Upon hearing that expert's question, Minos got straight to the point. "In recent years, I have been contacted by people from the Eastern Empire and the Blood Triangle Pirates group. Both were looking for a map in my region, asking for my help finding such a thing for them.
I want to know if you or anyone here has information about this map."
"Blood Triangle Pirates?" The eyebrows of that level 85 woman drew together.
Several experts in this place were somehow related to the Spiritual Church since that was the function given to them by the queen. That is, to maintain contact with the largest institution in the Central Continent.
All the women of this post with a particular level of power and influence knew what that pirate group was about, an arm of the Evergreen family, who were also the main power within the Church.
In this way, she was aware of many things about this organization, and she couldn't help but find it strange that Minos spoke to her about it.
"They came to you about a map?" This woman asked as she remembered something she had heard from the head of this post.
Such a person was a level 89 woman, the queen's granddaughter, the leader of this family, whom Emma had talked about and brought Minos to this place so he could try his luck and, who knows, meet her.
Minos replied. "Yes, this pirate group offered me many high-grade crystals just for me to search for this map...
I wanted to know what it was about to attract so many experts.
I don't want to get involved in something that might bring about the destruction of my state."
Maris and Emma were moved by how determined Minos was to protect his state to the point that he simply wouldn't accept generous proposals without knowing their main implications.
'What a leader he must be...' Maris thought to herself, something not so different from what Emma and even the level 85 woman had in mind.
That woman knew what that map was about and told Minos. "I can give you some information about it, but it won't be free."
"And what will I have to do to get it?" He asked, interested.
"Free this foolish woman and this poor beast from having to accompany you against their own will. I will give you some information and give you a tip concerning that matter."
The women of the Flowers Kingdom were demanding. They were very talented and had above-average powers, even disregarding their reproductive abilities. But still, they were very protective of their people and didn't like to see any of them being humiliated or forced into anything.
Of course, they had their games with foreign men and followed the rules of these games faithfully. However, if they had the opportunity to rescue one of them from one of these winning men, others would do so to avoid the worst of that woman and prevent further degradation of their state.
On the other hand, like the Black Plain Empire, the Flowers Kingdom had control over all the beasts in its territory. Then even though Maris could live most of the time freely, she was still a servant of the queen, who had her function and deserved some dignity.
For all this, this woman wanted to negotiate with Minos about information that was irrelevant to her.
That was crucial and difficult to obtain for Minos since he was weak. But for her, who had already lived over five thousand years and had a cultivation level of 85, this information was just what she had heard in conversations with her older sisters and aunts.
It was worth making this exchange!
Minos looked at those two and immediately agreed. "Fine. I will release both from their responsibilities and promises after you give me this information."
"Hmmm." She nodded as those two looked at her with abandoned puppy dog eyes, feeling grateful this woman cared for them.
They were already used to and even enjoyed traveling with Minos, but still, it was nice to know that someone cared about you!
"Very well, I will tell you that." She looked at Minos as she sat on a stone bench in that hall. "That map the Blood Triangle Pirates are looking for is a way to reach and enter the Seraph Ancient Sarcophagus, a place lost long ago.
I am unsure what happened a few million years ago in this ancient resting place of the Church's experts. After all, a long time has passed. But some stories say that at that time, two factions of the Church divided and went to war against each other.
That war led to the abandonment of the Serath Ancient Sarcophagus, which was supposedly tainted by the losers, and the winner decided to abandon it for good and create a new site of its kind."
She looked at those three as if she were telling a story to children. "That new place still exists and is where the Spiritual Church buries its top experts.
Only Spiritual Demigods can rest in that place.
In any case, the Serath Ancient Sarcophagus, formerly on a floating island, eventually left the Church's territory, a natural thing to happen over time."
Floating islands moved, and if the forces occupying them were not careful, they could easily leave the territories where they belonged in a few tens of thousands of years!
She continued. "After letting the island in question leave its territory, some time passed, and most Church experts no longer had the location of that place. But then, a challenger to the position of Supreme Pontiff began his journey in search of that place, intending to recover the items 'tainted' by the losers of that fight and use them to dominate the continent.
He was not the strongest in his time since the one who would become Pope Maximus was the favorite for the position of Supreme Pontiff. So even though he was a cultivation genius, he had to ally himself with a radical wing of the Church that wanted to dominate the continent and needed such resources to do so and put him as the champion of the leadership contest."
Pope Maximus had been an extraordinary cultivator who had reached level 100, one of the few human experts in history to reach that level.
Because of such talent, his opponent, a monster in their time, who in any other era would have become the strongest on the continent, had to choose a dangerous alternative.
"He joined this faction, and while they maintained their position, he set out on a journey alongside his right-hand man to find and collect the resources of the Serath Ancient Sarcophagus.
Unfortunately or not, he would never return..."
"Did he die?" Minos asked.
"No one knows. All that is known is that he managed to leave one last message for his faction, speaking of a map he had designed that would supposedly be able to lead the Church's experts to such a place and also to him.
To everyone's misfortune, when his message reached the Church headquarters, the Great Migration was already half over, and much looting and destruction had already spread to that region.
In any case, with this map, one would only have to put a drop of their blood on it. That should entitle that individual to the key to such a place, and the map would show that person the way."
"Oh? But what exactly do these groups hope to find using this map?" Minos asked.
...
