After the death of the old supreme elder of the Edwardstone family in the main local cultivation room, the news spread slowly throughout the empire.
Amid this, Minos and his family took the next few days to settle the matters of the death of this expert so close to the local high ranking.
The old supreme elder was not only a level 79 cultivator in these forces. He was a member of an important ally of the empire, a relative of one of the emperor's women, and one who deserved the presence of the local imperial family at his funeral.
As such, on this occasion, Minos and his family would take three days away from their responsibilities to deal with the death of that member of the Edwardstone family.
In the midst of this, after leaving his wives to prepare to go to the funeral that was to take place in Payton, Minos separated from them and went to the Dry City Mausoleum.
He visited this place occasionally to 'talk' with his friends and close acquaintances who had fallen throughout the years of his empire.
On this occasion, finding a free moment after his conversations with his wives, he decided to revisit his dead.
Arriving at that dark-laden place, where cultivators below the 7th stage rarely entered unaccompanied, Minos walked to the graves of Viola and Mirya, mother and daughter he had been so close to in life.
More than a decade had passed since their deaths. In fact, it would not be long before the anniversary of their deaths would be 20 years.
Minos was only at the end of the 7th stage when they died defending Dry City against Abe Vogel's group.
But now he was close to reaching the 9th stage, a long way from there.
As he stopped in front of their graves, Minos couldn't help but close his eyes and be silent momentarily, remembering the last few times he had been with them.
'Time does pass quickly...' He thought silently, imagining that they would be Spiritual Saints by now if they were still alive.
"Viola, Mirya, I'm here again. Today someone else died in my state, but his death was less terrible than others like you..." He commented in front of the graves of these women.
"I wonder, will there be a day when this place will stop growing? Perhaps the deaths of my people will become more peaceful over time, and most will have a chance to grow old?"
He paused for a moment, listening to the silence of that area while the darkness of this place did not bother him.
The Dry City Mausoleum was not an open cemetery but a large square building with several levels. As such, inside this place, there was no way for one to see the sky, nor were there any winds to frighten the most sensitive.
But each level had its own characteristics, which could certainly momentarily fool those there into thinking that this was not a building but an open mausoleum.
Minos knew every corner of this place, and his features even matched those of this area, so the sensations in the surroundings would not fool him.
He stayed silent, not to wait for a sign or to notice what this area would make him feel, but wondering what those women would say to him.
After considering that they would probably say something positive about the future, he talked about less negative things, about the good news from his families and the empire.
As he left those graves with some new flowers, he would spend the next few minutes visiting the graves of Pyke, Angela, Gavin, and Dumas, all those close to him who had died in conflicts involving his forces.
All of these individuals could have achieved incredible things had they not died prematurely, giving their lives to the empire.
So as someone close to them, Minos paid respect to their resting places, even if some of them didn't leave a body to be buried there.
He did something similar to what he had done at the graves of Viola and Mirya, talking to them for a while, leaving new flowers, and then saying goodbye, promising to return in the future.
As he departed from there, the guards in the area watched him from afar, once again noticing that their leader did not forget the dead, even if his difference from those people was already so great.
Pyke was only a Spiritual King when he died, but even so, Minos still visited him, as he had done relevant things in life and helped the state.
Knowing how their leader was, those people in the surrounding area couldn't help but think how good it was to belong to the local forces, where their sovereign cared about his people and valued the sacrifices of his men.
Nobody wanted to have to sacrifice themselves, but if they were brought to that point one day, they would rather do it by a state that valued them, would take care of their families, and would not forget what they had done.
They knew that the state had cared for every one of those people's families very well. Every time they saw Minos there, they reaffirmed their positive thoughts about him and the empire.
While several people were thinking how dedicated Minos was towards his people, he left this place and left back to his palace, from where he intended to head very soon to the Flaming Empire.
A wormhole port in that city was already connected to Payton, so they could go there in a few minutes.
The body of the supreme elder Edwardstone was still being prepared to be taken away, but that would not take long to be finished!
...
Meanwhile, the news about the death of supreme elder Edwardstone had already reached the Flaming Empire!
The sects of that state had already received this sad information, and their leaders were already moving to the capital to join the imperial funeral and give their words of comfort to the family.
In the imperial family, Harold and his people had been the first in the state to hear such a thing from one of Minos' men and were naturally devastated.
Everyone knew that that man was old and had little chance of advancing to the 9th stage. But nobody expected his death to happen so suddenly while cultivating in Dry City.
As such, upon receiving this news, the core of the imperial family immediately declared a month-long mourning throughout the state and announced a large funeral to take place in the next two days.
As one of the greatest experts in the empire, the old supreme elder deserved a grand funeral!
