The Rise of the Black Plain
chapter-2728

A little over two hours after the opening of the third floor, Minos and Forfex appeared one after the other in front of the doors of the rooms they had entered. Both rooms were displaying a strong green color, similar to the other six rooms, the first to be completed on the third floor.

A few moments after, the two looked at each other and ran towards their rooms, another eight rooms turned green and 10 of the 14 closed green rooms opened. At that moment, 12 individuals were vying for the remaining 8 rooms in the area.

There was no need for comments or threats from one against the other. Half of the individuals went in search of their new rooms, while the other half, lagging behind, were already showing their powers by going up against their opponents further ahead.

One of them stopped and shaped a golden arc of energy in front of him, condensing a large part of his cultivation into a single attack.

Another individual sped up his speed, becoming much faster than even the most advanced one, close to reaching one of the eight areas.

Another used a strong mental power that made each of the others feel a slight discomfort, making Forfex feel that this time he would have to fight to get what he wanted.

Time passed differently for Minos as the golden hourglass formed around him, with the 11 individuals around him, but also 3 new rooms opening up, slowing down for his eyes.

'What do I do?' Minos wondered.

He had three possibilities in front of him. The Nautilus' Compass had shown him these three alternatives very well, each of which would lead him to success on this floor.

The first, he could simply use his temporal powers on himself and his ally, thus ensuring that they would both be able to enter their respective rooms.

The second, he could try to kill all the opponents around him and ensure that the next floor would have not 8, but 18 rooms that could be completed by people like him.

The third, he could kill only those who attacked him and Forfex.

'If I kill them all, I'll have a big problem. On the next floor, a very large number of competitors will be able to complete more than one room. This will naturally help more of my opponents become stronger.' He reasoned coldly as time seemed to stand still, waiting for his decision.

'In this scenario, the fifth floor would be very chaotic. Many would try to kill others, the number of competitors would drop a lot and the quality of those remaining would increase. That wouldn't be good for me, even if it wouldn't bring with it the problem of me becoming a common enemy to be eliminated.

This leaves me in the situation of either killing those who attack me or simply stopping time for the enemies and ensuring that Forfex and I get our rooms.

Stopping time seems less violent and keeps as many opponents alive as possible. This raises the difficulty of getting into one of these rooms and doesn't increase the number of eventual winners as much... As for killing opponents, it has the opposite effect.'

His eyes narrowed as he saw through the bodies and souls of the 10 individuals around him, identifying who the six weakest and least talented were.

With a smile on his face, Minos froze time as long as possible for those he judged to be more formidable opponents, giving the weaker ones space to reach six different rooms.

'It's best that as few competitors as possible die now. This will keep the number of opportunities limited to a small group and increase the chances of the few who take advantage of these opportunities to be among the 10 finalists for the inheritance.'

He manipulated the situation towards the best possible scenario for him, demonstrating some of the bodily and spiritual changes he had undergone over the years between the Millennium Massacre and now.

Minos' opponents had a lot to learn about his growth, but he was now much worse than the version from years ago when he had defeated the True Celestial pyramid.

The strongest individuals in the surroundings sensed who was preventing them from proceeding with their movements, as they watched in horror as eight opponents entered the eight rooms.

Those attacking even had their attacks frozen in space and time, while the few who were simply running into the rooms opened their eyes wide as they burned with rage.

Even with their special abilities and the great growth they had undergone over the last few centuries, few would know how to escape a time trap!

Time was a supreme essence of the universe, something that even the greatest geniuses could not ignore!

Minos and the other seven individuals began their second test on the third floor, each in search of the insignia that, according to the theories of those already experienced in this feat, would lead them to obtain opportunities to become much stronger on the fourth floor.

'Damn Minos!' thought the blind man as he felt time return to its usual passage. 'Even though he only has two parts of a True Celestial's body, his power is impressive enough to get in my way.'

Narrowing his eyes toward the room Minos had entered, he clenched his fists. 'Perhaps it's not interesting for me to antagonize you within this inheritance phase. But once I leave this tower, I will hunt you down, wherever you are in the universe. I won't let you reach the last phase of the inheritance!'

Meanwhile, others thought of Minos in different ways, seeing that he had hindered them on this floor, but that fortunately, this meant that they would have their chance without his intervention on the subsequent floor.

But today's move undeniably gave Minos an undeniable advantage!

...

Meanwhile, on the 100th floor of the tower, the True Celestial was standing next to one of his subordinates, face to face with the 3D map of his tower, looking in particular in Minos' direction.

"This guy is ingenious. Others would have wiped out their competitors and opened up the possibilities. But even though he's so strong, he didn't get carried away and took a careful approach." The True Celestial's subordinate commented with interest.

The man smiled, looking at Minos with interest. "For now, he's my favorite to become my heir. But that might get in his way later on... In any case, he's right to seek the path that is most likely to nourish his Physique to the Absolute grade and nourish fewer of his opponents."

"How do you think this challenge will end, master?"

"I don't know. I'd rather just watch them for now," said the being behind the inheritance. "But the challenges don't end here. Once this phase of my inheritance is over, the final 10 competitors will hunt each other down and Celestials, as well as high-level Supremes, will move against the ten to take their chance to go to the Upper Realm.

I'm looking forward to the battles ahead!"