The Rise of the Black Plain

Hours later, Minos left his room and spotted Soli and Forfex together once again in front of the door he had just left.

Forfex had some wounds all over his body, as did Soli, while the two of them were in a combat position, with a group of 12 individuals very close to them.

But the moment the door to Minos' room opened, the individuals who had just moved—given the fact that Soli and Forfex had also left their respective rooms moments ago—flinched at the sight of the white-haired, seraphim-winged fellow.

"Hmmm? Any trouble here?" Minos parted his lips along with the spread of his six wings, becoming much larger and more menacing.

One individual closely observing the situation, the sentient plant that had missed the opportunity to finish his test a minute after Minos and the group of seven individuals from earlier, narrowed his eyes as he looked at Minos.

"Minos, did you make good use of your challenge? We were just curious to check out your new victory," said the broccoli head plant, smiling at Minos, while its gaze was curious, not at all aggressive.

Forfex and Soli looked back and sighed. With Minos on their side, there was no danger of hyenas trying to take what one of them had gained in the last room they left.

"Is that so?" Minos asked. "I did very well. On the next floor, things will get really interesting." He stood in front of his two companions. "Too bad I won't be able to join in the fun. But I wish you good luck. I'll act again on the fifth floor against those of you who are left."

Some individuals clenched their fists in anger, but no one had the courage to challenge Minos. Some of them even had the confidence to stand against him, but frankly, even they wouldn't attempt something like this so early in the challenge of this tower. Minos was among the strongest. It only made sense to face him directly at the end of this inheritance phase.

Everyone retreated closer to the rooms they had left earlier, preferring not to drastically elevate the situation they were in now. At the next level, he wouldn't be challenging two rooms, so it made more sense to fight in his absence.

"It seems that you still diverge by a large margin from your opponents, even in an inheritance with different rules," Soli said as she looked at him with a complicated look.

Unfortunately, this had its downside for her, who was connected to this heritage. But for the moment, she tried to see only the positive side, the security of moving forward on a smoother path.

However, this challenge wasn't just about who could get into the rooms first. From what Soli had understood, the current phase might be influenced by brute force, given that everyone was completing the challenges. But eventually there would come a time when the challenges would become difficult and would single-handedly eliminate several competitors.

'My chance is to use Minos' strength to get safely to the end of the challenge and then see him fall into this inheritance phase. If that doesn't happen here, I'm afraid my death will be that much closer to happening.' She thought to herself silently.

Time passed and the passage to the fourth floor passed, beginning their fourth year of challenging the tower of the True Celestial.

...

Over the next six floors of the tower, Minos would alternate between taking advantage of great opportunities to gain new skills and moments when he would control the killing of his enemies.

But things would soon get out of hand and 5 more competitors would die before they even reached the next part of the building, where they would find a smaller number of rooms in their path than the original number of competitors in this inheritance phase.

With competitors remaining, some of them were much stronger than at the start of it all, but others were falling behind and clustering into larger groups.

As some used their opportunities very well, others were growing desperate to achieve something that would make them stand out.

Things developed on an even more brutal level than Minos had initially predicted. Competitors fought not only against those who had completed more than one room per floor, they also started fighting each other against those who had only completed one room. Their aim was to steal their opponents' insignia and try for the same benefits as those competitors able to complete two subsequent rooms.

This behavior revealed discoveries to those who committed such acts and also eliminated two other competitors before the group even reached the 10th floor.

By stealing an insignia from someone who had only completed one room, a cultivator would get nothing more than access to one of the rooms on the subsequent floor. The opportunity to improve their powers, Physique and gain new skills only existed for those who completed more than one room per floor.

Minos and his allies discovered this before entering the 10th floor today, a moment of respite for them, since they had already earned their extra badges on the previous level.

He did his best to control the death toll, but as he entered room 98 today, he knew the killing would rise to a new level when he left his room in about a year's time.

The one year outside the rooms—about 6.5 hours for those cultivating inside the rooms with challenges—would pass in the blink of an eye.

When Minos left his room on the 10th floor, with the fifth of his techniques transformed into a skill, he saw the number of deaths on the eighth floor—the one with the most deaths so far—double!

'Four fewer competitors... That brings us to just 81 in the second phase of the inheritance.' Minos recognized the change in the situation, which would still guarantee 9 extra rooms between the 11th and 20th floors of the tower.

'As expected. These guys are interested in increasing the number of vacancies for opportunists like us.' Minos looked at the blind man and the sentient vegetable.

They didn't want to face each other, nor did they want to face Minos. Consequently, they found a way to increase the number of vacancies to the next level.

Minos watched Forfex and Soli leave their rooms and did nothing, waiting for the 11th floor to open, already expecting a substantial increase in the level of difficulty of the tests ahead.

'I'd better forget about them for now. I've already turned half my techniques into skills. Between the 11th and 20th floors, I'll be able to complete the transition of all the remaining ones.'

Thus, all 81 remaining competitors entered the 11th floor, where they found a smaller place, with only 90 rooms available.

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