The Rise of the Black Plain

The next day...

In a deserted part of the interior of the Dry City dome, there was an unbuilt area there, as large as the area of ​​this city itself.

In this place, where land was still lifeless, without any plantation, a group of hundreds of people was distributed there, following a specific pattern. First, three large groups of observers were distributed on different slopes. In other words, ideal places for them to watch what would happen there.

Second, there was a group in the middle of that place, among the crowds of spectators. This one was composed of 700 soldiers, and each one of them wore the same type of uniform, which had the symbol used by the Sergeants of the Black Plain Army.

Finally, there was a young man with brown hair surrounded by these 700 soldiers. He was holding a sizeable golden-bladed sword in one of his hands while in a defensive position as if preparing to fight.

And indeed, Minos was preparing to face these 700 Sergeants in just a few moments!

Having returned to the Dry City after his trip with Celeste and Mirya, Minos had given the signal to the army to prepare for this event that was about to begin this instant.

Before returning to Dry City, he had already reached level 49, so it was time for another military exercise!

That was already a custom for a little over a year now. Each time that sovereign advanced, soldiers of the rank of Sergeants had to be prepared for this test to happen at any moment!

As such, after giving his warning, everything had been prepared with agility. But unlike what had happened the first time the local army's military exercise was held, this time, the borders of the Dry City had not been closed.

After all, the army now had more than a thousand Sergeants in the Dry City, a number large enough for the military exercise to be carried out without the previous concern.

At the very least, it would no longer affect the functioning of the borders, so there was no need to close them.

Finally, the group of 700 people surrounding the young Stuart was made up of many apprehensive eyes, concerned individuals already prepared to flee the area of ​​influence of this young man's techniques. But while this was a tense moment for the soldiers, the same was not valid for the spectators present.

Many of them were very excited about the start of the fight. Some just wanted to witness the great strength of their leader, while others wanted to learn as much as possible from this fight so that in the future, they would have a smoother time...

And such a group was almost as numerous as the Sergeants involved in the fight against Minos. Many were just low-ranking soldiers, who would typically only stay at headquarters in or around the Dry City.

But among those people were also some high-ranking soldiers in the army, as some of the Sergeants who weren't working. An example of this was Neal, Minos' old acquaintance.

Neal was still concerned about Celeste's situation. Yet, he had already resigned himself to the fact that he could not help her. Only local doctors and time could make that woman fully recover.

And unfortunately, life couldn't stop for him just because of Celeste's situation...

Consequently, Neal had to continue living his life normally, fulfilling his responsibilities and taking care of his cultivation-related matters. And as such, he was here to watch Minos fight those 700 soldiers.

This young man had seen Minos fighting before. Still, it had been a battle between two high-level opponents with similar proficiencies. However, what this military exercise proposed was simply nonsense!

This young man had never heard of a cultivator fighting so many rivals at the same time.

Hell, even the Spiritual Tournament, the most prestigious competition in this part of the continent, had nothing so far-fetched!

And even though he had already found out about the military exercises the Sergeants had to go through, Neal was still somewhat skeptical about it so far.

After all, even if Minos was as strong as a level 54 cultivator, he couldn't defeat so many enemies at once. So  sooner or later, his energies would run out, and any of those 700 soldiers who would last could easily defeat him!

That's what Neal thought.

'How will he handle this?' Neal wondered as he watched from afar the beginning of the fight.

...

At that moment, when Neal was questioning himself about this event, a soldier responsible for this fight gave the warning for the beginning of it!

Instantly at that, the 700 soldiers on the outskirts of Minos began to circulate that terrain disorderly.

Despite the fact that this was a group fight in which 700 people had to deal with only one enemy, these soldiers had determined that the best way to act was to divide the responsibilities of those involved.

So, out of the 700 cultivators, there were many of them in different 'groups' of action. Some were meant to flee. Some were meant to attack. Some were meant to be the bait, etc.

These individuals had already learned that when fighting someone of a higher level, that opponent would have a lot of advantages at the beginning of the fight. Such a person would probably be able to eliminate many opponents quickly. In this case, just acting carelessly, attacking that opponent all at once would not result in the best scenario for the weaker side.

Instead, the soldiers had realized that their numbers would only unbalance a fight like that if they acted carefully, prolonging such battles until their opponent was exhausted.

Only then could they defeat an opponent with a fighting proficiency so superior to theirs!

As such, the different groups among those soldiers running around Minos right now, several of them were going in different directions. They might look disorderly to the innocent ones, but they were exceptionally organized, extremely functional.

The baits would become more vulnerable at the beginning of the fight to give the other soldiers time to prepare themselves. On the other hand, some would protect the baits by using their attacking techniques to divert the opponent's attention at specific times when these baits were in danger.

Anyway, a group fight needed to be perfectly ordered. Only when each involved understood their function could the group bring out the maximum collective power!

Finally, after seeing this formation that the soldiers were following in his surroundings, Minos couldn't help but give mental praise to his soldiers.

He could even try to break the opposing formation, but that wouldn't be without cost. If he didn't attack the baits coming his way, he would likely suffer from their attacks while dealing with the possible traps thrown by the other groups of soldiers.

In short, any attempt he makes in this scenario would result in him being at a disadvantage at the start of the fight!

So, he couldn't help but be amazed by the evolution of his soldiers!

'But my options aren't as restrained as you think…' He thought to himself as a small smile formed on his lips. "Let me show you something new!"

After that, Minos finally activated all of his battle techniques at once, making that big black ring appear in that spot.

At the same time, it considerably diminished the natural light there. Minos then started running towards the group of baits until they were all under the restrictive effects of hid Spatial Sword technique.

While those dozens of soldiers tried to move without success, their many companions were already preparing to launch their attacks in the direction of Minos.

However, suddenly, a second sword appeared in one of Minos' hands when he finally made his move!

Spatial Sword! Two Sword Style!

After that, he made a move with these two weapons, with his arms crossed in front of his face, throwing horizontal blows in the direction of his opponents.

Swooish! Swooish!

....