The last supply point outside the Shattered Bone Corridor was even more desolate than Jie Ming had imagined.
It was a small space station suspended in the void, an irregular metal prism with patches of repairs covering its shell. Energy shield generators were embedded like patches on the armor surface, occasionally flashing faint blue light to maintain the station's basic stability. The supply hall was not crowded.
A few recruiters from smuggler fleets crouched in the corners, their fleet insignia beside them.
They seemed bored, but whenever someone passed by, their eyes would sweep over like knives, with undisguised vigilance and scrutiny. The small wizard faction that ruled this place had established some order to ensure the safety of all beings here.
But compared to other public transit junctions or supply points, the atmosphere here still carried an indescribable oppression.
"This is the map you purchased, updated thirteen days ago."
Taking the recording crystal handed over by the reception puppet, Jie Ming nodded.
He imported the information from the crystal into his simulation network terminal, reviewed the latest map he had bought, and reconfirmed the route.
From the supply point, heading 17 degrees northwest, crossing the core area of the Shattered Bone Corridor, bypassing the largest infiltration node of the Reflection Dimension, he could go straight to the rendezvous coordinates marked on the invitation for the academic exchange conference.
After confirming everything was correct, he turned without hesitation and walked out of the supply point.
Watching the elemental turbulence surging outside the energy shield, Jie Ming slowly unfolded a dark-gold Law-Crystallization Domain around his body, like a gleaming film of light, lifting him and flying toward the depths of the Shattered Bone Corridor.
Through information gathering over this period, Jie Ming had learned more about the Shattered Bone Corridor. It could be said that the Shattered Bone Corridor was quite a famous dangerous place in the public domain.
It had been continuously eroded by the Reflection Dimension for over ten thousand years, its spatial structure long shattered. Not to mention establishing stable teleportation arrays, even the "official" routes run by several nearby wizard factions had completely abandoned the area.
Thus, there were only two ways to enter here.
One was by powerful individuals of Level Six or above.
For example, a Level Six wizard could forcibly resist the elemental turbulence in the Endless Chaotic Void with their Law-Crystallization Domain and cross the void.
The other was to find those smuggler fleets who risked their lives and travel with them.
They relied on safe passages carved out by countless generations with their lives, navigating through the maze-like spatial fissures.
The former required strength; as for the latter… a group of smugglers living on the edge, there shouldn't be any expectations that they'd really keep their promises.
Jie Ming's strength was decent, so he naturally chose the former.
As he went deeper, the surrounding scenery gradually changed.
Although space in the Endless Chaotic Void was chaotic by nature, here it was exceptionally severe.
Space was like a thin sheet of paper crumpled and smoothed countless times, covered with naturally formed spatial folds.
Seen from afar, they were just a slight distortion of light.
But once you strayed into one, the entire ship and all matter inside would be instantly torn apart by the distorted space.
Even more dangerous were the dimensional rifts hidden in the void.
They were nearly impossible to detect with any conventional detection spells; only at the moment of actual contact would the rift appear.
Then, the terrifying dimensional difference from the Reflection Dimension would erase all matter and energy of the target in an instant.
Therefore, the so-called "safe passages" of the smuggler fleets were actually just narrow gaps built by countless bones.
Each segment of the route was tested bit by bit with the lives of countless generations of crew.
For this reason, every fleet regarded its own passage as the greatest secret.
Unfortunately, these dangers meant almost nothing to Jie Ming.
The True Illusion Void-Breaking Eye slowly opened, and the world became completely different.
The originally empty void revealed layer upon layer of transparent structures.
Spatial folds floated like twisted mirrors.
Those unobservable dimensional rifts turned into pitch-black cracks, their edges constantly absorbing fine particles, like giant mouths waiting for prey.
Jie Ming's expression was calm; he merely kept adjusting his flight trajectory.
Each time, he precisely brushed past the edge of danger, strolling through this dangerous area as if taking a leisurely walk.
A few days later, Jie Ming, who had been flying at high speed, suddenly slowed down.
Because just now, his continuously cast Causality Tracing Technique had received new information: ahead to the left, there was a battle.
He immediately restrained his aura, compressing his law domain to the size of one person, and like a shadow without any fluctuation, silently approached the source of the disturbance.
Soon, the battlefield came into view.
In this spatial fissure, a medium transport ship was being surrounded by three modified light assault ships.
The outer shield of the transport ship was as thin as a cicada's wing, on the verge of collapse at any moment. The hull was riddled with penetrating wounds.
From the cracks, a pale blue coolant continuously sprayed out, condensing into patches of crystalline ice fog in the Endless Chaotic Void.
On the hull was printed an emblem never seen before.
From the translation of the text on it, the name should be "Turan Merchant Guild."
Jie Ming thought briefly, confirming that there was no record of this merchant guild in his intelligence database.
Looking at the layered repair marks on the transport ship, Jie Ming roughly understood; this should be a small force struggling on the edge of the void, and it was normal that he hadn't heard of them.
What really caught his attention were the three assault ships.
Simply put, these three assault ships were far too new!
The hulls were brand new, armor intact, energy coating smooth as a mirror, and even the weapon arrays were neatly and uniformly arranged.
Although these three assault ships flew the pirate flag, no matter how you looked at it, they didn't seem like equipment pirates should have.
On the battlefield, the merchant guild had two Level Six beings, and the pirates had three Level Six beings.
Whether in terms of high-end combat power or fleet performance, the pirates held an absolute advantage.
Logically, this battle should have ended long ago.
But the reality was the opposite.
Both sides fought with great fanfare. Main cannons roared continuously, shields flickered violently, and energy collisions set off waves of spatial vibrations, appearing extremely intense. Jie Ming stopped behind a piece of shattered spatial distortion, using the spatial chaos to hide his form.
He crossed his arms, quietly watching the distant battlefield, and a faint smile gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth:
"Interesting."
Fishing, and a very clumsy one at that.
Whether the pirates were fishing, or the merchant guild was fishing, or both were in cahoots putting on this show...
It couldn't be determined yet.
However, that didn't matter.
If it wasn't aimed at him, then he would see if the other side had ill intentions.
But if it really was a trap set for him...
Then if he didn't step into it willingly, wouldn't that waste their painstaking efforts?
With this in mind, Jie Ming gently straightened the robe of his puppet and stepped out of the meteorite's shadow.
A dark-gold streak of light cut through the void, heading straight for the battlefield.