After two weeks of traveling through the terrestrial part of the Marine Empire, Minos, and his group had made it most of the way to the terrestrial capital of the state.
Due to its division into land and underwater areas, the Marine Empire had two capitals, one in each of these two areas.
However, unlike what one could see in many states around the Spiritual World, the land capital of this state was not located on the coast but inland.
Therefore, Minos and his group had to move from the northeast coast of the territory to the southwest, where the capital and the main cities of the territory were located in the center of the state.
Due to the volcanic nature of the land part of the Marine Empire, there weren't many forests in this state. Most of them were located in a 10,000 square kilometer area in the center of this gigantic island.
Outside of this area and the strip that extended up to 100 kilometers from the local coastline, there was practically no vegetation, with volcanic areas and extreme terrain that made normal life impossible.
Minos and Emlyn had seen this for themselves while traveling with the 8 mercenaries they had hired earlier, and they had had virtually no problems with beasts or other groups like theirs because of this characteristic.
But even if the terrain weren't full of natural hazards that prevented lower-level beings from thriving, they still wouldn't have encountered many opponents on their way.
In a territory as large as the Flaming Empire but with a population of only 90 million, or 4.5% of the population of the Edwardstone Family's state, it would be challenging to find living beings outside of the cities.
And so, after days of traveling through this area, they hadn't even come across another group on their way.
But that didn't mean they hadn't encountered any dangers!
...
It was late afternoon, and the sky over the Marine Empire was blue, with not a cloud in sight, while much of this great state was hot.
While the weather looked perfect from afar, things weren't so simple for Minos' party as they tried to get past a geyser area.
As they walked slowly through the area, where violent jets of scalding water erupted from holes in the ground almost every moment, Minos' group had their guards up in whatever form they could best use their characteristics.
"Wait a little longer!" One of the Demigods said as the group stood in a position waiting for the right moment to pass through another part of this area.
This area they were in was so unstable that they couldn't just open wormholes and cross them through the void of space. If they attempted to do so, which was already difficult enough to open a spatial rift, they would still risk the wormhole's space walls collapsing and seriously injuring them.
On the other hand, even with the speed of several of these mercenaries, they couldn't cross this geyser field without getting hit once, as it was more than 50 kilometers long.
Emlyn stood motionless, waiting for the moment to act, sweating as she felt the searing heat of the area.
But looking at the jets of boiling water that could reach tens of kilometers high, she wouldn't think of just trying to fly over this area.
Even if the special hot water in this area didn't reach the highest point that a cultivator like her could fly to, it still didn't mean it was safe to pass through this airspace. The steam and the area's laws were so terrible that even Spiritual Sages could die if they risked going there.
If someone of Emlyn's level were caught in one of those water jets, they would melt before their body even reached a high altitude.
Still, it was the least dangerous way to reach the state's interior. Other routes would expose them to diamond rains, volcanic eruptions, space storms, and even areas where lightning could injure Demigods.
This desolate area of the Marine Empire was one of the most chaotic in the Spiritual World due to the high local spiritual density and the geographical location of this gigantic island. For this reason, experts worldwide would come here to train when they reach the final parts of the 10th stage.
Although these areas were hazardous for cultivators up to the low levels of the 10th stage, for the strongest ones, those above level 95, the power of these natural phenomena could help them prepare for their future advancement, especially the advancement to level 100.
But because Minos' group chose the less dangerous path, they didn't encounter any of these high-level beings who were tempering their bodies in this area.
"Now!"
When the man leading the group saw one of the geysers reach the peak of its jet, he immediately signaled his group, flying at the maximum speed the weakest of them could go.
All the others flew after this mercenary, covering several kilometers in an instant until he stopped again.
They would do this for the next hour and a half until they finally crossed this dangerous area.
"Hah... hah... I didn't think traveling through the Marine Empire would be so dangerous." Emlyn commented to her group, shocked at the dangers they had faced so far.
Before passing through this area of geysers, they had experienced several other strange natural phenomena, many of which could kill careless Sages.
After feeling enough natural forces to kill her several times, Emlyn couldn't help but shout along with her teammates.
One of the women in the group heard this and smiled at the beast. "It would have been much more dangerous if we had taken a different route, Emlyn. This area we traveled through was definitely the safest of all."
"Hmm, perhaps the only route as 'safe' as this would have been the one from the southeast to the center of the state. But there is a region of endless ice in that area that could freeze those who cannot protect themselves."
"That's pretty extreme!" Emlyn commented, finding it absurd that people would live in such a place. "How do people from this state move around here?"
The level 91 Demigod explained. "The Marine Empire was created by beings of high talent and level who allied themselves with refugees from all over the Spiritual World.
While some of them had extreme characteristics that allowed them to live in this place, others had no choice but to accept those circumstances."
Minos nodded and said. "Nobody wanted to live on this island in the distant past, Emlyn. Think about it. Most of the enemies of the people who managed to cross this desolate area wouldn't be able to do the same and would end up dying before reaching their destination.
In a way, despite the dangers, this is a paradise for people on the run!"
As Emlyn understood this, one of the Demigods in the group said. "In any case, we've already passed the greatest danger. In one day's journey, we'll reach the part where there is life in our state. From now on, we won't have these natural dangers.
With that, they continued their journey toward the center of the Marine Empire.
