Ryker held his breath. This was truly the last thing he wanted to see, but surprise wasn’t his first reaction. There was simply no way that a race, Spirit Beast or not, could possibly be so casual with their young.

The logic wrote itself. If the Cyprus Seakings had experts capable of making it to the core of this region, then why wouldn’t other creatures and experts have some capable of doing so as well? Having someone to guard here was practically a guarantee. It was just that Ryker was really hoping that it wouldn’t be such a powerhouse. Unfortunately, it seemed that he wasn’t so lucky in the end.

However, he soon calmed down.

Standing in the swirling mass of water and observing what was up ahead, he saw several eggs that moved his heart. Even the weakest radiated the aura of the 8th Circle, and there were two that seemed to faintly surpass that level, though he couldn’t confirm.

Ironically, Ryker was very used to measuring those beneath the 9th Circle. But those at that level were a problem because, well… he had only ever seen himself.

Much of his sensory feedback and deducing abilities came from experience. So since he only had one data point for 9th Circle Talents, it was a bit hard to tell.

However, that didn’t stop him from locking onto those two eggs. Then, he slowly pulled out the sundial.

He had already adjusted the dial so that it could teleport eggs to him so long as he was within 100 meters. But there were several issues with this plan.

First, he was far from within 100 meters. The God Cyprus King was enormous, its body alone had a thickness of at least five meters and a length of dozens of meters. Though it wasn’t quite 100 meters long, it probably wasn’t very far off from it.

With that kind of size and strength, Ryker didn’t dare to get too close casually.

All things considered, Ryker was still about 300 meters away, still in range of the hurricane so that he could continue to hide himself in its fluctuations. If he was in the calm waters, he wasn’t nearly as confident in hiding himself from this God Realm behemoth.

The second issue was the formation that protected the eggs. The God Realm existence wasn’t the only form of protection here, there was also a formation of Spiritual Patterns that formed a dome. This dome doubled as protection and an incubation method. It pulled in the water source and Spirit Energy from the surroundings to temper and nourish the eggs.

This sort of protective formation was exactly the sort that might be able to block long-distance teleportation even if he got close enough.

There was a third problem as well, and that was obviously the God Realm beast right there.

Ascension Realm existences had Domains. Although Spatial Spirit Beasts were incredibly rare, Ryker had read about some of them, and how to counter them as well. Against such existences, Domains were the best counter.

Domains formed an area of control that made it hard for outsiders to exert influence, thus making it difficult for spatial experts to do what they did best.

The reason this was important was that compared to an Ascended’s Domain, an Elevated’s Domain was on an entirely different level, and a Mythic’s was even more exaggerated.

By the time you got to a God, it could no longer be called a Domain but was rather a Godhood, a God Head, or even a World Manifestation depending on who and what culture was being referred to.

This was all to say that a God’s ability to stop forced teleportations was on an entirely different level than anything Ryker had ever experienced.

When all of these factors were put together, Ryker was truly playing with fire by even taking the sundial out.

But that didn’t stop him in the slightest.

The Silver Mirror made an appearance and Ryker entered an unprecedented state of focus. Then under the timid turtle’s horrified gaze, he began to inch forward.

This time, Ryker shrouded himself not just in the Dao of Water, but also the Dao of Time and the Dao of Sealing.

He locked down the space around him, and even somewhat displaced himself through time. If senses swept over here, it would feel like they were experiencing what the water had once looked like seconds ago before Ryker stepped foot into it.

So long as the God Beast didn’t open its eyes, it shouldn’t be able to detect him.

Ryker was in an unprecedented state of focus, and what shocked the timid turtle all the more was that it had actually been dragged along.

It wanted to struggle and break free, but unfortunately for it, it no longer dared to. By the time it reacted, it was already out of the volatile waters. Even if it wasn’t, it didn’t dare to leave Ryker’s side one way or another. It didn’t have nearly the hiding ability that Ryker did.

Slowly but surely, Ryker moved.

This was the first time he was using his Dao of Time and Sealing like this, but he wielded it all with confidence. His Dao of Water led the charge, becoming the shroud that upheld them all.

At that moment, he had already cut the distance to just 200 meters.

The God Beast let out a snort as it shifted in its sleep, rolling.

