The Rise of the Black Plain

While Blake and his followers chatted about their plans, Charles was currently in the Kingdom of the Waves capital, fulfilling his schedule as Crown Prince.

This young man had had to overcome many problems to reach his current position, despite the initial advantage he had had in the competition for the local throne. Despite everything that had happened in the two years that he and his two older brothers had fought each other, he had achieved his goal and had also reached level 50!

In fact, King Walker's three sons were now at the same level as their cultivation speeds weren't bad by regional standards. They also had more or less the same resources before they reached this new stage of cultivation.

However, all of them were already facing the problems commonly faced by regional experts, so they no longer had differences in levels between them.

At the 6th stage of cultivation, advancing was neither easy nor fast for people from this region, who, in general, only had Black-grade cultivation techniques.

And that was the case with these three brothers.

But even if they were at the same cultivation level, there were significant differences between the three. That is mainly due to the political position of each of them!

Charles was the heir, having the resources of the royal family under his control, though he had not yet assumed the position of king. As for Blake, he had to hide and move from time to time to avoid getting caught by his pursuers.

Blake had help from his mother's family. Still, as a noble power over the orders of the royal family, it might not be in his best interest to stay in such a place...

After all, he still hadn't given up on becoming king of this state!

Finally, Wilfred, the first prince, had been living with the queen's family, his mother, ever since he had abandoned his position as royal successor competitor.

Of course, there were risks for him to be in such a position, where Charles could quickly surround him. But for someone who had been crippled, he would not be able to become king even if the heir died.

That was a custom commonly seen in the northern states of the Central Continent. Such royal families would not allow disabled people to become sovereign because such a position would need to be held by the strongest and most talented.

And since it was nearly impossible for a Spiritual King to regenerate a lost body part, such individuals were prohibited from vying for the royal throne of a given state. After all, such a person would not receive the royal family's support, and without such a thing, there would be no way for anyone to become a king.

In fact, even if Charles and Blake died, Wilfred still had no chance of becoming king. The succession would pass to one of the heirs of these two princes or the closest relative of the previous king...

As for the queen, she had no powers unless, of course, she was a direct descendant of the royal family. Otherwise, if she were just the king's wife, she would never have political powers in any regional states.

Anyway, Charles would hardly try to kill this young man on account of the royal throne. And even if there were other reasons to kill someone like Wilfred, the first prince had the queen's influential support.

This woman might not have political powers, but she was one of the wealthiest people in the northern part of the continent!

Consequently, Charles would not kill Wilfred when his older brother had already given up on the dispute and even abandoned the right to do so.

Such a thing would be stupidly dangerous for him as no state would remain whole if the financially powerful decided to act...

But the same was not valid for Blake...

And it was about this young man that Charles and some of his team members were talking about right now!

This future king had no reason to accept the existence of his second brother, as such an individual could become a problem in the future.

There was always the possibility that Blake would try to make trouble for him, hire assassins, in short, try to usurp the local throne somehow.

Such a thing was despicable, and the people of that region would never regard a usurper as a respectable figure. But still, things like these happen every so often in large regional families.

And despite not being genuinely respected, these individuals would be happy just to be feared while in power. Finally, those in that position always had practical ways to alter history...

Anyway, Charles knew the risk of having Blake alive, so he intended to deal with this threat as soon as possible!

"Your Highness, the exploration team had lost track of Blake again a few weeks ago. But from the information we have, he's still in the state." A man dressed in armor bearing the symbol of the local royal family said this out loud as he took a formal position in front of where Charles sat.

"Keep looking for him. We can't let him live, especially with that person's existence!" Charles coolly commented as he narrowed his eyes and looked at the people in front of him.

There were several Spiritual Kings in that place: people from the royal family, his mother's noble house, and other regional kingdoms. Like, for example, there was a member of the Hargraves family there.

Such a family had become Charles's principal associate outside the Kingdom of the Waves. After all, this young man's life had been saved due to a defensive gift given by this organization. Hence, this royal heir had naturally given several advantages to such a family...

Finally, there was a royal guard beside this young man, dressed in special armor, somewhat different from that of other royal guards of this family. And no wonder, this person was part of the King's Escort, the group specializing in protecting kings and heirs.

All members of this battalion had cultivation above level 55, with the strongest being someone at level 57!

After Charles said that, the Hargraves family member who was there then sighed and said. "Your Highness, perhaps that person cannot do anything to you."

"Why do you think that?" Someone in that room asked this quickly.

"Simple. From what I heard of His Highness's description, such a person displayed a strength only seen among individuals that came from outside our region. That is, he cannot act directly, as that would be worse for him!"

"Oh?" The same person as before was surprised by this.

Indeed, it made sense. After all, such power would not be seen to be born in the northern region even in 100,000 years. And if such a person came from a high-level empire or kingdom, then it would all make sense!

The Spiritual Church would not punish such a person for what had happened, as Charles' group had attacked him first. But seeking revenge would be something entirely different!

Since Charles had managed to escape, then if such a person tried something in the future, this heir of the Kingdom of the Waves could have the assistance of the Spiritual Church, claiming that an outside force was trying to take over the state...

So, such a thing would be great for Charles, who had lived in fear since the previous event.

"I hope that's it…" Charles muttered and then said out loud. "But keep an eye out for information regarding people who look like him. If someone like that is found, I want the information to be passed on to me immediately!"

"All right, Your Highness!"

"Finally, let's talk about this recent news published by Northern News..."

After saying this, Charles and his group of subordinates/allies continued to resolve the many regional issues that would need to be resolved before he was given control of the state.

He still had no real power over the state. Still, the transition of rulership from the Regent and Charles' team had already begun. Therefore, this group had a lot to do, and occasions like this one were happening daily.

Everything would have to be resolved until the death of King Walker, which should be within two years at the most!