The Rise of the Black Plain

Anyway, Abby was one of the best options for Minos to invest his resources for several reasons. And in a few months, she could already learn these techniques in the Elite Squad, so moving this subject forward in a few months wouldn't bring any risk that wasn't already there for him.

And after hearing Minos' justification, Abby finally stopped protesting when she returned his embrace. "Thanks." She shyly said as she hid her face in his chest.

Minos' action genuinely touched her. Even though he had given his technical justifications, which made this action reasonable, to Abby, this was a way for her friend to show his affection for her.

Spiritual techniques were directly related to the power and life of cultivators, and because of that, they could completely change a person's destiny. Such a thing could make you live longer, get you to go further in cultivation levels, and therefore get closer to realizing your dreams.

Because of this, any cultivator would be extremely happy with the opportunity to learn higher-grade techniques. And with that, there was gratitude for it, as could be seen in the inhabitants of the Dry City.

That was completely different from what happened in large regional families, where the population received nothing, and even subordinates only received second-rate items.

Even if a subordinate earned the right to gain a Black-grade technique, he still couldn't choose a cultivation-focused technique...

Therefore, the feeling of gratitude in large regional families was not profound. In general, people gave more value to their own achievements and less to the opportunities created by these organizations.

But Minos' soldiers and the inhabitants of the Dry City were already receiving proper treatment, even though they had not accomplished immense feats. It was as if they were being valued for the first time in their lives!

That's why they already had such a positive view of their sovereign, which Abby was starting to feel too.

And after a moment, when the two of them stood there in the middle of the forest holding each other, Minos finally moved away from Abby and removed a Silver-grade cultivation technique from his spatial ring. "Learn this one first. Then, when you comprehend the basics of it, I'll let you learn a defensive technique."

Abby couldn't learn the techniques all at once, so it would be better to start with cultivation, which was directly related to her level. And after that, receiving the defense technique would be the best to save her life in dangerous situations.

Because of this, Minos wanted her to learn these techniques in that order.

"Hmm." She made a sound of agreement when she finally sat down on a rock in that place and began to learn her new cultivation technique.

'Close your eyes, follow the path of light through darkness...'

'Feel the wind in your face...'

And while Abby was learning her new technique, Minos was watching the surroundings, along with the beast, crouched at some point in that forest.

...

Hours passed when Abby finally finished her cultivation session after mastering the basics of the technique Minos had delivered to her. After that, she had naturally returned the silver parchment to him, as this young man had no copies of these techniques.

And by the time that had passed, it had already become dark in that region where the two of them were when they finally mounted that great beast and departed from that spot.

Traveling at night wasn't the safest option of all, but it had been a short time since sunset, and none of them were tired to stop and rest. So, they intended to travel for a few hours until there was a need for one of them to rest.

On the other hand, they had not yet reached the region closest to the center of the Flooded Valley, the most dangerous place in this region. That way, they would probably still have their way clear for a while longer before mighty beasts pass them.

...

Minos and Abby were at this moment on the back of that spiritual beast that looked like a giant tiger while its took cat steps at low speed.

The group had already decided to stop for food and rest, so at this point, they were looking for an ideal place to camp before they stopped for good.

"It's quiet around here, don't you think?" Abby asked Minos as she felt this young man's arms wrap around her waist.

"Hmm, more than should…" He replied as he looked from side to side and tried to probe his surroundings.

But it was futile. Minos couldn't feel anything, not even a single living being besides them over there. "Stay tuned, Abby. Maybe it's nothing, but maybe there's some beast out of our reach that's causing it or even some spiritual array further ahead."

"OK."

On the other hand, while neither Minos nor Abby sensed any signs of abnormality in their surroundings, the same was not true of the great beast that carried them. In fact, at that moment, this tiger was smelling a strange fragrance, which was slowly making it feel more and more sleepy.

"There's something wrong!" So, it thought to itself in its language. And immediately as her hired beast realized this, Abby felt a strange sensation in her soul, as if the tiger was trying to tell her something.

But such a thing was unclear since this being had not yet reached the 5th stage of cultivation.

Their contract had been made through a low-level grade-2 beast tamer, and because of that, naturally, Abby wouldn't be able to fully understand her beast until it reached the 5th stage of cultivation...

However, even though Abby didn't directly understand the problem, she could still clearly feel that her beast was trying to warn her that something was wrong!

"Minos, I think we have a problem." She said worriedly. "Ebba doesn't seem to be feeling well."

"Oh?" Minos then probed the beast for a moment and realized that it seemed to be slowly losing consciousness. 'Beasts have all senses better than humans... And even though she's at a lower stage than ours, she certainly has her five senses more effective than ours...' So, he thought to himself, considering all his knowledge of Night Tigers, like Abby's contracted beast. 

Night Tigers were native beasts of the Snow Kingdom and had potential compared to humans with Black talent!

He then gave his instructions to Abby. "Use your skill on the three of us. Try to stimulate our senses to be fully alert and awake. I think we got into some trap."

"Activate your defense technique too!"

Indestructible Body!

Water Skin!

The two quickly activated their defenses while Abby touched her beast and Minos, using her innate ability to enhance their senses.

And in doing so, almost immediately, the beast, which was gradually losing consciousness, returned to its former state, fully awake.

As for Minos and Abby herself, the two could now feel the energetic fluctuations of a spiritual array, which was previously trying to induce the three of them to sleep.

Minos and Abby just weren't affected like Ebba because their cultivation was more significant, and also, their olfactory abilities weren't as sensitive as that beast's ones!

'Hmm, this must be no beast. They're probably human... The question here is, are we their targets? Or do we just get involved in other people's affairs?' Minos thought to himself as he stood guard, ready to act.

The spiritual array that had reached them would not be perceived unless their targets were protecting themselves, as the group of Minos was at this moment. And because of that, these two youths hadn't noticed anything other than the previous silence.

But by protecting themselves from the array's effects, they were finally able to find its location, which was less than 50 meters away from the two of them.

And in that place, Minos was finally able to sense several distinct spiritual fluctuations in a group that seemed to be waiting for them.

As he and Abby felt that presence in front of them, finally, a voice broke the silence of that forest, coming from the side of those people. "Hehehe, looks like these two are smarter than the other idiots who came by earlier."

"Zhaha, Chief Kol, it looks like we're going to have to do this the old way!"