"Oh! That is interesting." The young man said with a smile on his face. He had long red hair and gray eyes, with a beauty that would easily put him among the top in this part of the continent.

As for the Warrior-grade medicine, this was a medicine used to refining spiritual pills between high-level grade-1, and low-level grade-2.

Medicine like this could be helpful to produce spiritual pills for advancing to the 5th stage and for other types of pills for cultivators at the beginning of this stage of cultivation.

As for the classifications, the medicines were divided into: Common, Warrior, King, Saint, and Divine. Each medicine had different uses, considering its classification, with the medicines of Saint-grade being the ones with greater possibilities.

How much better the pill's potency depended not only on medicine but also on the alchemist level. For this reason, a more skilled and higher-ranking alchemist could use the ingredients of their pill to the limit and achieve better rankings.

But each medicine had its limit, and in the case of Warrior-grade medicine, it was low-level grade-2 pills.

The young woman, who also had red hair and gray eyes, smiled and said. "Big brother, are we going to take this medicine?"

"For us, medicine at this level is not so relevant. We already have a lot of resources at our disposal. So, let's leave that to our competitors. At least that will animate things in this tournament. Haha." The young man said confidently.

"Hmm, but it will not be easy for other participants of lesser powers to achieve this. Even if it is only a Warrior-grade medicine, it is not easy to harvest without injuring its spirituality." The other man in the group said, considering the consequences of this.

It was complicated to harvest a wild medicine like that. There were usually specific techniques that alchemists used to harvest these plants, but there were no alchemists in this competition.

Therefore, to harvest such a plant without a suitable method, people who would gather it had to have enough spiritual energy to do that without damaging its general structure.

"That's right. Suppose none of the people who are going after this don't have an alchemist in the group. In that case, they need at least one Spiritual King to harvest this medicine without it being damaged." The young master said as he rubbed his face.

The girl then replied excitedly. "But forget that for now, I want to get to the capital of the Cromwell Kingdom soon. I heard that some of the greatest geniuses in our region are already there."

"Hmm, let's get going then." After saying this, the group left the city where they were going through a large gate with the inscriptions, 'City of flowers.'

...

Meanwhile, Minos and Ruth were almost reaching the city where they would spend the night when White began to descend from the skies slowly. It was already dark at this point, and the city lights nearby could be seen from afar.

This place seemed to be even bigger than the City of Waters, where they had previously stopped. At the time, Minos was talking to Ruth about ordinary things at the Gray Cloud Sect.

He then asked. "Ehh, you seem to know a lot about the Cromwell Kingdom. Have you traveled here many times?"

She shook her head and said. "No, in fact, this is only the second time that I have left the Flaming Empire. The first time was with my master when we visited you in the Dry City a few months ago."

"Normally, the disciples of the sects in my region can only leave the empire on four occasions." Minos then cut off her speech. He said. "Huh? And why is that?"

"Let me finish talking!" She then continued. "To leave the territory of the empire, we have to be accompanied by a superior. That is the first possibility. The second is that we have reached the level of a Spiritual King, the third if we have a family urgency outside the confines of the empire. And the fourth, if we receive a mission, as in my case."

"These conditions are because the Flaming Empire has some external enemies that are dangerous to weaker people. After all, not all disciples receive Silver-grade techniques like me." She said with a proud expression on her face.

"But even people like me still have to follow these rules to preserve the power of the Flaming Empire sects. But at the interior of the empire, we can leave the territories of our sects usually."

"Hmm, I see..." Minos thought reflexively. He thought of his mother's case, but that was only a second.

Considering Minos' age and Maisie's cultivation level, then she was certainly already a Spiritual Emperor when she became pregnant with him. In that case, this would not justify her prolonged absence.

Minos then buried these thoughts in his mind when the great eagle finally landed it in one of the city's entrances.

This city was called Santa Clara, a town with more than 300,000 inhabitants and a highly well-developed local agriculture. In fact, this was one of the cities that exported grains and cereals to the Dry City before the cultures of Minos started to develop in the territories of the Black Plain.

These areas had an average spiritual concentration, much like the city of Portland, on Stone Island.

And as soon as he entered the city, Minos could see how rich this place was.

It was extremely well lit, with wide streets and avenues, gardens spread over different parts of the city, and many buildings in the gothic style. It was beautiful to see. There were even lighting arrays on the sidewalls of the structures so that they could be displayed, even when it was the night!

"Wow, what an extravagance, these people did not skimp on spending on lighting arrays..." Minos murmured while enjoying the beautiful view of this city.

Hearing the comment in a low voice from Minos, Ruth, beside him, laughed softly without making a noise. For her, Minos' behavior was like that of a hick who came out of nowhere and experienced an advanced civilization.

It was hilarious for her to see that.

'How silly. I wanted to see your reaction when you go to the City of Clouds...' She softly laughed while having one of her hands hiding her lips.

...

After riding around the city in a carriage, that they had hired at the entrance to Santa Clara, Ruth and Minos had dinner at a restaurant recommended by the coachman.

That was a pleasant place, but for Minos, who had already tried the delicacies of the Barbecue Temple in the capital of Stone Island, this place did not attract the attention of the young Stuart.

As for the beautiful Ruth, she came from an empire, so her culinary tastes were at an even higher level than Minos'. For her, these occasions were necessary only to supply the nutrition that her body still needed.

And after eating, the two were taken to a hotel in the downtown area, where the best place to stay in Santa Clara was. At least, that's what the coachman told them as he made his way to the Viola Hotel.

Upon arriving at this place, Minos and Ruth studied the stained-glass windows and vaults of the building for an instant. There were also some strange sculptures in several places.

Upon arriving at the reception, there were two young attendants. One received another guest who had just arrived, and the other was free. Minos then approached and heard the girl's thin voice.

"Welcome to the Viola Hotel. What service are you looking for?" The young woman asked politely.

Minos smiled and said. "Give me a double room, preferably one that is medium size."

Upon hearing Minos' request, Ruth immediately opened her mouth to say something, but no words had come out. She understood very well what the young Stuart was doing. Still, it seemed that her body unconsciously wanted it, too, preventing her from going against that decision.

Simultaneously with Ruth's existential crisis, the young attendant collected the deposit from Minos and handed over the keys to the room where they would spend the night.

After that, Minos took one of Ruth's hands and brought it to the 5th floor, where their room was located.

...

Upon arriving in the room, the two took a good look at the place before cultivating quietly. There was a large double bed in this room, which could easily accommodate four people at once, with a large balcony and a beautiful red curtain.

There were also some pictures on the walls with paintings from the Santa Clara region, spiritual plants, and several decorative pieces of furniture. There was also a place made for people to cultivate comfortably, with two purple cushions on the floor.

At that time, Ruth circulated her Silver-grade cultivation technique and spread several spiritual crystals around her. She was much more focused than usual because today, she felt she would go up to level 46!