "Which of you wants to be first?" He asked.

Hearing this, all four people looked almost simultaneously at Abby, motioning for her to take the lead.

After all, none of them would want to take the lead of someone close to the local sovereign...

"Okay, I'll be the first." She muttered while a slight smile formed on her lips.

And finally, old Grant began to speak. At the same time, the other Corporal made preparations in the spiritual array that was there on that table. "Let's start with your basic data. Say your name, age, origin, type of innate ability, marital status…" He spelled out all the details that Abby needed to report to insert such information into her identification.

"My name is Abby Miller. I'm 18-years-old. I'm from the Brown Kingdom, from Ruby City. My innate ability is one of the support types, Nervous Control... I'm single..." Abby then gave all her information while the old men at that table took her record.

As soon as she finished speaking, one of them asked her to place a hand on one of the arrays there and said. "Now, let's test your basic physical characteristics."

After that, a drop of blood came out of one of Abby's fingers, and then it was sucked into the array that looked like just a black screen. After that, a noise sounded through that thing while the data was being processed.

This array was simpler than the one used in the Spiritual Tournament, and because of that, it was much smaller and cheaper. In contrast, this item could not estimate people's age, which demanded more of these items.

After all, while characteristics such as Physiques and soul talent were hardly altered, the state of a cultivator's cells constantly changed. That made this process more complex, and consequently, the physical test arrays would have to be more complex to do this.

However, Minos didn't mind knowing the age of his soldiers at this point. Understanding their essential characteristics were good enough for him.

And finally, after 3 minutes of making a strange noise, the array's black screen displayed several characters, with Abby's biological data.

Old Grant then muttered under his breath as he read that information and recorded it on Abby's ID. "Black Talent... Saint-grade Physique, wow... Level 42..."

"Very well, Ms. Abby. Now we just have to register your soul mark." The other soldier said as he passed Abby an artifact that looked a lot like a light bulb.

"Oh? There's even that here?" She asked in surprise. Abby did not expect Minos' newly initiated army to guard the vital status of its soldiers already.

And seeing her surprise, old Grant then explained to all of them. "For now, only soldiers of the Sergeant rank can have their soul record registered."

'So, this is how it is...' The other four thought simultaneously.

After a moment of surprise, Abby then circulated her spiritual energy to put that artifact, until it lit up fully, in intense white color.

The famous soul lamps didn't require cultivators to take a piece of their souls to function... No, if someone attempted to do such a thing, especially at this level, only death would await them!

Before the solidification of the soul, which happened in the 8th stage of cultivation, any attempt to manipulate the soul would result in instant death!

Anyway, to just make a soul record, the only thing needed would be for a cultivator to release his spiritual energy into a vital status array. Such an item could guard the fluctuations emanating from the soul of cultivators and store the state of that person's soul.

It was as if this item connected with the person's soul; it represents the status. That worked like sending and receiving waves. The soul emitted specifics fluctuations, and the array could convert this signal into a vital signal.

If the individual with their stored soul sign died, the array would stop receiving these emissions and gradually fade.

As for why a cultivator just releases their energies on this item, it was related to spiritual absorption. When a living being absorbs free energy in nature, that energy passes through the sensory organ and transforms into something subtly different.

This distinction was almost insignificant, but it was enough to differentiate two different living beings. That was like a mark, which made the spirituality of that living being unique, like the fingerprints of humans!

And as for the range of these items, this item was indeed very effective concerning this feature. In fact, low-level spiritual lamps could store the vital status of people at any distance in the Spiritual World!

Even if someone were on the Central Continent and their soul imprint was on the distant Continent of the Beast, this array would still work.

But obviously, the response time between the cultivator's death and the lamp going out could vary depending on the distance. However, this difference would not be so significant. Regardless of this distance, the end of someone with their soul sign saved would be noticed on the same day as such an event!

Anyway, Abby already knew how this item worked, as she had already made a record like this at the Miller family's headquarters.

Finally, after some time, she finished synchronizing her soul fluctuations with that array.

"Very well! Ms. Abby. That is all. Wait a moment while we register the others, and your identification will be ready." One of the two Corporals said while making some gestures to the rest of the group.

And it didn't take long for the same procedure to be performed with those four people. After Abby, Eda had taken her turn, as she was the strongest there. These people didn't want to antagonize her, and after Minos' friend's bodyguard was Joey, followed by Barbara and lastly Robin.

All of them answered the questions of those two soldiers without stalling, passing the physical test, and marking their souls in the vital status arrays.

And finally, the identifications of the five were ready!

'Five new Sergeants... And one of them is already level 48!' So, old Grant thought to himself as he massaged his chin in satisfaction.