Shattered Ocean Planet.

After stepping into the spatial rift, Yao Jun had instantly raised his defenses and prepared himself to be battered by fragments of space and spatial blades, but the inside of the rift was completely calm. There were no fragments, no spatial blades, space beneath him had even solidified, allowing him to walk as if he was on dry ground. Was something like this still considered a spatial rift, even though it seemed more like a direct tunnel through space? And just how much power did it take to create such a safe and stable tunnel through space?

Yao Jun could only marvel at it, quickly moving towards the distant planet. Since he did not have to focus on defending himself, he took the chance to inspect the ring that contained the rewards from Diana. The first thing he noticed upon inspecting the ring was that the inside was far larger than any other interspatial ring that he had ever seen. Both the ring and the internal space were also incredibly robust, so it was clear that the ring was very valuable.

The ring only contained three things, a veritable mountain of Spirit Stones from every grade between Mortal and Earth, and two small slips of jade. Yao Jun took out the two pieces of jade, sinking part of his mind into them to check the contents.

The first slip contained a simple message that explained how he could change the appearance of the interspatial ring, making it less likely that others would try to rob it. The second slip contained a technique, as well as a short message from Arthurius.

"Your cultivation level and strength are rather disproportionate, so you best hide it when you are out and about."

The technique described in the slip seemed to be of a rather high grade, as it would not only hide the traces of one's laws but also obscure their cultivation, making it impossible for others to pinpoint it. Of course, if Yao Jun were to encounter Godkings or Heavenly Deities, they would most likely still be able to see through the technique. But everyone who had a cultivation of that realm was incredibly hard to meet, so worrying about getting seen through by them was pointless.

Yao Jun quickly read through the technique, memorizing it. The technique was surprisingly simple, only requiring one to create a hollow point within your body, gathering all your Qi and understanding of your laws into the hollow point and then sealing it up by using any one of your laws. The stronger the law you used to seal it up was, the stronger the technique would be. After reading through the technique, an idea struck Yao Jun. Rather than create a new hollow point, couldn't he just gather everything inside his God Gate, which was far more secure?

He quickly put the idea into practice, but there wasn't much he needed to actually do. The God Gate was already the source of all his Qi and his laws, so they were already gathered inside the God Gate, all he had to do was seal it up. It was not hard to choose which of his laws would be used to seal it up, after all, which of his laws could possibly beat his Supreme Law of Demons?

The technique was very similar to the way he hid the energy from his God Gate, so he did not need too much time to master it. A bubble slowly appeared around his God Gate, sealing it up and preventing any trace of his other laws from leaking out. He had already hidden away all traces of his Supreme Law, preventing other fragment holders from detecting it, so with this technique, all his laws were now hidden away, his cultivation level appearing hazy.

After he finished applying the technique he noticed that he had already arrived at the end of the spatial tunnel, his destination only a few steps away, through a thin sheet of space. He quickly moved over all the items from his own interspatial ring into the new one, putting it on and changing it to look like a somewhat old silver ring. Once the ring looked like a completely normal ring, Yao Jun took the chance to inspect the Shattered Ocean planet.

The planet actually resembled Yao Jun's, it looked like a blue pearl that floated in the darkness of space. But unlike Yao Jun's planet, Shattered Ocean did not have any continents or islands, it was completely covered in water. Yao Jun could also see how the planet had gotten its name, as a wondrous scene spread across the entire planet. All around the planet, the ocean had split apart, as if it had been cracked open, creating several wide valleys within the water. But Yao Jun couldn't see any ice or other elements that prevented the ocean from simply returning to its normal state, so exactly what was keeping the ocean in its current state?

Yao Jun quickly put the thought at the back of his mind, taking a step forward and passing through the sheet of space. After stepping through the membrane of space, he thought the would appear a bit above the planet, but he quickly found out that he was wrong. He felt space distort violently after stepping through the sheet, his body flung away at high speeds.

It turned out the place he had been walking wasn't exactly a tunnel through space, it was more akin to the barrel of a cannon. Once he reached the end of the barrel, he would be shot out so that he could quickly reach his destination. He quickly approached one of the split parts of the ocean, the rushing wind in his ears preventing him from hearing anything but his own curses.

"Arthurius, you absolute bastard! At least warn me about shit like this!"

But no matter how much he cursed, there was no way Arthurius would be able to hear him. His body quickly passed by the surface of the ocean, entering one of the valleys and rapidly approaching the bottom. He split apart the wind around him and slowed down his descent, quickly sweeping the surroundings with his gaze.

