Chapter 2660: Last Years Before Leaving for Uzira
As they walked back into the Council, Minos and Abby were soon in front of Segiel, the Chief Commander of the guild.
As she saw her man standing next to her harem sister, Segiel tossed Minos the letter that had arrived at the guild for him.
"Tiolos has sent us this message," she said with interest in her voice. She didn't trespassed on the privacy of Minos and Tiolos to the extent of opening that man's message.
Tiolos had visited Minos amid his seclusion. At the time, the man could only meet with Kendrick, Lily, and Segiel.
On discovering that his ally was in seclusion to grow stronger and that Minos had not forgotten their agreement, Tiolos had left satisfied.
He had heard about Armhands' victory in the war against Firestone Mines and also about Minos' participation in that conflict. All this made him more certain that it had been a great decision on his part to ally himself with such a native of the Spiritual World.
At the time of his departure from Armhands, he had heard from Segiel that he was waiting for Minos to come out of seclusion, having only recently sent news.
Minos opened the letter from that Supreme and soon had a satisfied smile on his face.
"He's advanced a level," Minos said, to the surprise of Segiel and Abby.
"Really?" Abby doubted it. After all, advancing through the 12th stage was difficult.
Of all the 12th stage individuals in the guild who had actively fought in the war, none of them had improved their cultivation in those years!
Segiel was at the same level as decades ago, while even the elders who had been at the same levels for longer hadn't improved at all during Minos' seclusion.
"That's really hard to believe," Segiel said in disbelief. "Even the Supreme Leader, who is at the absolute peak of his level, shouldn't advance without a long seclusion."
The Supreme Leader planned to return to his seclusion to advance to level 124, but he was waiting for Minos to leave for Uzira. He would accompany the man's group to the west coast and only after his return to headquarters did he intend to focus on cultivating to advance in level.
But even with how close he was to getting stronger, Jalai shouldn't advance for at least 150 years!
"He has found good opportunities on his journey around the continent over the last 45 years." Minos wasn't suspicious of the information in Tiolos' letter. "But he didn't go into details. He just says that he has grown stronger and will go into seclusion for the next 25 years. After that, I'm supposed to meet him on the west coast so we can head for Uzira."
"25 years? That's a bit early, isn't it?" Segiel asked as she narrowed her eyes.
"No, I don't think so. The journey there costs more than a year, and there are margins of error involved... He's probably considering that we'll left the continent between 28 and 30 years from the time he sent the letter." Minos thought the time was correct.
"You'll only stay for another 25 years..." The Commander sighed, not liking that.
As she had to stay behind, that meant it was less time she would have with him before Minos left!
"That seems to be the case." Abby looked at the woman with the lighter blue hair, understanding what was on her mind.
Abby had also felt similar things when staying behind in the Spiritual World alongside Gloria.
Minos smiled and said, "That's no small thing. I don't intend to spend much of this time cultivating, so we have a lot to experience together and prepare for the future."
He looked at Abby. "Let's finish updating the guild's corpses and prepare our faction to deal with our absence."
Abby agreed and reminded Segiel. "Eventually you'll have to keep an eye out for our relatives who will come from the Spiritual World. They'll need some support, even if it's just a special look."
"All right, leave it to me." She sat on her throne, thoughtful. "Since it's decided, make it official, Minos. Announce to the Elders your plan to leave the guild in 25 years and each person who will go with you. Do you have all the names?"
"I'm close to it, but there are still a few to confirm your interest. But I can sort that out in a few weeks," he answered her.
Besides him, his three native women from the Spiritual World, a group of 17 Sovereigns of levels 113 and 114, but also 3 Supremes of level 115, had already went with Tiolos to Uzira. But Minos still had a few names he wanted to consider taking on this trip, members of his faction, but also guild mates unrelated to his group.
"Very well. I'll let our superiors know about it. It's likely that you'll soon be called to report to the Council of Elders. As for the travel funds, the guild will release them as soon as you hand in your travel plan and the list of group members who will accompany you."
The guild would cover all the foreseeable costs of this trip, providing food, cultivation, regeneration, transportation, and other resources.
But Minos had to present the plan that his expansionist group had formulated over the years with its many studies and preparations.
Minos nodded to Segiel, having almost everything ready to make things official about his departure.
While pondering over it, he let out a sigh, contemplating how near his upcoming journey was and how it marked the conclusion of one of the most tranquil phases of his existence.
'This trip will be good. It will be time for me to get away from Navey's observation and go back to seeking challenges for my powers,' he thought to himself.
Minos had found out who the elder monitoring him in Armhands was during Vico and Callie's trip to and from the Spiritual World.
Besides, at his current level, only Supremes were a challenge for him. But most of the Supremes were too strong for him, so he was in a strange situation in Oqia. He wasn't strong enough to challenge the continent's strongest, but he was too strong for 99.9% of Oqia's living creatures.
In the situation he was in, only by leaving Oqia could he get back to having opponents within the power range that he would have a chance of fighting without being obliterated or win too easily.