Back in Uzira, Abby’s group passed through the spatial distortion created by the level 124 soul fragment, arriving in a place they were still unfamiliar with.

The group stopped as they came across the lush vegetation on the outskirts, while Abby had a different look on her face, feeling the memories about Uzira that the soul fragment had passed on to her.

“What happened? What’s Minos’ situation?” One of the Generals asked in a cold sweat.

He and most of them had sensed that the dimension they were in would implode and everyone left behind would die. That’s why they had fled as quickly as possible, without worrying too much about bringing their leader with them. But now, back in Uzira, in a seemingly stable and peaceful place, they couldn’t help but think about what had just happened.

Tiolos frowned, looking toward Abby, Gloria and Ruth, naturally worried. Without Minos, their group would have several additional challenges on their journey to Uzira!

Ruth answered in place of her harem sisters, “Minos is fine, but he’ll be away for a while. I won’t go into details, but when he advanced a stage, he triggered an opportunity. He’ll be absent until he fulfills the requirements of that opportunity.”

“That…”

Some of them obviously wanted to know more. But they hesitated, while the stronger ones stepped forward.

“So what’s the plan? That dimension will surely be destroyed in the next few seconds. Will he return from this opportunity to that place? And how long should we wait for him?” Leger was the one to ask.

Gloria looked at the man and said, “It’s best not to worry about Minos’ situation. He’ll be fine and he’ll use whatever he can to reach us as soon as possible. For now, we have to find out where we are and find a place to set up camp. We’ll decide the future after that.”

Abby agreed. “Before Minos left for his opportunity, he gave us an opportunity, too. His new ability will help us refine our powers, but for that, we need a place to cultivate for a few days.”

In Minos’ absence, Abby was definitely the leader of the group, since the men of Armhands followed the guild’s hierarchy. But even ignoring that, given her necromantic powers, she was naturally the one who could do the most for the group in the medium and long term.

Tiolos recognized Abby as the leader of the group and agreed as he looked at the surroundings. Leger did the same a moment later, being the one in the group who knew the area best.

After a minute’s observation, Leger concluded, “We’re close to where we were before we entered that dimension. If I’m not mistaken, we’re 400 kilometers from the east coast, just ahead of the area where Minos was leading us at the time.”

“Should we move on and go to the place indicated by Leger back then?” The giant Clexvog asked.

“Not just yet,” Abby replied to the level 117 being. “But we will do so eventually. Even in Minos’ absence, our plans haven’t changed. Our aim must be to take advantage of the opportunities in the area and avoid trouble. Some of us are still Sovereigns, so let’s keep in mind everyone’s promotion to the 12th stage.”

The group was reassured to have a plan in mind, with steps to follow and the same rules as before.

Soon they would move through the area, now much stronger than centuries ago, each of them much better able to identify problems and opportunities nearby.

They wouldn’t walk for long before they found a good place to hide, where Abby, Gloria and Ruth would sit on cultivation cushions inside a dark cave to meditate.

Each of them could feel the burning energy of Draconic Eden’s Radiance, a flame that didn’t threaten their bodies, but which contained surreal power within it.

As they circulated their energies through their bodies and tried to absorb the flame left by Minos, each of them felt their physical structures changing, losing impurities as they improved qualitatively.

In less than three days of meditation, they felt as if their bodies had shed the last traces of their mortality, with their vitality rising exponentially.

A week after separating from her husband, the first of the three would show signs of awakening when her red hair floated in the air and her cultivation reached the beginning of level 114.

But Gloria wouldn’t be the last. Hours later, Abby would feel something similar as she reached the peak of level 113 and made the final progress, also reaching the last level of the 11th stage.

Both had their Physiques further refined, not enough to progress qualitatively, but enough for both to feel that one day they would reach the Celestial grade.

However, while the two still lacked a few steps to progress the quality of their Physiques, Ruth was very close to achieving this. Opening her eyes two days after Abby, the woman with the long black hair would feel a very particular sensation about her eventual progression.

‘As soon as I become a Supreme, my Physique will advance to the Celestial grade!’ Ruth clenched her fists excitedly, looking out of the cave she was in as she thanked Minos.

Something told her he wouldn’t be back any time soon. She figured that the next time they saw each other, she would already be at level 115 and with a Celestial grade Physique!

‘Good luck with your challenge, Minos. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine!’

With that thought, she left her cave, where she would soon find Abby and Gloria, as well as the other members of the group, waiting for her.

“We can go on,” she said to the group. “Standing still is not the answer. We must go in search of the opportunities that Leger told us about earlier. But this time, we don’t have Minos with us, so we’ll double our caution.”

Abby nodded as she stood up, ready to leave. “We still have over 20 Flashdrain parasites. So let’s not fear the enemies in our path!”

They went on with their journey without Minos, the beginning of years of challenges to come.