He could spot the outline of a city far into the distance, but luckily, it seemed that Arthurius had made sure to shoot him at a place that was devoid of people. The only things around him were the barren bottom of the ocean, as well as the massive walls of water that stretched far above him. He could see fish and Demonic beasts swim within the water, but when he tried touching one of the walls of water, it felt like it was far more solid than even metal.

He quickly landed on the bottom, giving it a quick inspection. I was completely dry and cracked, dusty and gray, so it was clear that the ocean had split apart long ago, probably far longer than Yao Jun could imagine. There were no traces of life in the area, so it seemed like no one had been here for quite some time, probably why Arthurius had settled on this place as Yao Jun's destination. After giving the ground a quick inspection, Yao Jun raised his head and looked toward the distant city, muttering to himself.

"Since Arthurius sent me here, I guess that city over there should have someone that is heading to Earthen Peak."

Yao Jun straightened out his somewhat disheveled robe and then started moving towards the city. The city was far away, but the distance was not much to Yao Jun. Not only was his speed fast because of his cultivation level, but also thanks to his laws of lightning and space. Even when he didn't actively use them, they would still subtely influence his speed. Thanks to that, he managed to reach the city after only spending a few hours of walking.

The city was quite different from the cities Yao Jun was used to seeing, it was much more open. There was no defensive wall that surrounded the city and protected it from attacks, one could enter the city from every possible angle. The buildings were also strange, built out of what seemed to be colorful coral, the shapes of the buildings mimicking either coral formations or various underwater plants.

Yao Jun easily entered the city, no one stopping him to make him pay an entrance fee or check his intentions. The ground in the city was not as cracked and dusty as the ground he had seen on the way, it was moister and more porous, so someone was clearly taking good care of it.

There were people clad in what seemed to be full body armor made out of rough shark hide walking around, weapons made out of Demonic beast parts strapped to their backs or waist. They moved around in groups of five, keeping a vigilant eye on the surroundings, so Yao Jun guessed that they were probably guards. But he was still confused. Were these guards alone enough to defend the city, would it not be better to have a defensive wall just in case?

The city was inhabited by quite a wide variety of species, as Yao Jun saw people from not only the World Tree Clan and the Final Fire Clan, but also several different races that he had never seen before. There were signs all around the city, showing the direction and distance to certain popular locations.

Despite being on a completely different planet far from his own, this planet used the same written symbols as Yao Jun's own planet had used. Thanks to this, he suddenly realized that it had been the same for the World Tree Clan and the Final Fire Clan, he had been able to talk with them like normal. He could not help but wonder, was the same language used all over the universe? And if it was like that, how had one singular language spread all over the universe? There were some different accents here and there, but the language was still largely the same.

He was curious, but now was not the time to waste time thinking about it, he had to find someone that was heading to Earthen Peak. There would not be any signs that told him that information, so he decided to simply stop and ask the closest group of guards.

"Excuse me. I am looking for a caravan or group that is headed to Earthen Peak planet and is willing to bring more people along. Would you happen to know if there is anyone like that here?"

The group of guards stopped, their gazes turning onto Yao Jun. Their helmets were shaped like shark heads, the gaping maw revealing a small part of their face, showing that they only had a single crimson eye. The question he asked seemed surprisingly normal, as one of the guards quickly answered it, his voice somewhat raspy.

"To Earthen Peak? There are indeed four different groups leaving within the week that are open to taking in more people. One is leaving tomorrow, a merchant group that is looking to visit a few of the closer planets to pick up new wares and sell their old ones. The second one is leaving in three days and consists of touring people that are looking to explore the wonders of the various planets of the universe. The third one is a group looking to make a delivery to the Heaven's Secrets Company branch located on Earthen Peak, so they are heading directly there, that group is leaving in five days. The fourth group is leaving in four days and consists of cultivators from this planet who are looking to join the Golden Arena on Earthen Peak, so they are likely heading directly there."

Just like Yao Jun thought, there were indeed quite a few people looking to head to Earthen Peak. It was one of the closer planets that had a branch of the Heaven's Secrets Company, so there were always people looking to head there. Yao Jun quickly measured the four different options, swiftly settling on one of them as he asked for more information.

"I see, thank you for telling me. Do you know how I can hitch a ride with the third group?"

