The Rise of the Black Plain
chapter-2644

A few more months passed and there were only three weeks to go until the start of the tournament, both in The Adamant Land and in the Spiritual World!

Maisie and her group had already returned to the Spiritual World after Noah's birth, returning along with other family members who had been in The Adamant Land before, while others from the Spiritual World had gone to the family's second planet.

Sarah and George were still in the Gods Hall, where Noah had already learned to sit up and crawl, but had yet to fulfill a small piece of his early development to be able to speak and walk.

But they intended to attend the tournament in the capital of The Adamant Land, together with Noah, when it would be time to present the planet's heir to his subjects.

For now, they were still in the Gods' Hall, where Sarah was currently pursuing her advancement to level 90!

Meanwhile, two of Sarah's three chosen to go to Zocarro were in the hall, watching little Noah play with Margot.

Lizzie Freeman, level 85, the younger sister of Peter Freeman, one of Minos' oldest friends and companions, was going to represent Sarah alongside Maida, level 88, a former mount of Minos.

The two had been very close to Sarah since the beginning of the War of the Worlds and had accompanied her to The Adamant Land when the core of the family left for Zocarro.

But even though they were Sarah's trusted women, she wanted them stationed in Zocarro, where she wasn't sure if she would find her parents and siblings in the future.

Lizzie and Maida would certainly wait for her before moving elsewhere!

Besides these two, Sarah had chosen someone else to accompany the group going to Zocarro, Audrey Cummings, level 90, Isabella's mother, Lily's grandmother.

Herald had died in the war and left two wives, Audrey, Isabella's mother, but also Madeline Shaw, level 91, the former Empress of the Flaming Empire. His son with Madeline was currently one of the lords of the Black Plain Empire, but he was still young, being less than 40 years old and with only 8th stage cultivation.

The Edwardstone family was very well-positioned in the Spiritual World, but Sarah thought it only fair to make room for Audrey to go to Zocarro and stay by Lily's side.

As for the others, they would have their opportunities in the future, but for now, they would stay in one of the family's two worlds.

Audrey wasn't in the Gods' Hall at the moment. Having left weeks ago, that woman was arriving in Dry City today!

...

Maisie and her group had just arrived in Dry City, passing through the spatial distortion of the wormhole connected to the North Sea.

Arriving back in this city, even more vibrant and bustling now near the start of the most important tournament of the century, she and her group made their way to the imperial palace.

They had stayed in The Adamant Land for a few weeks to spend time with family and then returned, making the three-month journey of the Universal Wormhole.

Unlike Vico, who could travel at very high speed, they didn't have the same capabilities as a level 108 Sovereign. As such, they traveled in a spaceship to the base in the North Sea.

Fortunately, they had arrived in time for the start of the competition, soon spotting several creatures from the Continent of Beasts walking around the central parts of the city.

Not only that, some of them spotted old acquaintances of theirs, such as members of the Pantheon Of Honor, the group from the Divine Continent that Minos had joined when he was still a Spiritual Sage.

That force had been almost completely annihilated, but some of its members had remained and returned to the Divine Continent to rebuild their group.

Among these individuals was the current leader of Pantheon Of Honor, Julian Kleinmann, level 99, one of the strongest humans in the Spiritual World at the moment.

Julian was at his absolute peak of the 10th stage and could become a God at any moment.

"Maisie..." The man approached the group, greeting Minos' mother, but also Kyla and the others.

"Are you going to compete in the tournament, old Julian? Someone like you will be missed on our planet." Maisie looked at him as she walked to the front of the group, with him and Kyla at her side.

"I'll try my luck. But it will be difficult. There are many talented people with better chances than me. As the tournament doesn't depend on cultivation, my strength won't help me as much." He was sincere, considering the competition ahead to be difficult.

Even if he were to compete among the Stuart family's subordinates, there were several powerful groups under the family's wings. Even someone like him couldn't be sure of his ultimate position in the tournament.

Maisie smiled at this man, not doubting that it was possible that he wouldn't even make the top 10, even though he was one of the greatest monsters in this world.

"Well, I don't know if I'm happy about this or if I wish you good luck. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing you in action."

"Hmm, I hope I don't disappoint."

With that brief exchange of words, Julian separated from the group, allowing the women and men there to enter the imperial palace, where they certainly had post-return engagements from The Adamant Land.

Soon Maisie and the others came across Rowan and Raiden, as well as Emlyn, in one of the gardens of the empire's grand center of government.

They exchanged quick and gentle comments about how the trip had gone and how Sarah and Noah were, until, finding that everything was fine, Rowan updated them on the situation on his planet.

"... Senior Vico will soon leave the Spiritual World so that Callie can return. Anyway, he's helped us a lot over the last few months and we've buried all the corpses sent by my father.

In another year at most, the Spiritual concentration of the entire empire should increase by between 50% and 100%. Meanwhile, I believe that our strongest men will get opportunities to advance because of Senior Vico's time advising them and the time they will have under Senior Callie's supervision."

All in all, the prospects for the coming months and the aftermath of the group's departure for Zocarro were great. Before the tournament began, the whole family was optimistic about their future, whether they stayed behind!