The day after Kendrick Stuart was born...
After the celebrations concerning the end of Minos' seclusion and the birth of the Crown Prince, he was finally returning to the Flowers Kingdom's capital!
He had taken care of Ruth and Gloria's needs, spent time with Sarah and Kendrick and slept next to the weary Abby.
As he was already eager to return to the Black Plain, Minos said goodbye to his people just after dawn, promising not to flee again in the short term...
Thus he disappeared from the Spatial Kingdom!
...
Appearing inside his black hole, which had gotten a little stronger and bigger over the years, Minos immediately made his Soul Avatar appear, then controlled that region of space.
In doing so, he made the black hole decrease in size until it disappeared, one of his manipulative abilities over those regions of space.
As long as the black hole was not of a much higher level than him, up to a 100% difference, Minos could repeat his present activity in the skies above the Flowers Kingdom's royal palace.
Immediately, his soul projection appeared to everyone in the surrounding area, his various observers who had continued there over the past few years.
Among them, Ella was still around, and she was among the first to notice the disappearance of the black hole and the emergence of Minos.
When that happened, her downcast face gained light as she jumped up from where she was, already screaming. "Minos, you coward, will you finally face your challenge?"
But then, she and all the observers in the surrounding area soon realized Emperor Stuart's current level.
Level 74!
He had managed to increase three levels in about 4.5 years inside that black hole!
To get an idea, even Princess Adele had only improved one level in those years!
Bridget had not even managed to advance, being close to level 79 but still at her previous level, level 78.
Knowing this, the eunuchs and women in the area couldn't help but frown and exclaim their shock.
"How is that possible?"
"Impossible! How did he do it? That's absurd!"
"Yes. Even if it were only two levels of advancement, it would already be something to exclaim in surprise. But the wretch has advanced three times!" A eunuch shouted, feeling outraged by this emperor.
Minos had played with them and returned much stronger than before!
No one there had expected him to get even one level advance. But he had achieved three!
With that, those observers had terrible expressions in their eyes as they began to notice the differences in Emperor Stuart's aura.
"That's not all..." A level 82 woman said. "I can't explain it, but I feel a strange aura coming from him... It's as if a powerful beast is among us!"
Other low-level Spiritual Sages felt their hair creep, indicating that that person floating around was dangerous.
Minos was wearing low-level grade-4 black and gold armor, holding a blue-bladed sword of the same rank as the armor in his right hand.
He smiled as he noticed the people within his range, shocked at his improvements.
'I feel I can now even steal energies from cultivators with Silver-grade cultivation techniques who are at level 81... Hmm, if I used my innate ability on such a person, I could raise my level temporarily to 76.
At this level, only someone with a level 83 Silver-grade technique set could support my abilities!' Minos pondered the feeling of having these low-level Spiritual Sages in his surroundings.
Against someone with Black-grade techniques, he could even defeat level 85 cultivators!
However, above level 70, rarely would people have more than one or two techniques of that quality. Most would have almost complete sets of Silver-grade ones.
Above level 80, such people usually have no techniques lower than Silver-grade, and some more talented and well-positioned would have Golden-grade techniques.
As such, Minos no longer considered opponents with Black-grade techniques in his analysis, as he had previously done.
Considering his combat proficiency concerning opponents with better quality technique sets was the best thing for him to do now!
But he wouldn't overthink about it and would soon ask. "Where is Adele? I want to beat her and free Harold Edwardstone."
Upon hearing that, the Queen, who had already noticed the change in the surroundings of Minos' black hole, appeared in that area, looking at him strangely. "Your Majesty Minos Stuart is really a mystery...
How could you advance so many times in such a short time?"
She was very talented. After all, every cultivator capable of reaching the 10th stage was. But even she had taken an average of 6 years for each advance in the lower levels of the 8th stage.
But Minos had advanced three levels in less time than it had taken her on average to improve a single level!
That was impressive enough for even a Spiritual Demigod to be interested.
Minos looked at that woman and lied. "I can absorb the energy swallowed by the black hole by cultivating within it. That speeds things up a bit for me."
"What?"
"Is that possible?" People in the surrounding area wondered since they knew nothing about the region of space that Minos had created earlier.
Ella heard that and was no longer confident in Minos' defeat, feeling that she had wasted her time just to see the downfall of this opponent of hers that would never come.
After Queen Mcbride's question, Adele appeared on the spot, giving Minos an ugly look, feeling deceived by him.
Minos saw that woman and smiled while being watched in silence by the queen.
"You really are a coward! You did this knowing that I couldn't keep up with you!" Adele shouted, feeling wronged.
"There is no need to try to offend me. I did what was necessary to win, Your Highness." Minos said, not feeling the least bit bad for the offense. "You guys set the game's rules, and I have never broken them. Now I don't think it's fair for you to complain."
Bridget also appeared in the area, sensing how different Minos had become in such a short time.
'How is that possible? He looks like a different person!' She thought. 'Even his aura, it's like he's now an animal instead of the civilized person from before.'
The queen had already noticed that feeling coming from Minos, something that even she, with her more than 10,000 years of life, didn't quite understand where it came from.
But now that everything had happened, she had no choice but to follow her own promises and let Minos do battle with her youngest daughter.
'When he's finished, I'll ask him everything I wish.' She frowned, knowing that Minos would no longer have the protection of her promises once he lost to Bridget or left the Flowers Kingdom.
One way or another, she would get her answers!
...
