Shocking Changes

Two days passed quickly, and right now a young woman was approaching Dry City on a spiritual beast.

The spiritual beast resembled a great eagle and shocking was the fact that it was at the 4th stage. This eagle-like beast was completely white, over 2 meters high, and had a sharp and entirely yellow beak.

The young woman had beautiful raven hair, a graceful face, and a sensual body that could capture any ordinary person's attention and lose their sense for a moment. The young woman was very well-dressed, wearing a long green dress and a white hat on her head.

As she was nearing and was supposed to see Dry City ahead of her, she noticed a rather strange landscape where a large portion of the territory was covered in green.

And it was obvious that many crops were growing in these areas.

The place these crops occupied was not that large in area, but it was still enough to be noticed by anyone from afar. This sight made this young woman puzzled for a moment and left wondering whether she was really on the Black Plain and, specifically, close to Dry City.

That was because when she came to this place last time, which was just over thirteen months ago, she had seen no such thing!

Therefore, causing her great confusion, but despite that, she decided to go ahead and ask the questions that she had after landing.

She then slowly descended from the sky at the south side of the city, leaving her great eagle in the open, following which she started her journey through the city on foot. 

But as she walked down the street, she quickly got lost and didn't know where she should go.

The place was completely different!

During her last visit, she hadn't seen so many buildings in this city! 'How can this place have changed so much in such a short time?'  She couldn't help but think with a shocked expression on her face.

And indeed, just as she thought, the transformation that Dry City has undergone in the last year has been simply remarkable. 

Now, although the size of the city has decreased by almost two-thirds, still, the little more than one-third of the original area that remained of the city was flourishing in the best possible way!

That was all thanks to the four high-level grade-1 spiritual arrays installed near the city's central region. As a result, the areas being affected by the arrays had also quickly undergone significant changes.

The empty grounds from before were now filled with new homes, and buildings, while those old buildings were renovated and expanded to accommodate more people. Meanwhile, the rest of the city was emptied and destroyed.

All of this was done by following Minos' planning for the city. So, right now the city has a lovely appearance, unlike before, it didn't look like a huddle that was growing uncontrollably, rather it seemed well-planned and gave a feeling of convenience and comfort.

If looked from the sky, the city appeared to be four large circles which were intersecting near Minos' mansion. There were also a considerable number of trees lined along the streets that would make anyone forget that this was the poor land of the Black Plain.

"Ahhh!" 

The young woman let out a slight cry of surprise, but luckily no one heard her as it would be too embarrassing for someone like her. The reason for such a reaction was her realization of the fact that the amount of spiritual energy around the city was at least 50% greater than her last visit.

'How did this happen? I thought that this place had a spiritual root that sucked out all of the free energy in heaven and earth. How did they solve this problem?' She thought while continuing to walk around the city.

And eventually, she managed to find the mansion in the middle of the city after asking for directions to who knew how many people on the streets.

But the sight of the mansion surprised her even further, as it was at least three times larger than before.

Many people wearing similar uniforms were coming and going from the building.

In front of the mansion was a lush garden with a fountain in the center, while in the background, the building with four floors and numerous windows could be seen, while not overly luxurious, it was well done, nonetheless.

Although there weren't many spiritual arrays as Minos still needed to bring array masters to Dry City, there were some that belonged to the building before modernization.

Anyway, the young woman entered the building slowly, her mouth agape in shock at everything she saw.

She finally regained her composure to normal after hearing that someone was speaking to her. "Welcome to the local government. How may I assist you?" Secretary Mia, who was at the reception desk, next to Minos' office greeted her.

"Hmm, I would like to see Minos Stuart," the young woman replied quickly.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but the young master is not in Dry City at the moment," Mia replied sincerely.

"He isn't here? Where would he go?" the woman asked with a frown.

Mia then replied nonchalantly, "I am not authorized to disclose this information to anyone."

"You can not? So who's in charge here now? Let me talk to him. I am here at the behest of your young master's mother," the young woman said impatiently with her brows knitted.

She was Ruth Miles, the disciple of Minos' mother, who had come with Maisie the last time.

After that, some time passed, and she was already at level 45, after leaving her last training, she decided to come in order to fulfill the mission assigned by her teacher more than a year ago.

"Oh! So, it was you. Butler Dillian is in charge now. Come with me," Mia's brows raised high as she finally recognized Ruth and brought her along.

A while later, Mia led Ruth to Butler Dillian, who was currently in Minos' office.

Dillian was dispatching a soldier when the office door opened, and Mia and young Ruth walked in.

"Butler Dillian, this lady is here because of the young master's mother," Mia quickly introduced before leaving the room.

"So, you're here at the behest of Mrs. Maisie. Can you tell me the reason for your visit?" Dillian asked with a smile.

"My master assigned me the mission to return here after a year and a half since our last visit, but because I completed my training earlier, I chose to arrive just before this time."

She sat with butler Dillian's gesture and then continued.

"She instructed me to find her son and to evaluate his level. If he had reached the 4th stage of cultivation, I was to talk about the Spiritual Tournament, which will take place in 7 months in the Cromwell Kingdom, and then accompany him there if he decides to participate in this competition."

"Hm, I see. Mrs. Maisie wants the young master to compete with the younger generation to get a better understanding of the world," Dillian nodded as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"I think it might be a good idea, but the young master is on his way to Stone Island, and I don't know when he might come back. It could take a few weeks, or maybe even more or less," Dillian informed Ruth.

"Stone island? Why did he go there?" Ruth's brows knitted as asked curiously.

Butler Dillian replied vaguely, "As a leader, the young master has his responsibilities."

"But if you want to go after him, then you should look for someone named Elen Nash. The young master must meet with her when he arrives on the Stone Island."

"I understand... but I was wondering as to how has this place changed so much in such a short time?" Ruth asked as her curiosity was piqued.

If someone were to tell her that so many changes were made by Minos, then she would rather not believe it. 

"Haha, you must be very curious, huh? I won't go into much detail, but back when the young master said that he didn't need Mrs. Maisie's help, how can I say…, umm, he was not kidding." Dillian replied, wearing a big proud smile on his face.

Seeing the changes and hearing Dillian, Ruth didn't know what to say as she thought to herself. 'Where does all this confidence come from? Even if this place has improved a lot, it still doesn't give you the right to say that you don't need the help of a sect like ours.'

After a while, she finally spoke. "Hehe, it seems that you have great faith in your young master."

Butler Dillian just smiled and said nothing. Just because they were not enemies, he didn't need to talk about Minos' secrets!

Even if she were the mother of his young master, he still wouldn't say anything!

Realizing that her attempt was unsuccessful, Ruth just sighed in disappointment. She was really curious about these people. Not only did Butler Dillian seem to trust this Minos Stuart blindly, but so did everyone in this place.

Even the last time she came here, people looked at Minos as if he was their savior!

'Never mind. When I accompany Minos to the Spiritual Tournament, maybe I will understand this,' Ruth thought to herself.

"Well, since my master's son isn't here, then I'll go to Stone Island... Until later," saying goodbye Ruth went quickly towards the south side of the city where she had left her spiritual beast.

…

Meanwhile, the boat carrying Minos and his group was rapidly approaching Stone Island and so, a  glimpse of the island could already be seen on the horizon.

Enjoying the oceanic view before him, a smile appeared on Minos' face as he thought, 'Stone Island, huh? I want to see what you can offer me.'