The trip would last several weeks, but for Hei, it wasn't a problem - they would spend time cultivating waiting for their destination. Despite being calm, he couldn't hide a hint of trepidation and uneasiness for the unknown that awaited him and his family.

Fortunately, the magnificent ocean panorama distracted him from his thoughts. Protected by that corridor of stone blocks called the 'Imperial Corridor,' the s.h.i.+p they were embarked on could travel at full speed regardless of the dangers inside those waters. From the deck of the s.h.i.+p, therefore, Hei, Lian, Ye, and Xing could see the fantastic water creatures that lived there.

Fish of all colors and shapes dominated the ocean section near the surface. They traveled in groups of hundreds or thousands of specimens, forming multicolored clouds under the water. Obviously, there weren't only them, but an indeterminate number of other species.

However, Hei knew that true wonders were hidden in the darkness of the ocean floor. His mother had explained to him that in the aquatic areas, whether they were lakes, seas, or oceans, as they descended, they would see bizarre-looking spirit beasts, nowhere to be found on the surface or in the higher underwater areas. Hei was curious if he would be able to find out which life forms were hidden in the bottom, but he wasn't strong enough to dive into such low depths.

'What a beautiful fish... why don't we catch one? I bet they taste great.'

'Ye! Be careful. You're drooling on my blanket. I won't share it with you next time.'

The two little divine beasts were above the parapet, while they were covered by one of the many silk blankets created by Xing. Since the s.h.i.+p was going at high speed, the wind blowing on the deck was intense, causing chills of cold to those who were standing there. Hei and Lian, too, were standing next to the two small divine beasts, and they were admiring the surrounding landscape. Several days had gone by now, and the s.h.i.+p had never stopped so far, not even during the night.

"Do not argue. Unfortunately, Ye, the s.h.i.+p goes too fast to catch some fish, you will have to be content with watching them from afar."

'Oh, no! Sob... and I wanted a little fish. Can we get one as soon as we stop?'

'Ah, I want one too. Take two then.'

"Ahah, of course. All you want. For now, be satisfied with the supplies I bought. And don't overeat it, or else you'll have to eat the food served here."

Lian then laughed in a low voice for that comic sibling's scene. Usually, Hei would have had a serious att.i.tude, but it was nice to see him so carefree while interacting with Ye and Xing. Seeing Lian laughing, the three siblings also began to laugh, placing their concern for the unknown of the empire in the corner of their mind. And it was while they were laughing that they noticed a detail.

Hei suddenly stopped laughing, followed by the others. The young martial artist and beast tamer repeatedly began to inhale as he tried to understand what had changed. Ye and Xing also had a similar response - Xing's body hair was swaying furiously left and right like a pendulum; Ye instead had pulled out her tongue and was waving it in the air. Lian, on the other hand, who had no particular detection moves, still tried to concentrate and observe her surroundings.

Soon, the four of them realized what had caused their reaction - the air they were breathing. It was difficult to describe it accurately since air had no color or shape, yet it was as if the more Hei and the others went on, the richer the air would get. As if until then, what they had breathed wasn't air but only something vaguely similar.

The two humans and the two small divine beasts began to breathe by ingesting large mouthfuls of air to regularize their heart rhythm. When they recovered, they understood why the air had become richer - spirit power. The air itself contained spirit power, and martial artists would absorb the spirit power of the environment for cultivation. However, the spirit power in the air was becoming more concentrated, thus causing that strange reaction.

"It's incredible. The amount of spirit power I feel around my body is almost a fifth larger than that in the islands, and we are still far from the Continent. As we get closer, that amount should go up." Hei said in amazement as he looked at his hands and examined the internal flow of spirit power.

"Yes, you are right. For now, however, it isn't convenient for us to cultivate. During cultivation, we need the internal and external exchange flow to be constant and h.o.m.ogeneous. With the speed of the s.h.i.+p, there is a risk that the amount of spirit power in the air will change rapidly. It would only lead to internal injuries." Lian was also amazed but maintained her rationality and quickly examined the unexpected inconvenience of such a discovery.

"Okay, then. Until we reach our destination, we will refrain from cultivating. But we can't even stay without doing anything. We will train without using our spirit power to keep us active." Hei announced, deciding for everyone.

Hei and his family, therefore, spent days training their bodies with normal exercises as they once did before awakening their spirit power. In a way, it was like going back to their origins. An avalanche of memories of their period in the Multicolored Forest awoke in their hearts. Lian, who wasn't yet with them at the time, wasn't excluded; Hei, Xing, and Ye told her about the days spent among the vegetation of that beautiful and unforgettable forest that had once been their home.

*

Time flew quickly, and the days became weeks. By now, they had almost reached their destination. To their amazement, as they progressed on their journey, they began to see several ramifications that arose from the Imperial Corridor, like the trees of a tree that stretched sideways from the trunk.

It should be known that with the disappearance of the divine beasts, humans and demons had the go-ahead in modifying the territories to their liking, including the ocean. The Sun Empire had, therefore, spent a lot of resources on a large system of oceanic roads where its imperial s.h.i.+ps could travel safely without the danger of being attacked by spirit beasts. Thus, the name Imperial Corridor was unsuitable since the whole system was more like a road network that reached all the territories of the Sun Empire bordering the ocean.

