The Rise of the Black Plain

Time had passed, and it was finally time for the Spiritual Tournament to begin!     

By this time, all competitors had already arrived in the Cromwell Kingdom capital, along with tens of thousands of other people who were here to watch the competition.     

After all, this was still one of the most critical events in this part of the Central Continent. And despite happening every eight years, which was not much in the Spiritual World, it still received the attention of thousands of people.     

That was a farewell occasion for some who took a winning ticket, going on a high-level journey in the Flaming Empire.     

But it was also an event that revealed the future Spiritual Kings of this region, who could unbalance the situation for one power or another.     

Furthermore, even though most participants are already members or subordinates of regional families, those without support still showed up, allowing these prominent families to expand their forces.     

The Spiritual Tournament was highly anticipated for all this, even for people who have lived for a long time, having seen many editions of this competition!     

...     

And as the sun rose over the Central City horizon, with many people already strolling the city streets, Minos and Ruth were in the hotel room she had reserved.     

If anyone walked into their room right now, one would see the magnificent scenery of the two reach a climax as Ruth gently trembled her sweaty body, and Minos had a smile on his face as he released his load into the young woman's hole.     

The two, as usual, had woke up on the right foot, starting the day as best they could. And when they finished their activity, Minos and Ruth headed to the bathroom to get ready quickly.      

That is because they couldn't delay, as they usually did.     

Today, the Spiritual Tournament was starting, so they had to leave the hotel early and head towards the city's south side, where the first part of the competition would be held.     

The Spiritual Tournament was divided into four parts. The first was the most straightforward and fastest, the physical test. And as the name says, this test determined the characteristics of the competitors' bodies, such as age, level, talent, and classification of the Physique.     

As for the latter, there was no way the test could tell the competitor's innate ability. That test just shows the rating that one Physique would receive.     

And as to why there was this test, it was because people could keep their youth for a long time in the Spiritual World...      

Look at Ruth's case. With 18, she was already at level 46, and it wouldn't be long before she reached the Spiritual King stage. So, when that happened, she would maintain her youth for at least the next 500 years!     

What's more, she would only age in the last 400 years of her life expectancy!     

Of course, with her Silver talent, Ruth wouldn't just stop at the Spiritual King stage. As long as she had the time, she would reach much higher levels!     

Due to this factor, the only way to find out someone's age was through the physical test, which measured the person's bone age.     

As for the second test, this one was about survival in the wild for a week. Competitors were taken to a small forest, where spiritual beasts from the 4th and 5th stages of cultivation would be their enemies in this test.     

And in addition to surviving for a week in that place, the competitors still had to kill three 4th stage beasts, at least, to pass this test.     

In the third test, this was the official start of the fights.     

At this point, the competitors would be divided into 32 big groups of the same size, in which they would participate in a big fight, in the format of a Battle Royale!     

And finally, the 32 winners of the third test would qualify for the last phase of the Spiritual Tournament.      

In this fourth test, the remaining participants would compete for the best places in the competition through individual fights in a key system.     

The final 32 participants were randomly drawn to have 16 matches, continuing until the end and the dispute for third place.     

And those were all the phases that were in the tournament. As for the rules, the tournament's organization did not allow murders in the last two tests. But for the survival in the forest, if any competitor were to die, perhaps 'accidentally,' this would not be the responsibility of the Spiritual Tournament.     

Other than that, there were no other restrictions.     

And as for the individuals who could be chosen to join one of the Flaming Empire sects, that depended as much on the position as on the performance of a participant.     

However, only those who reached the 4th test had a chance of joining one of these forces. And for the top 3 in the final tournament rankings, those would definitely be selected, and they could even pick the sect they wanted to go to!     

...     

So, some time passed, and Minos and Ruth were almost at the first test site.      

That was the Capital City Spiritual Academy, the principal educational center for young people from noble families in the Cromwell Kingdom.     

This place had been chosen due to the large area and suitable structure for this first test. And as this was just a physical test, it was not open to the public who were not participating in the competition.     

After all, this was just essential data confirmation...     

Finally, when they arrived in front of this spiritual academy, Minos and Ruth went through the large entrance garden, where there were already many people talking and smiling because they were participating in this event.     

People were coming and going, and as soon as the two youths approached one of the buildings of this academy, someone suddenly called Minos' name, from not far away.     

"Oh! Minos! Wait for us…" A young woman with red hair said aloud.      

That was Kara, the 4th position holder in the Cultivation Ranking, whom Minos had previously met in the Cultivation Tower.     

Beside her was a young man with red hair, wearing a white robe. That was Kara's older brother Ford. He was also in the top 10 of the Cultivation Ranking, being in the 7th position.     

He and his sister came from the Kingdom of the End, the lands on the northern edge of the Central Continent. Both came from one of the strongest houses in that place, the Carline family.     

Anyway, Minos had befriended Ford and his sister after several encounters in one of the restaurants on the 11th floor of the Cultivation Tower, where they were training.     

And when he turned and saw the two young gingers, Minos smiled and then greeted them. "Haha, I didn't think we were going to find you two here. Have you already taken the first test?"     

"It's a good coincidence. But we haven't done the test yet, since we just got here." The beautiful young woman said excitedly. She was dressed in a green dress, which demonstrated well the high standard of her body.     

And it wasn't long before many eyes turned to Kara, as she was very famous among the contestants. After all, in addition to her first-rate beauty, she was also exceptionally talented.     

Minos then smiled and said. "Oh, so let's go together!"     

"Hmm."     

After agreeing with this, the four people went inside the building in front of where they were.     

And as they walked to a large information board, Kara suddenly remembered something and asked Ruth. "Hey, don't they say only participants can get in here?"     

Ruth then took off the flaming medallion and showed it to Kara while she said. "As I have it, I can follow all parts of the competition."     

Seeing this, the two suddenly realized for the first time that Ruth came from the Flaming Empire!     

"Did you come from the empire? But if that's true, then why is Minos participating in this competition?" Ford asked with a tone of doubt.     

"I'm from one of the sects of the empire, but Minos isn't." Ruth said with a smile on her face.     

After hearing this, the two still didn't understand. But, even if that was the case, Ruth could just take him there.      

There was no need to participate in the competition...     

Minos then decided to speak, seeing the confusion on their faces. "I'm not interested in going to the Flaming Empire. I'm just participating in the competition as a form of training. I'm also making some contacts."     

'Don't you want to go?' The two reflected almost at the same time.      

Young Kara then smiled and thought. 'What an interesting guy. Is he arrogant because he doesn't care about an empire? Or is he being humble by acknowledging his position?'     

"Anyway, I'm still going to take the competition seriously, so don't go easy on me if you have to fight against me…" Minos said with a happy smile on his face.     

He liked to fight, and soon he could hunt down the fugitive who had run after losing to him!     

'Hahahaha, just wait, Leroy, I'll cut your head off with my sword!'