Heaven, Earth, Me

While hovering over the apparently ruined world, Yasenia and company detected a few energy signals that didn't belong to Star Beasts, increasing their interest in what was happening down there. 

Kali spoke. "That's the area where I feel the Natural Treasure. What do you think we should do, Tatyana?"

Tatyana pondered and commented. "Yasenia, can you keep up and fly above this area for a day or so?"

Yasenia nodded without problems. "I can. Do you want to test the waters? However, what if I am misunderstood as a hostile Star Beast? The beings down there might come and attack me."

Tatyana smiled. "Don't worry, your camouflage is basically perfect. Only other Star Beasts can detect you… Well, if they are strong enough, they will also be able to. Yet, I would say that even Gu Chen and Ayanduin would have trouble spotting you. I think that unless they are aware that you are around, they would miss you." 

Tatyana looked at them, and Gu Chen admitted without fear. "Yasenia's ability to hide is indeed great. Sensing her is comparable to finding a needle in a haystack for a mortal."

With their reassurance, Yasenia lowered her distance towards the giant planet and then hovered at a relatively safe distance. The world, due to the lack of Heaven, didn't have a perfect 24 hour day and night cycle. The star that illuminated it was far away as well. Still, one thing the world had was a dense atmosphere. Due to its density, retaining heat was possible and spotting large patches of water was easy from where they were.

Regardless, the vegetation in the World was severely lacking; it looked more like a giant rocky desert with lakes here and there and patches of forest. 

The zone Yasenia's group was observing was barren. If it weren't for the powerful scanner of their warship, they would've probably missed that there was life on the planet.

Alaia was observing the map and saw that the scan was about to be completed. When the energy signals appeared on the three-dimensional map, her face hardened. She quickly spoke. "Young Miss, I can sense several Sixth Realm auras on the surface of the planet. Also, the grand majority of people here are in the fifth realm. I can detect a few large conglomerations of people, but overall, the population probably doesn't go over one hundred thousand."

Yasenia frowned and commented. "Even if the population is low, you said most of them are fifth realm cultivators… that means that there are almost 100,000 Dantian Spiritualization Realm cultivators down there with a few Transcendence Realm cultivators."

Most of the people who were originally from Distancia were instantly baffled. One hundred thousand fifth Realm cultivators were numbers difficult to fathom. 

Tatyana looked at Yasenia and asked with a smile. "What do you think we should do?"

The dragoness looked at the world, and remembering the two talismans that had Tatyana's actual strength on her, a very ruthless idea flashed in her mind for a second. 'I could kill everything on the planet and collect massive loot together with Kali's Natural Treasure… However, doing so is too cruel.' 

Sighing and shaking her head so that the idea disappeared from her mind, the dragoness thought again and commented. "If there are so many people, we can conclude that they are not native here. After all, it doesn't make sense for the grand majority to be fifth-realm cultivators. Thinking logically, it is possible that this place is some sort of hub for nearby powers to send their elders to and collect resources. Other planets didn't have something like this, and there is also Kali's Natural Treasure, which means that this place most likely has an ancient tomb or ruins that's worth exploring for all these people, even with the risks that entering a Nebula suggests."

Yasenia's calm analysis left many speechless. 

The dragoness commented. "I think we should be able to go down and be relatively safe due to Ayanduin's and Gu Chen's presence. If we act like a single sect, we will also be more convincing."

Everyone on the ship weighed the idea, and finally, everyone agreed. Yasenia smiled faintly. "Okay, we are now all from the Astral Sky Sect~. Welcome, welcome, my disciples!"

Everyone rolled their eyes, but they all agreed with her. No other sect would be suitable for grouping them other than the Astral Sky Sect.

Ayanduin commented. "So, from now on, you should call us left and right guardian. Those are usually high positions in Sects, reserved for two of the strongest combatants."

Yasenia agreed. "Sure, left for you and right for Gu Chen."

Gu Chen smiled. "Okay, disciple Yasenia, go down to the World! Let's see what we can find there."

Yasenia rolled her eyes. Before she left, Angel asked. "You won't change back into your humanoid form, Yasenia?"

The dragoness hummed. "I should. While I am strongest in this form, it is too eye-catching. Give me a few minutes. I have absorbed too much Cosmic Energy; releasing it is somewhat tedious."

Everyone felt Yasenia's energy pulsing outward silently once. With the energy pulse, the dragoness's energy slowly diminished. It felt as if the dragon was shedding the outer shell, layer by layer until the usual dragon under all of it naturally appeared. Then, Yasenia shrunk quickly and landed on the ship, fully transformed back into her human form while wearing her revealing blue dress.

Her beauty shone like the stars, and her allure gripped the hearts of everyone like inescapable tendrils. Yasenia smiled and said. "Done~. Thank you for waiting."