It should also be stressed that although martial artists were able to fly once they reached the second rank, transport by sea and by land hadn't gone into disuse at all, to the detriment of how slower and annoying they could be. And the reason was very simple and straightforward.

Despite the empire's power, it wasn't uncommon to come across groups of malicious martial artists. a.s.sa.s.sins, brigands, thieves ... every type of sc.u.m was present, as they were present in any other territory inhabited by humans. Flying would have consumed part of a person's spirit power. The higher the distance and speed with which you traveled, the higher the amount spent. If the person or group in charge of carrying a load were to be attacked while flying, there was a real possibility that they would be too tired even to fight or flee.

But it wasn't just the humans that needed to be guarded against. Spirit beasts were also a significant source of trouble. Many accidents occurred with spirit beasts attacking human settlements, and the reasons were varied - lack of food, overpopulation, trespa.s.sing of territory by martial artists, or to protect themselves from the human threat.

So it became essential that there was a safe transportation system. So the Empire created this oceanic road network for s.h.i.+ps. At the same time, for land transports, the Empire established various outposts and arranged the cities according to a precise scheme so as to guarantee an equitable distribution of the inhabitants.

At the same time, although they posed a danger, the value of the spirit beasts used as transport was raised. This practice also allowed air travels through a flying spirit beast, as well as terrestrial or oceanic ones. Using a spirit beast as a means of transportation wouldn't have wasted any spirit power, even letting the martial artist be able to cultivate while traveling. However, this method was more suitable for those traveling alone or with a small group and not for an entire convoy.

"We'll be soon arriving in the Southern Imperial Capital." The s.h.i.+p's captain said to Hei and Lian. He was a third-rank martial artist and had been commissioned to transport the two young martial artists of the islands to the city with the nearest Royal War Academy.

"The Southern Imperial Capital?" Hei doubtfully asked as he didn't know the division of the empire's territories.

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"Right, you are from the islands of the Forgotten Ocean. I will give you a brief explanation of the subdivision of the Sun Empire so that you can understand roughly."

The captain of the s.h.i.+p, therefore, started his explanation. The Sun Empire occupied the western side of the Continent, bordering on the east with the Moon Empire. However, the s.p.a.ce between the two Empires was no-man's area because it was nothing more than the battlefield used a hundred thousand years ago in the Final War. In that place, there was a huge crater, and the once lush soil had become arid and desert. It made no sense to colonize such an inhospitable land so close to the enemy.

In addition to that desert area between the two Empires, there was another portion of territory that was no-man's land - the Wild Region of the Continent. There, lived numerous fifth-level spirit beasts, and if it weren't for the strange curse that struck all the spirit beasts, by this time, they would have already become sixth-level spirit beasts, meaning divine beasts. Since various Spirit Emperors of the Empire would have had to be mobilized to clean up that region, such a procedure was unworkable. Even one less Spirit Emperor was a ma.s.sive blow to the Empire's military power against demons.

Nonetheless, the portion of the Continent occupied by the Sun Empire was still gigantic. It was so large that many areas weren't inhabited and were mainly used as training grounds for martial artists in search of fortune, and they had been left as dens for spirit beasts.

Returning to the division of the territories, the Sun Empire was divided into five regions. The central region was controlled directly by the Emperor and the royal family and housed the capital of the empire - the Imperial Capital of the Sun. The other four regions were instead divided according to an X-shaped scheme and left to the Eight Big Families' administration for account of the Sun Emperor.

The region where Hei was traveling to was the Southern Region. To be more precise, they were headed for the capital of that region - the Southern Imperial Capital. There, it could be found one of the four Royal War Academies - the Southern Royal War Academy.

"I would like to thank you, captain, for your explanation. It was very useful." Hei thanked the s.h.i.+p captain with a slight bow of the head. Although it had been a quick summary, it still gave him a better understanding of the internal division of the empire.

"Do not mention it. However, there shouldn't be much left. So you should prepare yourself." The captain then turned away from Hei and Lian to resume his duties. And as he said, it only took another couple of hours of sailing to reach the Southern Imperial Capital.

From afar, Hei and Lian could see the port of the city getting closer and closer, and when they were at a sufficient distance to distinguish the shapes of the objects from afar, they remained open-mouthed.

Immense.

It was the thought that pa.s.sed through both of them. From afar stood an unknown number of buildings in large quant.i.ties. Usually, when you looked at something from a distance, the objects would appear smaller than what they were. So it was appropriate to remember this phenomenon before a.s.sessing the exact size. For this reason, Hei and Lian were struck when they noticed the section of inhabited land that was widening visibly and the height reached by certain buildings. Even the two little divine beasts were amazed by this demonstration of human civilization. It was a work of art of human ingeniousness.

In the past, the four of them had seen the capital of the Forest Kingdom on the Rainbow Island. Furthermore, during their pirate adventure, they had visited many other cities with a high number of inhabitants. But none of those were comparable in size to the city they had before their eyes. As they approached, they could notice more and more how large the Southern Imperial Capital was.