"All that?" Linette asked in surprise. She then turned to Jade, concerned. "What will we do about our husband? He'll be worried if we stay here so long."
"Hmm," Jade nodded as she thought of something. "Let's send a crow to Mirabella with a message warning him about our situation. I'm sure he'll understand and not get agitated no matter how long it takes."
Minos then helped them pass on a message for an army soldier to send such a thing via a crow to the capital of the Kingdom of the End.
They then said their goodbyes, with Minos returning to his palace alongside the soldiers of his royal guard. Among them, Mirya was watching their leader with eyes full of determination, waiting for her advancement.
'Soon, I will pass those two and be able to serve Minos with everything I have again...' She looked in the direction of those women entering the Cultivation Tower, feeling slightly envious, but determined to surpass the two.
'Next time, I hope I don't have to stand outside waiting...'
...
Meanwhile, Jade and Linette walked up to the 6th floor of the Cultivation Tower, where they immediately came across a corridor with this place's five low-level grade-3 cultivation rooms.
They then swallowed their nervousness and entered the room they had been assigned at the reception, quickly meeting some acquaintances and other strangers.
"Adam?" Jade saw that old man drinking water from a glass bottle, with an energetic expression on his face, although he was sweating considerably due to his training.
"Jade? Linette? Minos also called you?" He saw the two beautiful women standing beside the entrance door of that large cultivation room.
On the other hand, as they recognized each other, the other six individuals in that place, who were not meditating at the moment, gave momentary glances in the direction of those two.
All of them were at level 59, being the group of people outside Minos' army with the highest chances of becoming Spiritual Emperors in this region in the coming months.
Among them were David Parkinson, Brooke's father, Celeste's ex-husband, Archer Miller, some individuals from Stone Island, and other vassals from House Stuart.
'That's the queen of the Kingdom of the End!' David thought to himself as he looked toward the relatively young, black-haired woman, this beautifully curvy beauty with a nice round ass.
'Ah, too bad Jade is married to King Carline. Otherwise, I would try to approach her...' His cheeks warmed a little as he looked at that beauty.
On the other hand, the old elder who had first come from the Miller family headquarters to Dry City years ago looked at the new arrivals with something different in his mind. 'So, Minos is raising the forces in the region, eh? It seems we are facing an unparalleled danger...'
After a few moments, Jade and Linette greeted everyone there, seeing how they were at a disadvantage compared to Minos' closest allies.
'Hardly any of these people were relevant in the region a few years ago, but... But now they are all close to our level.' Jade paid attention to those people, feeling frightened by the increase in power that Minos could promote in his underlings.
Linette then saw the look in her harem sister's eyes and said in a low voice. "We must find a way to get as many of our family members into the Black Plain Army as possible."
"Yes."
"When the first group of them gets here, we'll take good care of them..."
"Hmm, good idea..."
As they prepared to start cultivating, Adam had already figured out what was on their minds and was planning to do precisely the same.
'I wanted to retire and live out my last years in peace, but with this advancement, I will soon have the opportunity to achieve, and with the chaotic future of this region, I have to go back to striving to strengthen my family!'
'The older generation probably won't be able to keep up with the talents of the Black Plain, so I can only invest in the young people of my family!'
...
The days continued to pass peacefully in Dry City, with more people arriving each day.
Not only was the regional migration continuing, but the talents of the major organizations were moving to the Black Plain to participate in its tournament, with some even having already reached the capital of this state.
That was the case with those sent by the powers of Stone Island and some powers of the Brown Kingdom, these two states closest to the capital of Minos.
At the same time, the typical regional tourists in this city had become even more frequent to see there. After all, tournaments like those held by the Flaming Empire sects attracted competitors, viewers, and organizations interested in talented people.
Not every competitor in such an event passed the tests, but many rogue cultivators appeared on such occasions. In other words, it was an opportunity for families from all over the region to recruit more people to their side!
So, the hotels in Dry City and even in the belt cities of the capital were already becoming full, with many tourists coming from all parts of this region.
...
The area outside the capital's defensive dome...
In one of the local squares, there was a line of tourists waiting to see a musical concert in a small public theater, where every two hours, the audience rotated, making room for more people.
In this place, a young man dressed in noble clothing and with a confident look stood beside his group, waiting for his turn.
"Damn!"
"What's wrong with this place? Why does someone like me have to wait behind ordinary people like them?" He said impatiently, pointing his finger from side to side as he spoke to his group.
"Hey, you, redneck, why don't you get out of line and give me your seat?"
"Hey, Gary, stop with this!" A young black-haired woman said this as she tried to use her hands to put her group mate's arms down. "Don't you know that you can cause trouble for all of us if you misbehave around here?"
"Tsk!"
"Do you believe that?" He looked at his colleague and then at the other three in his group, all of whom were there to watch the Black Plain Tournament on behalf of an association of array masters from the Kingdom of the End.
He continued. "The Black Plain has these cute little rules, but that's only in appearances. Do you think the locals would punish the son of a grand high-level grade-2 array master like me?"
"Humph!" He then looked again at the person from before, who was standing near the beginning of the line, and said. "Come on, an ordinary person like you has what to lose by waiting a few hours longer? With your poor aptitude, I'm sure it won't make a difference to hear a musical concert..."
"What did you say, you wretch?" The simple man, dressed in ordinary clothes, said this angrily.
"What did you call me, insect? I dare you to say that again!" The young man shouted at that person, already walking out of line to get a better view of the person who did not understand whom he was talking to.
At the same time, two of Gary's group mates walked away from there, sensing that things would not end well if they stayed close to that arrogant fellow.
Another young man in that group then said. "Sibley, what do we do? Gary is stronger than us, so we won't be able to stop him if he decides to do something stupid."
The woman from before frowned and saw that some policemen were already watching in their direction. "It's too late now... If we get involved, we could be implicated in whatever he does. So, let's just walk away."
The man from before then looked at Gary and said in a contemptuous tone. "You're a..."
But before that person even dared to swear at him, Gary grabbed this man's neck and threw him away, causing him to hit some plants in the surrounding area, partially destroying some of the flowers there.
Seeing this, the police officers ran towards Gary, one of them said. "Put your hands up and get down on the ground!"
"What?" Gary looked at the three similarly dressed men and laughed. "What is it? Some show? This man was annoying me. What's wrong with me teaching him a lesson?"
"We will not repeat ourselves!"
"Do as we order, or accept the consequences!" The leader of that small group of police officers from the local patrol said solemnly.
"Humph!"
"Bunch of rednecks. Do you know who I am?"
...