The first two groups were going to visit other planets, so they would likely spend quite a bit more time before arriving at Earthen Peak, so they were out of the question. The two lasts group were both heading straight there, but the fourth group consisted of people looking to join an arena, so they could very well be battle maniacs. Traveling with people like that could easily make it hard to relax, and there was no guarantee that they wouldn't make any stops on the way, so he settled on the group that was going to make an official delivery. One of the guards gave a slight nod of his head, pointing at a tall building that was visible in the distance.

"You can head to that building over there, the one that looks like a pink sea anemone. Just tell them that you have come to join Saraya's group. They probably won't just let you join for free, so you will either have to pay for your seat or work as a guard."

Yao Jun followed the man's finger, quickly spotting the building he was talking about, a tall building made out several thick and sturdy tentacles that leaned against each other and stretched towards the sky. He thanked the guards once more before making his way towards the building he had been directed toward. Once he got closer to the building, he saw that the tentacles were, in fact, a strange type of soft and malleable stone. He touched one of the tentacles, which was several tens of meters thick, his finger pushing in the part of the wall he touched.

Once again he found himself curious at just how such a building was made, but he pushed down his curiosity for the moment. He found a door made out of purple coral on one of the tentacles, pushing it open and entering the building.

The inside of the building carried a faint salty scent, reminding Yao Jun of the time he had visited a coastal city. The inside was quite open and decorated rather neatly, soft chairs and couches in a wide variety of colors spread around the room, crystal tables covered with covers of silk placed in front of them. There were several doors in the room, probably leading to the rooms within the other tentacles.

There was a long wooden counter placed at the left of the room, a young girl from an unknown race standing behind the counter, a sweet smile on her face. Carved into the wall behind the counter was an image of a large shark that had two dorsal fins and a single crimson eye.

The young girl had deep blue skin, and she had gills instead of ears. She only had three fingers on each hand, and her hair carried some resemblance to seaweed, but it looked a bit silkier. The moment he entered the room, the young girl had locked her eyes on him, so Yao Jun did not bother with wasting any time, walking over and stating his business.

"Hello, I have come to join Saraya's group, the one heading to Earthen Peak."

The girl quickly nodded her head, crouching down behind the counter and pulling out a thick book. She spent a bit of time looking for a certain page, raising her head back to Yao Jun once she found the page she was looking for.

"Very well, are you going to pay for a seat, or will you be working as a handyman?"

The guards had said that he would have to work as a guard if he couldn't pay for his seat, but now it seemed like they had been wrong, he would have to work as a handyman instead. Yao Jun rolled his eyes a bit, giving the two options some quick thought before answering.

"I'll pay for the seat. How much is it?"

They called it working as a handyman, but Yao Jun could guess that it was probably more akin to working as a slave. And now that he had some funds, he did not feel like working as a slave. If it turned out that the money he spent on buying a seat here prevented him from buying the information he was looking for, he would simply sell some of the items he had acquired after the battles he had taken part in. The girl nodded her head once more, turning back to the book for a short moment before reading out the prices.

"The most affordable seat will cost you 75 Spirit Grade Spirit Stones, but if you are looking for more luxury during the journey, you can pay for one of the more exclusive seats. The prices for those seats range from 200 Spirit Grade Spirit Stones to 25 Earth Grade Spirit Stones."

Yao Jun felt the corner of his mouth twitch after hearing the prices. 25 Earth Grade Spirit Stones for the most luxurious seat? Earth Grade Spirit Stones were the second highest grade of Spirit Stone, at least as far as Yao Jun knew, only below the Heaven Grade. Even after killing so many people during the previous battles, he only had about 10 Earth Grade Spirit Stones on him. Since the prices were like this, his answer was clear.

"The cheapest will be enough."

Yao Jun took out the required Spirit Stones, handing them over to the girl as he spoke. She accepted the Spirit Stones, pulling out a necklace shaped like a sharp tooth from her robe, placing it against the Spirit Stones. After coming into contact with the Spirit Stones, the necklace lit up with a blue light, the young girl nodding her head upon seeing the light. She put away the necklace and Spirit Stones turning back to Yao Jun and giving him a slight bow.

"Thank you for your patronage, please arrive outside this building at dawn in five days."

Yao Jun did not immediately leave the building, asking where he could find an inn where he could spend the five days waiting. The girl quickly recommended an inn that was located not far from the building so Yao Jun thanked her and left the building, following the given directions. He ordered a cheap room for himself, but he had plenty of food, so he didn't bother ordering any of that.

Once he entered the room, which contained a bed, a table and a few chairs, two dressers, and a large bathroom, he simply sat down on the bed and closed his eyes, starting to quietly cultivate as he waited for the days to pass.