บท 36: Unexpected Encounter

Dawn passed quickly, and Minos was already prepared to leave and meet the merchant, Elen Nash. He wanted to start doing business with Stone Island as soon as possible, which would help in opening doors for even more significant growth of his forces on the Black Plain.

After leaving his room, Minos had breakfast in the apartment's living room while talking to some soldiers. Some of them sat at a table full of dishes, including spiritual fruits, bread, cold cuts, and some morning drinks. The rest stood while talking to each other.

At that moment, Minos spoke seriously after they all noticed him. "Sergeant Pyke and three others of you will come with me while the rest can stay and train."

Shortly after, Minos' group headed towards the Nash family headquarters. However, when they passed through the corridor to go to the elevator of their apartment, they encountered something unexpected.

…

'Ahh, this hotel is not a bad place to spend a night at,' Ruth thought to herself as she yawned. She had just woken up and was about to get ready to leave when she noticed a table full of delicacies in her apartment.

"Oh! Even the breakfast has already been delivered to my room. They're truly efficient!" She murmured in a low voice, inhaling the incredible aroma that came from the table full of breakfast she had ordered earlier.

She then glanced at the plates with several fruits, sandwiches, and two jugs of orange juice. After that, she began eating happily while assessing the spirituality of every single item that she brought close to her lips.

Chomp! Nhoc! Nhac! Nhec!

'Mnn, this tastes excellent, but the amount of spiritual energy in most of the foods here is average at best,' Ruth thought, finishing an apple that was completely red.

Naturally, compared to items being sold in the Flaming Empire, the spirituality contained in the foods sold in the northern region of the Central Continent were inferior.

This was due to the Flaming Empire being a territory consisting of numerous regions with a high spiritual concentration.

And accordingly, the cultures grown in these territories were also undoubtedly richer in spiritual energy. As for food of animal origin, the food here was also left behind since, due to greater spiritual density in some places in the Flaming Empire, animals of a higher level were also found.

As for these animals, they were numerous variations of spiritual beasts in this world. Similar to humans, there are spiritual beasts with different 'talents,' but no one categorizes this distinction as a talent.

Such a thing was a classification basically for humans and elves. Beasts were simply said to have different lineages.

And the number of lineages could be more or less intense, depending on two factors: the breed of the beast itself and the purity of its lineage.

This meant that even the purest of the horses could not be compared to a dragon with an impure lineage.

And because of this, those spiritual beasts of weaker breeds which could not go further in cultivation were generally referred to simply as animals in the Spiritual World. As these beasts were always limited to a stage of cultivation, they might never be able to develop their intelligence.

To simply assume, the ability of spiritual beasts to reach the intelligence of a human was something that occurred as soon as they reached the 5th stage, which was equivalent to a human cultivator being able to feel and use the power of heaven and earth at the same stage.

A human who has reached level 70, they can live temporarily in the form of a soul and even be able to possess someone's body or even build a new one. But for the spiritual beasts, while they reached this same stage, they would be able to take a humanoid form and even conceive children with humans!

However, spiritual beasts which were limited to level 39, the limit of the 4th stage, could only be considered as animals in this world.

After a while, Ruth finished her meal before heading for the elevator on the floor where she had been staying, however, at the same moment, a group of five men was also approaching the same elevator.

When Ruth finally started to recall where she had seen these people from, Minos slowly stepped ahead from behind one of the soldiers, becoming visible to the curvaceous girl standing in front of the elevator.

"Ahh, I found you, Minos!" She uttered, satisfied. This accidental meeting would only make her task easier. Now she just had to take this young man to the Cromwell Kingdom.

At this point, Minos was also surprised to be recognized by someone in this unknown place and finally began to evaluate the young woman in front of him.

She had a delicate face, indicating that she was not much older than him and well-defined curves, which were enough to make any man stop and appreciate them for a few moments.

It was not wrong to say that she was a beauty in a hundred thousand!

As he assessed the black-haired beauty in front of him, Minos thought with an expressionless face. 'From where do I know this girl? There should be no way for me to forget someone like her!'

He then asked, "Have we met before?"

"Don't you remember? You are truly the worst for not being able to recognize someone you met just over a year ago." Ruth frowned, her tone filled with displeasure.

"Just over a year?" Minos repeated.

At that moment, Pyke stepped forward and whispered to Minos, "Young master, I think this young lady was accompanying Mrs. Maisie over a year ago."

Minos nodded, but a moment later he also frowned.

"Ah! So, it's you. Why are you looking for me? Didn't I already inform you that I have no interest in your Gray Clouds Sect?"

A smirk appeared on her face as Ruth snorted, "Hmph if it weren't for my master, an ungrateful person such as yourself who doesn't know what you're missing, would never be able to join our sect!"

"But don't worry, I am not here to ask you to join, but to inform you about the Spiritual Tournament, which is going to take place in a few months at the Cromwell Kingdom. My master instructed me to come here and tell you about it, and if you were already at least at the 4th stage…" By this time she said that Ruth stopped talking, due to the surprising meeting with Minos at the same hotel where she was staying, she had forgotten to probe Minos' strength.

"What? How can that be possible?" she almost blurted while staring at Minos in shock. That was because she realized that he was already in the 4th stage, at level 33!

This was just unbelievable for her because in just over a year, this young man had made a breakthrough from level 0 to level 33!

Due to the previous cultivation speed that Minos had shown before, she had already expected him to reach the 4th stage before the Spiritual Tournament. However, he was already at this level now, and there were still months before this competition even began!

So, she was surprised, to say the least!

Assuming people with Silver talent, like the young Ruth, took an average of almost three years to achieve this. As for those with Black talent, most of them took an average of about 4 years to reach this stage.

'What kind of monster is this Minos? Did the master make a mistake by saying that he only had a Black talent? Such a speed is simply unbelievable for someone with Black talent!' Ruth thought.

Meanwhile, Minos held his hands behind his back and smiled. He clearly knew why Ruth was so surprised all of a sudden and so, he had decided to let her take a breath and recover from the shock before she could continue their conversation...

"Let's talk inside my apartment," Minos said, heading back to the room he had left earlier. After entering the room, he settled in an armchair.

Minos finally broke the silence and asked in a curious tone a few seconds later, "What is the Spiritual Tournament? And why does my mother want me to participate in it?"

Ruth regained her composure from her initial trance and responded sincerely. "The Spiritual Tournament is a competition organized by the various sects of the Flaming Empire in the northern region of the Central Continent.

Once every eight years, this tournament is held in one of the kingdoms of this region, and the objective of this tournament is to bring the greatest talents to our empire. This is also a great opportunity for the geniuses of various regions to show their talents and get to know each other.

The top three ranks receive generous rewards, while the first place also gains a Silver-grade technique.

This event is of great importance as even if most of them lack the talent to be selected and travel to other parts of the Central Continent, many of them would still be able to rule important families, and sometimes even become kings of their kingdoms.

Similarly, it is considered of great importance in the region you are in. As for why my master wants you to participate, it must be so that your horizon of the world would be widened and understand its greatness," Ruth finished with a smile on her face.

'Mnn, interesting...

Even though I don't need this technique, participating in the tournament will help me establish my leadership in this region of the Central Continent. That is why I must meet the future specialists there, and this is also a good opportunity for me to fight those of the same generation as me...' Minos thought while cracking his fingers with a thoughtful expression.