In the blink of an eye, a whole year had passed...
Since the death of the old supreme elder of the Edwardstone family, few things have changed in the Central Continent.
The situation between the Southern and Western regions was still bad, with powers still standing for or against the sides of the invisible confrontation that currently existed on the continent.
Low-level people continued to migrate northward from the more tense areas, going not only to the Black Plain Empire but also to places like Albano and Rosser, states relatively further away from danger.
Blackrock and the Flaming Empire had not been benefiting from these moves, as they bordered the Evergreen Empire, a place that could soon become a battleground.
But even at a disadvantage to their fellows further north, these two states were not in as bad a situation as places like the Flowers Kingdom.
As unpromising as their position was, they were still allies of Minos, and most of their territories were far from the focus of tensions!
Therefore, even without receiving migrants during this period, these places were not suffering as much from the tensions on the continent, and their populations continued their lives without much change.
Only a few cities closer to their borders with sensitive states had undergone considerable changes in this period.
Vico and Maximillian had not yet started the actual fighting. Still, throughout the continent, everyone considered that the current tensions would not last much longer.
Soon what prevented a war from spreading out of control further south on the continent would no longer withstand the pressures!
Meanwhile, the Black Plain Empire was still at peace, with no problems related to Maximillian and what Minos had done, with the local forces continuing their development while dealing with the new immigrants.
The marine expansion of this state had been very successful due to the lack of opposition to them caused by the lack of beasts in that area of the Ancestral Sea.
Through this, more and more members of Minos' forces were occupying that area and shipping ever-increasing amounts of minerals to the continent!
But in the midst of this, the Stuart family continued to grow stronger!
...
Minos was still at level 78, rapidly approaching his next cultivation breakthrough. But while he dealt with his local government affairs in Dry City and occasionally went into seclusion in the Spatial Kingdom, Ruth had advanced to level 77.
Gloria and Abby were still at the same levels as before, but Sarah had finally reached level 60, a crucial level for her.
Level 60 was currently a watershed in the Black Plain Empire. Those above this level were among the strongest 5% of this society, so the advancement of Minos' daughter meant a lot.
She could not yet act freely, but she was slowly gaining more freedom and envisioning a future where she could train with Sista's envoys for the competition that would take place in a few decades on Elves Island.
Her little brother had not yet begun to cultivate. Still, he had begun his journey at the Dry City Preparatory Academy and could begin his journey into the cultivation world in a few more years!
Other than that, Minos still occasionally tried to get his wives pregnant, but none of them had been lucky enough to succeed in the months that had passed.
And so each of them continued to focus on their cultivation, strengthening the empire and improving the positions of their groups.
Gloria had her faction in the Church to look after, while Abby looked after the internal affairs of the imperial government alongside Minos. Ruth had been given command over marine expansion, and Isabella dealt with the empire's alliances, in particular, the situation of the autonomous kingdoms.
After these months, Rosser joined Blackrock and Albano as the independent kingdom of the Black Plain. Therefore, this southernmost territory currently had a Spiritual Sage from Minos' army on its territory to protect them.
Isabella was the one who had been handling the empire's relations with these territories, as well as with her family's home state, which was not a subordinate territory of Minos but allied to him.
So on this day, when they were all out of the Spatial Kingdom after weeks of seclusion, they were each taking care of their responsibilities around Dry City.
...
"... Your Majesty, we recently received a new update on the situation in the marine domains. Colonel Shark sent the recent figures, and I am happy to announce that we have reached 100,000 men in the two marine bases in the Ancestral Sea."
"Oh? That's really magnificent." Ruth commented upon hearing this at the headquarters of the Black Plain Army. "But how are our fleets in that area? As much as we haven't had any problems in the last few months, sooner or later, something might happen."
"We currently have 50 warships and two Spiritual Sages in that area. But we have more ships being prepared in the End and Waves regions. Some local groups are already preparing to board those ships in the coming weeks."
Ruth liked what she heard but felt she needed to allocate more people to that area.
The amount of resources they had been extracting from there had been very relevant to the entire empire, so they needed to have as much strength as possible there.
"Very well, I want ten low-level grade-4 warships to be prepared to be sent to that area..."
She continued talking about it, giving orders, and hearing some facts relevant to maritime expansion.
...
While Ruth was working at the army headquarters, Gloria was receiving representatives of the factions allied to her group in the Church.
Among these people, a Spiritual Sage was there to report to her the results of her group's synergies, which had been growing easier with the information and benefits their allies in the Evergreen Empire were giving them.
"Matriarch, I bring good news from the Evergreen Empire." That man said to her as the two of them stood in the most important office of the Church temple in Dry City.
"We have recently secured the support of the Cardinal in charge of the Flaming Empire. He wishes to be on good terms with our group, so we can soon act much more easily in his domains."
"That... Why would he do that?" Gloria didn't understand. "Isn't he a member of a high-level faction that wished to absorb us just a few months ago?"
"Yes, but currently, the situation has changed a lot. Some members of factions previously unfavorable to the matriarch are now acting alone regarding this.
The future is uncertain for them, and they want at least to have good relations with the forces of His Majesty Minos Stuart, the protégé of Maximillian.
If everything goes wrong, they would still have a final alternative of refuge!"
