After absorbing and allowing the energies and laws of the giant bones to pass through his body, Minos' body and soul had subtly changed.
This change was not significant, but it was enough for anyone close to him to feel differences in his aura, which now seemed wilder, 'sharper' as if he were a different being than the one from months ago.
His gaze had a penetrating power typical of predators, capable of frightening those in his path.
A stranger looking at Minos for the first time from this moment on would think him a violent person just by his look and aura and would fear his presence.
Minos, by himself, could perceive the differences in his body and was surprised but very pleased with these changes.
Not only did the feeling he gave off to others become more decisive, cold, and dangerous. He felt that his instincts had improved, his intelligence related to fighting and danger had evolved, and now his views on combat had become 'sharper.'
These sensations told him that even if he hadn't had any advancement in terms of level in the last few years, he would still be stronger than he was before with this change alone.
That gave him the confidence to face Adele, but it wasn't enough to fool him!
'Bridget won't let me take the same strategy with her if I leave the Spatial Kingdom and beat Adele. So I have to guarantee I can beat her by leaving here!' He thought about it, in no hurry to leave.
"Hmmmm..."
'To beat Bridget, I have to have a soul power a little higher than the power of a level 75 Spiritual Saint...' He did his math, comparing Henricus Longus' memories of power levels with his situation. 'Even with my innate ability, I'm still a bit weaker than that.
In other words, I must stay in the Spatial Kingdom a little longer!' He concluded.
Minos knew that he could absorb Bridget's cultivation base temporarily and still steal her energies through the Devouring Art, which would give him a minor disadvantage compared to her. That would decrease her level and increase his own, while she would have less energy to endure a fight with him.
But still, he would be very close to a position he could lose, considering his current level. So he promptly decided to stay a little longer in the Spatial Kingdom!
"I will stay here until I reach level 74." He said to his wives, cheering the Elite Squad and the Gray Clouds Sect staff.
For them, this guaranteed that they could cultivate in seclusion for a few more months and get magnificent results.
When Minos was on the Black Plain, he had to solve problems related to the empire, its allies, and subordinates. For this reason, he rarely had the chance to spend so much time cultivating.
These people wanted to take the opportunity that he was doing this now to strengthen themselves quickly, something that might not happen for a long time after he left this place.
But someone was there to diminish the joy of these people.
"Minos, that won't do," Abby said, as she had her two hands on her huge belly.
Abby's gestation was already quite advanced, over three years since their discovery of the little one growing in her belly. Nevertheless, she could cultivate, as Minos' son seemed in no hurry to be born. But still, the moment of the birth of his first child was not far off!
By the predictions of Dillian and some doctors in the Gray Clouds Sect, the birth of Abby and Minos' son should happen between 4.5 and 5 years gestation. So if Minos stayed in the Spatial Kingdom for another breakthrough, that time would reach its limit and he would risk being unable to see his son's birth.
Minos had obviously brought doctors from his forces to the Spatial Kingdom since he had no way of knowing when exactly the birth of his son would take place. He wasn't sure how long he would be in the Flowers Kingdom, so he brought people to deliver the baby in the Spatial Kingdom if necessary.
Abby thought that the birth of her child could happen while Minos was out of the Spatial Kingdom fighting, and she didn't agree with that.
"Then I will stay until his birth." Minos looked at Abby's belly and said that. "I believe that will be better, no?"
"Hmm." She nodded, happy to ensure that her husband would see the birth of their child.
Those who liked this best were the other individuals in the Spatial Kingdom, looking forward to that year or two ahead.
...
Meanwhile, in the Black Plain Empire.
Dillian had been looking after this state alongside the high-level Spiritual Saints of the Gray Clouds Sect since Minos had left.
They were confident in Minos' victory over the women of the Flowers Kingdom and were naturally not worried despite the more than three years since his departure.
But now and then, they would talk about what might be happening in the Flowers Kingdom, this closed state in that they had no way to get information about the internal happenings.
These conferences were partly because of the constant messages from the Flaming Empire, Isabella, and other influential people who wanted to know what was happening.
But all the people left by Minos in Dry City could do was report his vital status and that they had not yet received any communication from their sovereign.
In any case, the Black Plain continued to develop without its ruler, becoming richer and richer while completing some of Minos' plans.
When Minos reached his main territory, he found a virtually deserted place with only one city.
But now, just over 30 years after his arrival, no part of this area could be described as desert or poor. Instead, the areas not used for agriculture, city building, and roads had all been filled with rich forests, where beasts of various species lived and kept watch for their ruler.
At the same time, more than 100 cities had been created and developed to the limit of the current level of local development, now containing more than 400 million inhabitants in this small area alone.
The agricultural fields had reached the limit of what Minos had planned for his main territory, and now the state was beginning to develop land outside the empire's core.
They had been developing these places before, but not with the focus they had on the original Black Plain area.
But from now on, as floating islands appeared in this part of the empire, others would begin to receive the heavy investments of the Bank of the Black Plain!
With that, the migrations to the central area of this state had all but stopped, while the migrants now focused on the areas to be developed.
Dillian and his staff were too busy managing this, so they rarely worried about Minos' situation, knowing that he would prefer them to focus on the empire.
At the same time, the local forces had grown stronger in this period, with more and more high-level Spiritual Saints emerging.
That had already enabled other exchanges with the Grey Clouds Sect's rank in the Flaming Empire, which raised the number of Spiritual Saints in the Black Plain to over a thousand!
Meanwhile, the number of high-level Spiritual Saints from that sect in the Flaming Empire had never been so high!
...
