Three days had passed since the previous incident.
By this time, Minos and Abby were near the center of the Flooded Valley.
After that attack, the two had encountered two other groups of criminals throughout this forest. Still, neither team was stronger than the last. Due to this, they were quickly exterminated by Minos!
Finally, the young Stuart had collected all of their items and accumulated a fair amount of resources for the Black Plain. He still hadn't stopped to count his winnings, but he was sure that he would have good earnings when he finished this matter.
And as to why he wanted to destroy the local bandit group, well, that was because of two factors.
First, he had found out from that previous individual that there was a criminal camp in the middle of the Flooded Valley.
Because of that, as Minos and Abby already had to pass through this place, it wouldn't make much difference for their trip to stop and fight these thugs. Furthermore, they were training during this trip, so there was nothing better than destroying these enemies!
Of course, if the bandit camp weren't in their way of travel, then Minos wouldn't bother to do such a thing. He had his priorities, and naturally, he wasn't going to change his schedule just because of these people.
Second, Minos was doing this for the gains he could make. Obtain Blue-grade techniques would not be difficult, but it would be pretty expensive. That, of course, is related to the fact that large organizations and noble families monopolize these techniques.
As a result, Minos had no reason not to collect these items, especially since these bandits had already attacked them. Furthermore, now he and Abby were aware of the camp in the Flooded Valley!
His town's public library already had many combat-focused techniques, but that was still only a fraction of the number of great noble families. So, Minos wanted more!
With more techniques of different types, characteristics, etc., citizens with varying fighting styles could emerge. And maybe such a thing would make some of these people better understand their innate abilities, making them even better!
On the other hand, these 5th stage cultivators always had various spiritual artifacts and pills, things that would be useful to place in the Mercenary Guild or the army's Rewards' Hall.
Items produced by specialists in spiritual professions generally had good durability. As a result, even second-hand items would still be valuable to many people, especially in the impoverished north of the Central Continent.
Anyway, from what Minos had discovered of that bandit, there were about 50 of them in a camp in the central region of this forest.
The strongest was someone at level 47, and the rest were between levels 43 and 46.
In that place, there were also many captives working for them, while several prisoners were kept incarcerated. And naturally, some people were worth more than others. Consequently, they would have different destinies.
But in general, all these individuals were people like Minos and Abby. Travelers who had fallen into the traps of that group of criminals.
Regional roads were unsafe, and in many places, there were people like the group exterminated by Minos and the one who had kidnapped Peter months ago. As long as the difference in strength between criminals hiding on the roads and travelers was not too great, it would not be entirely uncommon for incidents of this nature to happen.
Of course, the northern part of the Central Continent had millions of square kilometers, so most people were able to travel without such problems. But certain parts had higher case rates, such as the Kingdom of the Waves border with the Brown Kingdom.
Groups that traveled at night were not numerous or had powerful cultivators present were the primary victims of these types of actions. And because of this, the portion of the regional population that was more humble, with White talent and low levels, rarely left their regions, as in the case of the old Dry City.
There was no crime problem in the Black Plain, given its poverty. However, anyone who wanted to leave this place would have to pass through dangerous regions, as the border with the Kingdom of the Waves!
Hence the reason for many to accept their destinies in that poor land...
...
At this moment, Minos and Abby were standing beside a sizeable flooded region in the center of the Flooded Valley.
The two had finally understood the name of this place...
The central part of this forest actually had a valley, with a vast lake, which one couldn't even see the limits!
And due to the experience that the two had already gone through locally, they learn that it rained every day between the middle of the night and early morning in this region. And this feature created a range of flooding on the sides of the lake, which increased in area at night and decreased during the day.
But despite this constant flooding of the adjacent areas of this part of the forest, there was still vibrant biodiversity in these places.
There were very striking organisms that glowed at night, others that gave off pleasant fragrances that could reach miles from the source, and trees with tens of meters high.
And right in one of the tallest trees in this place, Minos and Abby were standing right now.
On one side, on a branch over 8 meters in diameter, a big tiger was lying down with its eyes closed, while on the other was a young man with brown hair.
And between the two, Abby was meditating in that place. At the same time, low-grade crystals glowed brightly, losing their energy reserves.
Each of these crystals was as small as a papaya seed and looked like a tiny shiny diamond.
While these spiritual crystals lost their energy and disintegrated, Abby's energy was concentrated, creating a small force field that deformed the air around her.
Crack!
At that moment, when Abby's body seemed a little tense, a cracking sound resounded from the depths of her being.
Finally, she woke up from her cultivation session and felt her spiritual energy reach the beginning of level 43!
"Congratulations, Abby!" Minos said this as he approached her, smiling.
"Hmm, thanks."
"Mmm~"
After that, the two kissed for a few seconds, while the blue-haired girl felt energized and happy for her progress. She had already gathered spiritual energy to reach this level even before she started to cultivate the Silver-grade technique provided by Minos.
But even so, with that fact and the struggles she had been having with him, Abby had still managed to reach that level a few days in advance.
And that made her happy, mainly because she wouldn't be much below Minos' level in the short time!
Other than that, in the past few days, she had also fought some of the thugs Minos had faced.
Naturally, she only did this after the young Stuart had eliminated the most severe threats. Then she could kill her opponents one by one, with her partner ready to protect her...
That was a safe way to fight and usually provided by the bodyguards of young nobles like Abby.
The bodyguard would take care that the young nobleman's life would not be at risk while these individuals could have real fights!
And to release the frustration of her losses to Minos, Abby was finding their arrangement very satisfying. This girl had acquired great contempt and disgust for people who enslave others after the events in that nightclub in Hadria, where the Black Market was located in the Cromwell Kingdom.
Because of that, Abby naturally didn't feel bad about killing these criminals, at the same time that she released her frustrations...
"We shouldn't be too far from the bandit camp. Let's go." Minos commented after separating his lips from Abby's and looking at the horizon.
"Hmm."
And as they prepared to leave that place, some beasts began to appear in the vicinity, circling that tree that Minos and Abby were.
There were dozens of them, and each looked like snakes with colored scales and a pair of wings near their heads. The weaker of them just crawled through the wet terrain of that place, while a few, the stronger ones, flew in the skies.
"Feathered Serpents!" Minos and Abby said in shock simultaneously as they gazed at the group of beasts surrounding them.
