Regarding the subdivision of powers in the Spiritual World, empires and kingdoms were classified depending exclusively on two factors. That was: the territorial area and the population.
Thus, even if a territory had high-level powerhouses in it, such as the presence of Spiritual Saints, it would still be considered as a kingdom if it had a small population and area.
As for the northern region of the Central Continent, in addition to having small territories and low populations, it was also a comparatively weaker place, this explained why no empires were present in this region and also why the kingdoms were so proportionate in power.
Of course, this was also a result of the reality of the region, because large territories could only be maintained with a presence of a great power that could suppress separatist movements.
And since there was not much difference between the strengths of the top families in the region, this led to a subdivision of this part of the continent into several smaller areas, which could now only be classified as kingdoms.
As for the empires, they were also not equivalent in power since this factor depends on the size of the territory and the population, not on the strength of the specialists present in the empire.
However, to be able to withstand the pressures of such a vast region and prevent these regions from being divided into several small kingdoms, it was generally necessary to possess at least Spiritual Saint powers.
Still, some empires in the Spiritual World sometimes went beyond this level, with even having Spiritual Demigods in their leadership ranks.
But how could these regions differ so much in power?
The answer to this question is simple.
In the Spiritual World, there exist some families who are the heirs of individuals who have reached level 100, the level of Gods!
As a result, empires or kingdoms with one of such families in their territories would have Spatial Kingdoms, resulting in numerous highly talented residents and also providing a more significant amount of high-level resources for these regions.
And that was also the very difference between the Flaming Empire and the Western Empire.
This also explained why despite having territories and populations almost equivalent and even several high-level spiritual regions, these two places still had a massive difference in power. That's because the Flaming Empire did not have any family that had given birth to a God in all their history!
That elucidated why the Nash family valued this one spot so much which they received from the Elemental Sect. As to why they even had such contact, it was possible because Stone Island was not exactly on the Central Continent, thus, it was much easier for them to reach the other parts of the continent.
Like any large territory located on an island, Stone Island also had outstanding naval strength. For this reason, ever since an early stage in their history, they developed their ships at a level higher than the ones made in the kingdoms of the northern region of the Central Continent.
They also had detailed knowledge of the different sea routes and had access to the maps of other parts of that great continent. This was something that the kingdoms of the northern region of their continent did not have!
However, no matter its location and the several benefits of its advanced navigational knowledge, Stone Island could still be considered as part of the northern part of the Central Continent when analyzing some of its characteristics, such as with the average strength of its population, the spiritual density, the proximity of the island to that part of the continent, etc.
But, the Nash family had long been able to make contact with a power of the Western Empire, due to their knowledge in navigation, obtaining the opportunity to send one of its members there every ten years.
…
Anyway, while Luke mourned over his significant loss in the current situation, Minos had finally found a grade-2 array master!
Not only that, he was fortunate enough that this specialist already had a low-level grade-2 spiritual gathering array for sale.
With that, he spent all of his 500 medium-grade crystals, having yet to put another 100,000 low-grade crystals in that deal. The problem was that he didn't have the total amount of crystals from that classification to make the deal. So, he could only opt to exchange some low-grade crystals to buy the spiritual gathering array.
And with that, he just needed to wait for a few more days until all the grade-1 spiritual pills that he had ordered from different stores in the Old Stone were ready and after that, he would be able to return to his territory and then begin solving the labor problem of the Black Plain.
But before that, Minos still had some issues to resolve on Stone Island, such as 'visiting' beautiful Elena and making specific points with Elen about starting to market his items. However, even before he was thinking of taking the initiative to arrange a meeting with Elen, she had asked to meet with Minos.
"Young master, Ms. Elen has arrived at the hotel, and she is on her way here," a soldier came to inform.
After a while, the beautiful young blonde woman walked in through his apartment's door where he had been staying all these days. She was wearing a completely white dress, highlighting her curves to the finest in contrast to the surrounding. But much to Minos' surprise, she was not alone and was also accompanied by a certain young man.
