The Rise of the Black Plain

In the early morning hours after the group arrived at the northernmost point of the continent, the six companions boarded the bone-decorated boat they had discussed with the captain the day before.

They were joined by eleven others, all natives of Zocarro, in the group of up to twenty beings that the snake behind this boat had made available on his ship for this journey.

Even though he hadn't filled his boat to capacity, this level 109 Sovereign left this city at the promised time with 17 of the 20 seats on his boat filled.

His boat didn't have much room for his 17 customers and his crew of seven. Apart from three bathrooms, a cultivation room, and two living rooms, there were no bedrooms or other types of environments on this ship.

In addition, there were the defensive structures behind the operation of this water vehicle, as well as the location of the boat's crew.

Thus, Minos and his companions left this continent, heading toward the dark sea on their way to the Gunaway Refuge!

...

After the group left the continent, they traveled for days until they left the quieter areas of the sea between their starting point and their destination.

These three days and the last three days of the journey were the only ones where they could be sure that nothing too alarming would happen. Between the two areas was the danger of this sea, where natural phenomena and terrible monsters lived.

As soon as the group finished the peaceful part of the journey, the entire group on Cloven's boat changed its behavior.

The natives of Zocarro, heading for the Gunaway Refuge, took up defensive positions while Minos and his people went into formation, ready to act as they had so often done on their journey there.

From the area where his group was, they could see part of the outside of the ship, which was the reason why they finally got into formation.

The group entered a dark area covered in fog, where the sea was rough, causing the group's boat to rock violently.

But that wasn't the only dark sign in that area. Lightning also appeared on the horizon, sometimes accompanied by loud thunderclaps. Meanwhile, they could all feel the eerie aura of this region, the result of local phenomena altering the area's spiritual energy.

Minos sat not far from Ruth in their group formation, using his Bright Eyes to see through the ship, looking mainly at the ocean floor.

With his visual ability and his Incorruptible Heart, he could see far better than anyone else on the ship, even through the dark fog that surrounded them.

Therefore, he soon understood why it was almost impossible to travel through the area with a minimum of safety without being accompanied by an experienced navigator.

Behind the fog, or rather at various points in the fog-shrouded area, were zones of spatial distortion, areas where strange phenomena would definitely put Sovereigns or weaker beings in danger.

'That is some kind of Temporal Vortex.' Minos saw what looked like a swirl of water above a drain, but it wasn't that simple.

If someone entered it, they could be thrown to a strange place in the past or future!

But as much as there were strange phenomena that made it possible to go to the past or the future, the rules of the universe were against this kind of change. For example, if you accidentally traveled to the past, something like the Lightning Tribulation of the Spiritual World would try to wipe out your existence.

Could you survive that? It's hard to say, but it definitely wouldn't be safe or comfortable to be in such a situation.

But in addition to the Temporal Vortex, Minos had identified eight other extremely dangerous areas near his ship, where if one were to enter by accident, it would be impossible to escape before something worse happened.

One of them was similar to the spatial distortions of a wormhole, through which one could be thrown anywhere in the universe if one survived the journey to such a place.

Most of the people who traveled to Gunaway Refuge on that boat were only high-level Grandmasters and low-level Sovereigns. Therefore, something like this spatial distortion was naturally hazardous for them!

Fortunately, the captain of that boat knew the area they were in very well. Taking advantage of the stability of the path through this dangerous area, he sailed at a medium speed.

Although this was the route he usually took, sometimes problems would arise in the middle of the route, and you would either have to stop and wait for a change or take a detour.

There were detours, but none of them were comfortable. The best route was the one planned before the trip started!

That meant that the captain had to be prepared to stop or even change his destination at any time, which could be difficult when sailing at high speed.

That was why such voyages could take several months, even though the distance between the Gunaway Refuge and the northern tip of Oqia wasn't as great as one might think.

While Minos was observing the terrible areas where his group would surely die if they had to face them, the captain was in his control cabin, steering his boat.

He wasn't just paying attention to the phenomena in Minos' field of vision. He was also paying attention to possible monstrous sea creatures.

For some unknown reason, there were monstrous creatures in the seas of Zocarro, creatures that could not be convinced by common sense and were very powerful.

In some ways, these creatures were similar to the ones Minos had encountered on The Obsidian Shore, but the ones in this sea were much stronger, more numerous, and more chaotic.

Minos didn't know that yet. But as this journey progressed, he would discover just how terrifying this sea was!

...

In the blink of an eye, the first three weeks of the voyage passed without anything really worrying happening.

Cloven's crew was just as alert or just as tense as before, still cautiously watching their progress. As much as nothing worrisome had happened in those days, there was no guarantee that nothing would happen today or tomorrow.

So the group stayed prepared, with Minos' group and Cloven's other clients traveling wisely in their surroundings.

No one had taken the time to cultivate, so no one had improved their strength or had any expectation of leveling up in the coming months.

Soon, however, the group would encounter the first problems of their sea voyage!