In the blink of an eye, a year and a half had passed!
Minos was at this very moment visiting Stone Island alongside Sarah, who would reach the age to start cultivating in the next few days.
As he soon intended to leave for the Flowers Kingdom and would not be able to see his beloved daughter for a while, Emperor Stuart was taking Sarah on her journey through the Black Plain Empire.
Currently, the northern region belonged entirely to the state ruled by Minos, with the Church having already made everything official so that no one would question the legitimacy of his movements anymore.
With this, Minos was the sole ruler of all these areas, and his state now had more than 2.5 billion inhabitants, many of them weak but necessary people in the local development.
As a supreme ruler, Minos occasionally visited the different areas of his state, all of which now had assemblies similar to the one in Vogel.
But of course, Minos held much more power in the northern region territories than in the neighboring Flaming Empire, even considering the power increases he had achieved in recent years.
Anyway, after a year and a half of peace, Minos had recently advanced to level 71 and now had much more control over the organizations related to him.
Blackrock, Albano, and Rosser were more than ever respectful to him, and the old supreme elder of the Edwardstone family hadn't bothered him for some time.
But in the meantime, not only Minos' spiritual and political powers had risen. With Gloria's advancement to level 74, her position in the Church was improving without difficulty, with the faction of the two having increased dramatically in size in recent months.
Everything related to Minos in this period had improved. This sovereign could only have a smile on his face as he saw Elen's father, Richard Nash, appearing in front of him to take him to the leader of the local assembly.
"Richard, you have reached level 67... Congratulations!" Minos said to that man, seeing one of the former local leaders of the northern region reaching such a high level.
Richard was happy with his recent advancement and thanked Minos for the comment. But he no longer felt as strong or relevant in the northern region.
That was not because of the 9th stage problems that Minos was slowly attracting to his people. Instead, the problem with this man and other former pre-Black Plain northern region leaders was that even their juniors slowly passed them by.
Even Elen Nash was already one level above her father!
The same was happening in practically all the local noble families, with the juniors who joined the forces of Minos reaching levels equal or similar to those of their fathers and elders.
As these individuals couldn't compete in cultivation speed with the young, they watched their power diminish after all these years, some even making room for the younger ones, asking for their retirement.
That was the case with the Nash family, where the patriarch, Luke's father, had left his position in the name of Elen, who was currently ruling this family.
The Carline family, from the former Kingdom of the End area, had also passed the sovereignty of their area to Kara, currently at level 67.
But on Stone Island, the Stone family still kept their old elders in the main position of power, and soon Richard led Minos to Linette and her brothers.
Linette Stone was currently at level 67, while her brothers, the former king and their younger brother, were at level 66.
As they stood face to face with Minos, the chief elders of the Stone Island Assembly greeted him and Sarah in a most respectful manner, as they should do in front of their superiors.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, how good it is to have you in our humble home." That woman said as she stood in front of her brothers.
"Hmm, thank you for having us," Minos said. "Soon, Sarah will begin cultivation, and I am on a journey alongside her to introduce her to our state's leaders.
Her brother is not yet born and will have a long way to go until he becomes someone minimally acceptable. So she will take care of some matters for me soon."
Minos had finally managed to get Abby pregnant after many attempts, and now that blue-haired woman was already six months pregnant.
Everyone already knew the gender of the child, male, so the imperial family was already preparing to finally have an official heir.
Everyone was pleased about this, including Sarah, who wanted to have a baby brother.
That was no longer new news within the Black Plain, so when they heard their sovereign's comment, these people were not so surprised.
They soon made themselves available to Sarah, wishing her the best possible start on her journey of cultivation, but also when she would become someone relevant in the empire.
As a princess, she would take on various responsibilities once she became a minimally powerful cultivator!
"For the rest, we won't be here long. I plan to leave soon for the Flowers Kingdom to try to rescue Harold..." Minos said after a while of talking.
"Already, Your Majesty? I thought there was still time left for that..." The former Stone King said, feeling a little unsure since the empire was always quieter when Minos stayed in Dry City.
"Yes, the time I asked for my friends from the Edwardstone family is running out, and I've already managed to make all the preparations... Anyway, it's time to leave. But in the meantime, keep an eye out for strange movements.
The Saints Killing Sect is still out there, and Mortimer has certainly recovered his major injuries by now." Minos warned them.
These people heard that and promised to remain vigilant but not to worry excessively.
Mortimer had never shown himself since his escape from Payton. And even though no one was sure how weakened he was and whether he would act again, these people knew that the Black Plain Empire had grown quite strong in the last few years.
Many Spiritual Saints from the Gray Clouds Sect had raised their levels in the months that had passed, and more of those 8th-stage individuals were in this state.
Because of this, that sect now had 4 level 79 Spiritual Saints, 20 level 78 Spiritual Saints, and 50 level 77 Spiritual Saints; extreme numbers for such an organization which was currently split between Flaming Empire and this state.
Meanwhile, the Ancestral Sect's Spiritual Saints had not improved in this period. Still, they served the local forces, helping greatly in protecting and developing the state.
At the same time, the Black Plain forces had gotten some Spiritual Saints from among Minos' old subordinates, as in the case of Emlyn, who had reached level 70 and his eighth tail.
Because of all this, these people were calm about the Mortimer threat.
What frightened them was what Minos could attract to this state in the Flowers Kingdom!