He was a blond, green-eyed young man whose features were similar to her own, and was wearing a long silver robe, and had a look of discontent on his face. That, of course, was Luke, who came under his father's orders to make an apology to Minos.
'Oh! So, this guy came along with her. That must be about the items I took from this idiot.' Minos thought with a smile on his face.
At that moment, the soldiers left the room, leaving only Minos, Ruth, Elen, and Luke in the room.
Ruth didn't want to leave, as she enjoyed watching others' problems. After all, in a place like this, where she had a lot of free time, watching such occasions was a form of entertainment to her.
Minos also didn't care that she might have overheard his conversations, as it certainly wouldn't be a big deal for someone like Ruth who came from the Gray Clouds Sect, and he wouldn't be talking about any secrets with Elen…
Besides, she was also his mother's disciple, so she certainly wouldn't try to harm him on purpose. At least there was no reason for her to do that. Rather, she would also be leaving soon after the Spiritual Tournament, so, the young Stuart saw no problem with her being present during the conversation.
While Ruth was comfortably seated in a large armchair a few hands away, Elen and Luke settled on a sofa facing Minos' chair.
"It is good to see you again, Ms. Elen. Can I know the reason for this sudden visit of yours?" Minos asked without playing around the bush.
"It's good to see you too. The reason for my sudden visit is to talk to you about the Silver-grade technique that was inside the spatial ring that Mr. Minos collected from Luke," she said with a smile.
'As expected…' Minos thought while listening to what Elen continued, "But before that, Luke, don't you want to say anything to Mr. Minos?" Elen said, turning to the young master of the Nash family, who had an embarrassed expression on his face.
While he had a face utterly red in shame and anger, Luke tried to calm himself by thinking about the general situation, 'Calm down… Calm down. This moment is for my own good. The most important thing for me is to regain my father's confidence and get the spot for the Elemental Sect!'
'For a nobleman, even waiting for decades to exact his revenge is not the end of the world. When I get back from the Western Empire, I will be able to settle accounts with this guy without any trouble.' Luke thought as he tried to recover from the embarrassment of this situation.
At the same time, the corner of Minos' lips curved up as he thought, 'Huh, this guy isn't here to apologize, is he?'
At that moment, young Luke took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Minos, forgive me for what happened. I made a mistake and ended up attacking an ally of our family without a reason. I'm genuinely sorry for what happened."
'Hehe, this guy truly knows how to swallow his pride when he should. At least he's not a complete waste of our Nash family's resources,' Elen reflected, watching the way Luke was acting.
After the apology, Elen took the initiative and spoke to Minos, "I am aware that Mr. Minos deserves retribution for what occurred, and I dare to say that if I were in your place, I would also collect my adversary's property."
She then made a forced look on her face and then continued.
"But this Silver-grade technique is essential for our family and although we have several copies of it, letting someone outside the family get even one of them could bring a lot of problems for us.
Cultivators could create spiritual techniques with a higher understanding and a certain spiritual level. For example, developing a Golden-grade technique would require a cultivator to be at level 100. On the other hand, to create a White-grade technique, the minimum required level of spiritual power was equivalent to level 40.
But in order to create copies, the original parchment of the technique was required and along with that, it needed the material necessary to store the spirituality of the technique and also a cultivator with a certain level.
For example, if one wanted to create a copy of a Silver-grade technique, the cultivator needed to be at least level 59 and for a Golden-grade technique, the person making the copy would have to be at least level 79 to succeed!
Elen then continued, "And so, I would like to negotiate this copy with Mr. Minos. Since it is just a copy, this technique could be sold for at least 2,000 medium-grade crystals. Therefore, we will pay you 3,000 medium-grade crystals for you, since we also have offended an ally with Luke's recent actions."
Elen then sighed, "With that, I hope that our relationship will not be affected."