Waves of water surged and Ryker’s pupils constricted. This casual movement by the God Beast felt far more dangerous than anything he had experienced in the underwater hurricane. If he was careless, his entire body could be flattened.

Ryker took a slow breath, his blue eyes flashing with a bright light as his soul spread out its influence.

A rudimentary form of his Domain took shape as he began to analyze the oncoming wave of water.

It was so casual, just a roll in its sleep, and yet it commanded the water so effectively. It was an almost careless level of control that made his heart shudder, and yet filled him with aspiration.

A door cracked open in Ryker’s mind, but he didn’t have the time to care for it.

At that moment, the fluctuations of the Dao of Water around him began to shift and change with the waves.

The first rush hit him and he was nearly blown off his feet but barely managed to stabilize himself as he became one with the water.

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Soon, the wave passed by. Ryker held his breath, checking every little detail before he continued to move forward.

190 meters.

180 meters.

150 meters.

140 meters.

The God Beast shifted again.

This time, there was even less time to react, but Ryker still moved with even more fluidity. The first, he had been caught off guard. But this time, he had been ready.

Wave after wave hit him, but his focus remained unmoved.

The air of a God Beast was suffocating. Being this close alone seemed to be enough to bring him to his knees. Compared to his grandfather, this creature in its twilight years was so much more powerful that it was hard to fathom.

Ryker felt his soul being suppressed and he found it difficult even to use his Daos in its presence. It forced him to bring his control in tighter, to rein in his understanding of the world further.

And suddenly, under this pressure, his Dao took that next step forward.

His Dao of Water entered Tier 2.

The change was immediate and the fluctuations around him became far more subtle.

120 meters.

110 meters.

100 meters.

The timid turtle still had no idea what Ryker was doing, but its soul had long since fled its body. It kept fainting and awakening, only to faint again. If not for Ryker dragging it along, it would have been left behind long ago.

If it knew that Ryker only had to be within 100 meters and yet continued forward anyway, it would probably be infuriated enough to die.

Ryker continued to inch forward despite having hit the theoretical limit, patient and unassuming.

By this point, the weight of using his Daos to such an extent was weighing heavily on him and his mind felt drained as though it had nothing more to give.

However, he continued to push.

Just when he entered range enough to press a hand on the barrier, he suddenly activated the sundial and the timid turtle fainted again. Even it could sense this fluctuation, it was all over. This would be where it and Ryker died.

The eyes of the slumbering God Beast suddenly snapped open, a murky gold locking onto Ryker before murderous intent surged through.

The calm waters overturned and the world seemed to turn black. But Ryker didn’t even look over.

At that moment, he felt a fluctuation in the barrier and took advantage.

Just as the God Beast was about to smash him into a meat paste, he pressed a hand forward and slipped right through the barrier.

BANG!

The God Beast’s assault ricocheted against the barrier, rebounding back.

The timid turtle suddenly awakened and looked around in confusion. But at that moment, it found Ryker’s eyes looking right at it.

“Tell me. How much longer are you going to pretend?”

Ryker didn’t seem to care about the rampaging God Beast on the outside, his focus remaining on the timid turtle.

The timid turtle looked at him in confusion, but Ryker grinned.

“Keep silent any longer and I’ll toss you out of this barrier. That big guy looks quite infuriated. How long do you think you’ll last?”

The timid turtle was startled before its cowardice seemed to slowly fade away.

“That’s better.” Ryker said coolly. “Now, tell me. Who are you and what exactly did you want by starting up this farce?”

“You aren’t nearly powerful enough to throw me out of this barrier now that you’ve taken away your layer of surprise.” The timid turtle said slowly.

Ryker still remembered the danger he felt the first time he saw this

beast, but that didn’t seem to change his expression or baseline confidence in the slightest.

“Want to take that bet?”

The timid turtle didn’t say anything, but it really didn’t dare to.

For Ryker to have seen through him and not said anything until this very moment was enough to prove how fearsome a character he was.

As for Ryker, he thought it was too obvious.

How could a Spirit Beast that could casually cultivate on the ocean floor, all alone at that, and so near Cyprus Seaking territory, possibly be a coward?

The nail in the coffin was the look in its eyes before it crumbled into a bumbling fool. That couldn’t be faked no matter how it tried.

“Now. My question. I’m not known as a very patient person, I’ll have you know.”

The timid turtle looked into Ryker’s eyes.

“You’re not of this world.”

