After departing from Dry City, the two spiritual beasts in Minos' group flew toward the Flooded Valley, the first stop they would make.
With the annexation of the southernmost part of the Kingdom of the Waves, the Flooded Valley had become a border area of the Black Plain with that state. And since the leading tribe of that territory was allied with Minos, naturally, the beings in that forest were helping to contain possible illegal migrations through that territory.
But not only for this, he wanted to make a stop in that territory. No, that young man already knew that the leader of the Feathered Serpents was already at level 59, the furthest it could go naturally without outside help.
Nevertheless, as a leader concerned about having subordinates and high-level allies, Minos wanted to take Virtus to the Spatial Kingdom and help that serpent reach the 7th stage.
Previously he had not said anything about his cultivation sanctuary to the members of that race. After all, despite their good relations, such vital things always had the potential to cause trouble.
But now that he was already much stronger than Virtus and the relationship of their powers had matured through the years of war and partnership, the situation had changed.
Now it was no longer a risk to take the Spatial Kingdom that chief of the Feathered Serpent tribe. No, now it was an investment with great potential for return!
With this in mind, Minos was prepared to begin his journey north through the Flooded Valley, picking up Virtus and also looking at the situation in that area.
After that, he intended to continue his journey through the Endless Snow Mountain Range, aiming to visit some of the decaying sects in that part of the Central Continent.
Minos naturally had no interest in disturbing the seclusion of these powers. But since some of his enemies had fled to these areas, he planned to go after them and punish them, regardless of where they were!
On the other hand, he knew about the remote past of this area and was curious to know how these sects had arrived in contemporary times. Finally, he was also interested in seeing what was being kept in the Endless Snow Mountain Range with his own eyes.
Not even in time immemorial did the great world experts understand the skeletons frozen in that place. And as a person unable to restrain his curiosity, Minos was interested in seeing such a thing beyond the memories in his mind.
Apart from this, the rest of this group's journey was only to complete war problems.
They would first stop at a certain point in the Snow Kingdom, where Minos intended to meet those willing to attack the Scourge of the Devil headquarters with him.
After that, he intended to visit King Carline and his family to ensure that all the regional leaders were linked to him by Soul Contracts.
Finally, the Kingdom of the Waves was his last destination before returning to the Black Plain to rule his state in tranquility!
...
Three weeks after the departure of Minos' group from Dry City...
At this point in their journey, the King of the Black Plain group had already reached the most critical parts of the Endless Snow Mountain Range, an icy region with almost no vegetation.
This area was at the highest altitudes of the whole region, from where they could hardly see the green of this world, where white stretched all over the horizon.
But it was in these higher mountain areas of this region that the headquarters of the organizations in seclusion was located. As such, this group had to deal with the extreme conditions of the surroundings, which could kill even low-level Spiritual Generals!
And precisely on one of the many peaks in this area, Minos' group was preparing to land in the vicinity of a place where they had noticed the presence of spiritual arrays.
"Will we have any luck here?" Vivian asked her girlfriend while hugging Grace from behind, still on top of Maida's back.
"I hope so..." That woman answered in a low voice, as she felt the warmth of her beloved's body warming her own a little.
In the past few days, their group had already visited two of the four hidden sects in the Endless Snow Mountain Range territory.
In one, they had not encountered any of their enemies. In the second, they had encountered one of the descendants of the Cromwell Kingdom, a level 59 Spiritual King, who had previously fled the battlefield.
Such a person was with a small group of Minos' enemies from various regional families, among them survivors of House Chambers. After finding them in that sect that had 8 level 59 Spiritual Kings, which impressed everyone in King Stuart's group, this sovereign had reached an 'agreement' with such individuals.
After a brief show of power, without any casualness on the side of the people of that sect, Minos had managed to get the authorization to punish his enemies.
In this way, each of those people had died quick and painless deaths, just as he had promised when 'talking' with the civilized people of that sect.
Then they continued their journey northward until they finally reached this that was one of the highest parts of such a mountain range.
"Let's see who will welcome us this time," Minos said to his comrades after descending from the top of the Feathered Serpent that had brought him and Abby to this place.
After helping Abby down from the beast and seeing his three human companions gather, Minos walked towards a powerful grade-3 defensive array he was sensing.
Upon arriving near where the spiritual fluctuation of that defensive item divided the space between the inside and outside of it, Minos observed the all-white scenery of that place, feeling that there was a mirage in front of him.
"Well, I know there are people watching us. So I would like to ask permission from your elders to look for some people that may be here." He said, looking from side to side, confident that people were watching them. "My name is Minos Stuart. I have no ill intentions against the forces of this territory. I just want to find some fugitives, and then I'll be gone in no time."
Abby observed the surroundings, feeling a similar sensation she had felt in the last two sects they had visited, only with the impression that this place was bigger or more relevant than the other two.
Maybe that was just her impression because this place seemed to have a higher standing, but Abby felt that her intuition was not wrong.
And with that, she held one of Minos' arms, excited to get to know this place.
In the other two sects, their group had only seen places with many specialists by regional standards, which was somewhat impressive. Still, without the things Minos had promised. But Abby did not blame him since she knew such unique things would not be scattered all over the Endless Snow Mountain Range.
Thus, she was eager to see if this was where the giant skeletons were!
And while those five were observing the surroundings without knowing where to look, the people on the other side of that barrier, still in waiting mode, were silent, not knowing what to do.
'Is that the tyrant who recently rose to power?' A man with a full beard, but no hair on his head, discerned this, looking at Minos with interest.
'He's so young!'
'Is this person really from our region? How can someone be so strong at such a young age?'
At the same time, this white-bearded man grout continued to stare at Minos' team, sometimes looking at each other in an attempt to figure out what to do.
Finally, someone asked. "What shall we do? This person must be dangerous, no?"
"I think he's more dangerous if we just ignore him..." The most frightened of all there said this in a shallow tone.
"Forget about it. Gaius, go inform the elders of this person's arrival. Let's let our leaders decide that." The bald old man said after seeing that no one from Minos' group seemed to be doing anything suspicious.
And then, one of those guards watching the area entered a cave entrance right in front of where Minos and his group were watching the white 'sky.'
...
