After weeks of travel, Kara had finally arrived in young Stuart's territory.
Just as she had promised to Ruth, Kara made her way directly to the Black Plain upon coming to this region, soon after discovering the regional news.
Upon leaving the Flaming Empire, this woman was curious, eager to know why Ruth had never told her anything about Minos' location and how she could find him.
Besides, she had a crush on him and occasionally wondered what young Stuart was doing or had accomplished in the last 5 or 6 years.
With so many things on her mind, she could not help but follow Ruth's advice, even after discovering the barbarities caused by Minos.
In theory, her family and Minos' organization should be enemies. But in Kara's mind, she and this young man had a great relationship.
On the other hand, because she was now a disciple of one of the sects of the Flaming Empire, that young man would certainly not see her as an enemy.
After all, it was regionally known that people with such backgrounds were not allowed to be involved in local conflicts, nor would it be wise to act against them.
Not only were such people generally stronger than the average locals, but because, while the Spiritual Church forbade interventions, vengeance against specific individuals was a different story...
Knowing this, she had no fears about going to Dry City before returning to her family.
The opposite of that, Kara sincerely believed that she could talk to Minos, something that, in her opinion, was impossible to happen with regional leaders.
She was a member of the regional royalty, so she knew how the many old leaders thought and how they would not give up certain things.
With that in mind, she finally got close enough to that city to see from above the defensive dome of Dry City, which protected what looked like a large neighborhood of an enormous city.
'Is this the Dry City of Minos?' She wondered, finding the place that this young man had built fascinatingly.
That was because, unlike many people in this region that did not know about the recent history of this area, Kara knew a lot about it. And this knowledge made her able to distinguish how much Minos' actions had transformed the area.
That's what she found interesting!
Dry City was still not much compared to the cities she had known in the Flaming Empire. But the change caused by the actions of Minos, or whoever was supporting this place, had been impressive.
Even more so because this woman knew that having resources, or having power, was no guarantee of success!
Most people in the Spiritual World thought simply, 'shallow,' underestimated the future, and often acted on impulse.
Especially the young people.
For example, if the total wealth of the Spiritual World was divided equally among all the spiritual beings of this world, this young woman was sure that in a few centuries, almost all the resources would be back in the hands of the big organizations and investors!
Very few knew how to use what they had, and countless individuals would have their lives more harmed than benefited by an undeserved gain!
So, whether or not Minos had good resources, this did not take away the merit of his achievements, and it made her even more interested in him, even if he was temporarily on the opposite side of his family.
But as Kara scanned the Dry City, the beast that was serving as a mount for her was interrupted from going on its way when one of the many guards on the outskirts of this place appeared not far from them.
"Halt!"
"Surrender and identify yourself immediately, or we will take you down!" That level 48 Spiritual General said this full of confidence, while several people in the surrounding area already began to gather, coming in that direction.
...
Meanwhile, Minos was in his headquarters, finishing up a training session with Abby.
Like others in this organization, the local sovereign and his girlfriend were constantly training. After all, they would not win the war if they only maintained their current power.
If that were possible, then the war would already be over!
On the other hand, the 6th stage was merely the division between the lowest level stages that most people in this world were at and the highest level stages that the strongest were at.
So, both continued to work focused, using every free hour to improve their respective understanding of their techniques and their cultivation levels.
And they were doing this so well that both were already in the final half of their levels, not far from achieving breakthroughs.
Anyway, as they finished their training session, Minos looked fine, despite the drops of sweat running down his forehead.
On the other hand, Abby was completely sweaty, with some minor abrasions around where she had used to defend herself, where minor cuts on her clothes revealed her skin.
Abby already had some Golden-grade techniques, so, as much as she was one level below the young Stuart, she already caused some difficulty for him that could not be overcome without some effort.
After all, the differences between the low levels of cultivation, as in the case of levels 51 and 52, merely above the middle of the cultivation row, were minimal!
Hence, their training was no longer as unbalanced as it used to be!
"Sigh..." Abby sighed as she finally relaxed a bit, making her way to a spot in that training room where there was a pitcher with water.
Hearing her girlfriend's sigh, Minos watched her from the side with a smile on his face, satisfied with what he had noticed during today's training. "Your defenses are in good form, Abby."
"Hmm?"
"At your current level, few people in this region can put you in danger." He said as he approached her from behind. "This makes me more tranquil."
She then turned to him while holding a transparent glass in her hands, pleased to hear that. "Do you get worried about me fighting around?"
"Of course!"
"You are my woman, and I love you," Minos said as he gently squeezed the waist of that blue-haired woman with one of his hands. "So, it's good to know that you can act and protect yourself while we are away from each other."
"But don't worry..." He said, fiddling with his girlfriend's hair and then massaging one of her cheeks. "It won't take much longer, and we'll be able to stay together for more time."
"When the war is over, and the Black Plain is settled, we can travel together again!"
Upon hearing those words, Abby smiled as her pupils dilated amidst the heat arising from deep within her being. "Is that true?"
"Of course!"
"You will be the queen of the Black Plain, but we can leave local matters to Dillian and the rest of the staff..." He said such words without noticing some details.
But Abby did not let such a thing pass unnoticed.
"I will be the queen of the Black Plain?" She smiled. "Minos Stuart, are you by any chance asking for my hand?"
"Oh?" Minos' eyes suddenly widened as he realized that he had said such a thing. "I..."
Gulp!
He then felt his heart beat faster as he saw Abby's beautiful face and remembered the feeling of almost losing her in that incident while they were traveling through the Kingdom of the Waves.
"Yes, Abby."
"I want you as my wife. I want to share my life with you, smile, and have fun with you... To wake up next to you when..." He then whispered a few things to her, making her red with embarrassment, but at the same time very happy to hear that from him.
"Do you accept to be with someone like me, Abby?" He finally asked as he ran one of his hands over her beautiful face, now with some tears.
"Yes! Yes!" She said as she threw the glass in her hands away and jumped into young Stuart's lap.
"Mmmmm~"
After that, the two kissed passionately, feeling an intense burst arising in their beings, as if their souls were on fire.
And with that, it was not long before they both began to undress, even if, perhaps, their momentary conditions were not the best for such a thing.
"If I will be your wife, I want you to impregnate me, Minos Stuart." She said into his left ear, demanding that this young man start putting something fertile into her womb...