“Correct.” Ryker replied indifferently.

The timid turtle was a bit taken aback by Ryker’s candor. But Ryker had already guessed that the timid turtle’s actions were related to this matter, so he wasn’t surprised when it said this.

“Trying to regain the initiative by pretending to be mysterious might work on someone else, but not me. So get to the point. Quickly.”

The timid turtle’s eyes narrowed.

“I was trying to test you.”

“Because?”

“Because it’s been a very long time since a new human managed to get to this world.”

Ryker’s eyes narrowed before he came to an understanding.

“I see. So this world isn’t outside the prison, is it?”

The timid turtle couldn’t hide its surprise at all when it heard this. Ryker knew about this as well? Usually, humans accidentally stumbled into this world. They were all exceptionally powerful, but usually didn’t have the knowledge that this was, in fact, a prison.

But Ryker had been an anomaly from day one. From the very start, he had been able to use Daos, something that those that came here only learned after years of grueling training. Especially since they would have already missed the best time to do so.

“So what is this world, exactly?” Ryker asked after a while. “A place that exists outside the usual restrictions of those jailers? And what are you? Are you actually a Spirit Beast? Or are you part of that shapeshifting Clan?”

The more the timid turtle listened to Ryker, the more shocked it became. How could this be it explaining anything to Ryker? This was practically like Ryker reading its mind.

After a moment of shock, the timid turtle began to change its form and shape.

Soon, Ryker was stunned. Or more accurately, his eyes were practically glowing as he took in the woman who appeared before him.

She had delicate milk chocolate skin, eyes as deep and brown as an abyss, hair that was as black as night but carried one striking strand of white, and a body that… well, Ryker could only say that he was enamored.

Her chest wasn’t very large, just a size down from behind a handful, but her hips were full and her skin was soft. Ryker could tell it would take a while to bounce back if he pressed his fingers into it. He really wanted to see what it would look like if she turned her back to him.

Her nipples and crotch were covered in shell patterns that protected much of her decency, but even so, it left far too little to the imagination.

Her eyes seemed to change a bit, glowing a faint amber, and soon she was covered in a fluttering milky brown robe that looked as though it was made of the finest silk.

She frowned when she saw Ryker’s gaze. It had been a while since she entered her human form because it wasn’t safe to do so here, so she had forgotten about the indecent exposure. Though she had reacted fast, she had been by Ryker’s side for long enough to know that a split second to his senses might as well have been an eternity. He had definitely already branded everything into his mind.

And he was shameless enough to not try to hide it either.

He pressed together and whistled, shaking his head.

“You’re right to hide that figure behind a shell, otherwise you’d cause a calamity wherever you went.”

The woman’s eyes became weirder. No one had ever dared to speak to her like that before.

She had taken on the timid persona as a turtle because it made Spirit Beasts leave her alone. But whenever she was in her human form, there was nothing but deference.

Ryker seemed to have forgotten about everything else as he looked into her eyes.

“What’s your name?” He asked with a smile.

The woman’s frown became deeper.

“This isn’t the time to do such things, don’t you think?” She sent a glance toward the raging God Beast.

“Forget that senile old man. Let’s talk about romance.”

A flash of danger reflected in the woman’s eyes.

“Aren’t you the one pretending now?”

Ryker chuckled and put his hands up in mock surrender. Indeed, no matter how gorgeous a woman—and this woman was indeed that—she could never shake him from his purpose.

Without another word, he turned away and approached the two eggs that he had seen from the outside.

There was another layer of protection here. The moment Ryker touched them, it would alert the fathers who left them here, and that would be good.

The God Beast on the outside was a bit senile, so it was too stupid to realize the smartest choice was to contact outside help. That was because there was certainly someone among the Cyprus Seakings that had the ability to dispel this formation with a press of the button.

The sundial in Ryker’s hands flashed and the two eggs appeared in his hand one after another. They were each about the size of his head, and unfortunately for the detection formations, they remained entirely untouched.

It would still be a long while before they realized what happened here. So it gave him time.

As for the rest of the eggs, he didn’t plan on touching them. There was no need to be needlessly cruel. Plus, although one of these eggs would become nourishment for Jaana’s contracted beast, he at least planned to treat the other one with all the care and attention in the world.

With a thought, he stored them away in the prison.

Now, the hard part.

Escape.