Angel trotted forward and dove face-first between Yasenia's soft mountains without a single word, leaving everyone speechless. Yasenia laughed softly and hugged Angel. Then, she looked at Gu Chen and Ayanduin. "We'll be under your care, seniors."

Both of them smiled and nodded. Tatyana commented. "I'll warn both of you against potential threats that can beat you. Have your spiritual channel open to me at all times." �

"Understood."

The [Profound Skeletal World Jumping Warship] then turned and zoomed toward the world, reaching the ground in just a few seconds.

Once down there, they looked at the surroundings and couldn't help but gasp. Unlike the habitable planets they had seen in the past, this world had terribly high gravity. 

Without the protection of Heaven, the laws of Physics ruled. Due to the massive rocky planet's own weight, everyone felt as if their bodies were at least thirty times heavier.

Of course, for people like them, that didn't mean much. Their bodies were extremely strong. Still, getting accustomed to the new sensation took them a few minutes.

Yasenia asked aloud. "Is everyone accustomed to this world's gravity?"

Receiving affirmative answers, the dragoness smiled. "Well, time to get accustomed to the atmospheric pressure~."

The shield surrounding the warship disappeared, and everyone felt like giant hands suddenly started trying to compress their bodies from all sides. Money, the weakest of them all, actually grunted for a second. Yasenia looked over and asked softly. "How are you doing, Money?"

Ayanduin waved his hand, pushing the pressure away and protecting her. "Stay close to me. If I have to fight, could you protect her, Yasenia?"

The dragoness smiled and gestured Money over. "Come, come. Stay close to me so that we can protect you."

Money walked over and nodded, her tone as flat as a prairie. "Thank you."

Cecile spoke to Yasenia, her tone cold and flat like usual. "She is happy."

The dragoness, now flanked by two inexpressive women, couldn't help but laugh. "You both are adorable. Everyone, get down from the flying ship; I'll store it in my ring."

After storing the ship, Yasenia looked around and expanded her spiritual sense. In space, the Spiritual Sense could expand for millions of kilometers. After all, most of it was a vacuum. However, here, the dragoness was surprised that after 15 kilometers, she felt her spiritual sense getting tight. 'Oh? Quite a small distance.'

Looking around, she saw that everyone had frowns on their face, clearly feeling the same resistance. With fifteen kilometers, she could honestly not tell anything significant, so she turned toward the two big bosses. "Well, left and right guardians, where do we go?"

Ayanduin and Gu Chen looked at each other, and Gu Chen commented. "Take the lead. I have to take care of my girls as well, so I'll be the backup if something happens. Moreover, you have much more experience exploring unknown territories. I am sure your directions will be better than mine."

The merchant smiled. "Sure." Then, he pondered and pointed forward. "Let's continue moving forward. We landed not too far away from where Kali sensed her Natural Treasure, around 400 kilometers. If we advance at a fast pace, we should make it in four hours… Well, four Heavenly Hours?" Ayanduin looked at Tatyana and asked. "Does everyone measure the time equally? After the Heavenly Temperature Index you spoke about, I am doubting everything, to be honest."

Tatyana laughed. "I've never had troubles in that regard. It is quite widespread because the majority of people are from worlds under a Heaven."

Ayanduin nodded. "Great! It would become messy otherwise. Anyway, forward~!"

Yasenia grabbed Money with her tail, and then the group shot forward, creating several dust trails. Evelyn commented as they traveled. "The wind is very strong, isn't it?"

Yasenia looked around. "With such a dense atmosphere, winds are bound to be very strong. Something like this would probably rip an entire mortal city from the ground and grind it down to fine dust in a few days."

They continued traveling through the winds that would make a hurricane feel like a faint breeze, arriving near the first place with large structures they found in this desert and rocky world.

The Mermaid Queen asked, curious. "Is that a wall?"

Coraline hummed. "It looks like so. Senior Ayanduin, can you tell with your spiritual sense?"

Ayanduin squinted and nodded. "Yes. It is the place where Kali's Natural Treasure is. Most likely, ruins of an ancient city. Although, I am impressed with the architecture behind it. The walls are almost in a pristine state despite these winds constantly hitting it with flying rocks."

Gu Chen hummed. "They look quite worn down, no?"

Ayanduin smiled. "They are probably a few hundred thousand years old. Even if they look quite worn down on the outside, the fact that they are still standing even now is nothing but miraculous. That place is completely abandoned, so nothing has been doing maintenance during all these years."

Gu Chen smiled. "I can't argue against that."

While they approached, a flash of light coming from the east stole their gaze for a few instant.

Turning to look at the origin, they spotted a gargantuan explosion. Yasenia frowned. "Shockwave incoming, deploy defensive skills!"

Everyone waved their hands, summoning a myriad of defensive skills.

Then, the shockwave arrived.

BOOOM!

Several of the shields broke, making many of them grunt. Yasenia frowned and muttered. "This strength… It must be Transcendent Realm cultivators fighting."