Sage of Humanity-Chapter 1628 - 1626: The Pact
Yann Miao wondered, "If that's the case, wouldn't it mean we can never go to the Divine Temple?"
Unless Lu Ye didn't plan on returning through the portal.
Lu Ye said, "Besides this limitation, this sea conch of mine has another function, which is to leave a mark in a certain place. This way, the portal will lead to where the mark is left instead of in front of the Divine Conch Hall."
Lu Ye had tried this long ago; previously, he left a mark inside the Constellation Palace, and the portal led there. If no mark was left, the portal would lead to this place.
The mark has a time limit, but it's quite long, lasting several months at least. Moreover, the mark left can be erased using the sea conch. Last time, before leaving the Constellation Palace, he erased the mark with his sea conch to facilitate future travels to the Merfolk Territory.
Yann Miao understood, "So Fellow Daoist wishes to find something to bear the mark, let us take that object to the Divine Temple, and then you can open the portal and come to open the temple."
"Exactly!" Lu Ye nodded.
He had considered what to do if he wanted to go to the Constellation Palace in the future. Due to the time limit of the sea conch portal, he could only go to either the Merfolk Territory or the Constellation Palace. But if he used an object to bear the mark, he could go to the Constellation Palace.
Yann Miao thought for a moment and took out an item from the storage ring: "Do you think this will work?"
It looked like a jade tablet, about the size of a table. However, the thing Yann Miao took out was no ordinary jade tablet. As soon as it appeared, the surrounding temperature dropped sharply, the chill was piercing.
No one knew where Yann Miao found this item.
"Only by trying can we know." Lu Ye took his sea conch, channeled spirit force into it, and pressed it onto the icy jade tablet like stamping a seal. A sea conch pattern appeared on the smooth surface, but it quickly vanished.
Yann Miao showed a look of disappointment, thinking it had failed.
But in Lu Ye's perception, although the sea conch mark had disappeared, it still existed, only...
The mark seemed to be fading.
This was different from when he left a mark inside the Constellation Palace, where there was no such sign.
It appears that the material bearing the sea conch mark affects its duration. This icy jade tablet is no ordinary object; it should be a treasure and naturally influences the sea conch mark left on it.
Silently estimating the fading speed of the sea conch mark, it seemed to be able to last for some time without issue.
"This will work," Lu Ye said. "Just to be safe, Great Elder, please don't put this item back into your storage ring. Also, after using this sea conch once, I can only use it again in seven days, so in seven days, kindly wait for me outside the Divine Temple."
"Understood, I will take them to the Divine Temple in seven days," Yann Miao agreed.
Once everything was settled, Lu Ye passed through the portal back to the desolate planet, and the portal disappeared once his figure reappeared.
He summoned the starboat and set off in the direction of All Phenomena Ocean. Having just returned, he had not yet understood the matter of Unparalleled Island. Now, after learning the cause and course of events from Chu Shen, he naturally had to retrieve the Small Constellation Palace!
That was the true foundation of Unparalleled Island. The Celestial Flames only thought they had snatched a top-class Spirit Island, reveling in their joy, unaware of how they would feel once he retrieved the Small Constellation Palace, and after Unparalleled Island fell silent again.
Old Tang and the others had already departed, leaving no worries about connecting with the Three Worlds people. Among those who came from Qingli Dao World was Tang Xiaoyue, whom Old Tang found easy to contact.
After several days of rushing, he finally returned to All Phenomena Ocean, continuing to fly leisurely until he landed on a barren island.
This place was quite remote, with few cultivators passing through.
Lu Ye waited for a while, seizing a moment when no one was watching, and first condensed a doppelganger to guard the place while his true self plunged into All Phenomena Ocean.
He activated the power of the Talent Tree, allowing the vast and surging energy in the seawater to uncontrollably invade his physical body. The burning leaves of the Talent Tree shone even brighter, releasing clouds of gray mist.
Having not entered All Phenomena Ocean for a long time, it was time to cultivate here to enhance his foundation to the Peak Constellation.
Though he was currently at the late stage of the Constellation, there was still a gap to the peak.
The Insight Spirit Runes enhanced his sight, allowing Lu Ye to see faintly even in the deep, dark sea, provided the distance wasn't too far.
An entire Shichen later, Lu Ye finally reached the bottom of Unparalleled Island. Previously, when Unparalleled Island was desolate with few visitors, Lu Ye could easily find a place to enter the sea without being discovered. Now it was different; Unparalleled Island was bustling, so he had chosen a spot far from it to enter the sea.
He found the place where he had installed the Small Constellation Palace long ago, and it remained securely there.
No one dared to venture into the depths of All Phenomena Ocean; this shallow spot was frequented only by spirit fish like the White Spirit, while other star beasts in All Phenomena Ocean activity primarily in the deep sea.
Thus far, cultivators have never known that beneath the Vientiane Sea there are so many precious spirit fish star beasts; the world thought there were only White Spirits in the Vientiane Sea.
Lu Ye reached out and grabbed the Small Constellation Palace, put it away, and returned the same way without looking back.
After another two hours, under the supervision of his doppelganger, the original returned from the sea.
A short while later, Lu Ye established contact with the Three Realms cultivators and rushed over to meet them.
He soon arrived on a desolate island.
Tang Jun, along with several female cultivators, had already arrived here, but at this moment, the number of cultivators remaining on the island was not many—out of nearly three hundred people, only fifty stayed on this island, while the others had all disappeared.
Coming from a remote place like the Nine Provinces to a place like the Vientiane Sea, the group of cultivators from Nine Provinces felt like country folks entering the city, finding everything novel; previously, when Lu Ye left, he instructed everyone to first acquaint themselves with the Vientiane Sea, so during this period, they grouped up to explore.
Those who stayed were all mature and steady individuals, like the sect master and others.
Seeing Lu Ye return, the group immediately gathered around as if they had found their backbone. Honestly speaking, when Lu Ye was absent, everyone felt unsure in their hearts; only upon coming here did they realize the weakness of their own star system—looking across the Vientiane Sea, the overall strength of Jade Conch Constellation, even if not at the bottom, was far from reaching the average.
Thankfully, there was still Luan Xiao'e; her Late Stage Moon Jade presence gave some sense of assurance.
Yet, to stand firm in the Vientiane Sea, relying solely on one Late Stage Moon Jade is useless; others have four to five Moon Jades, and they only have two when counting Tang Jun.
From Tang Jun, everyone had already learned the whole story of the Unparalleled Island incident. Although feeling upset in their hearts, knowing that a top-class Spirit Island was snatched away, they understood that in the cultivation world, the one with the bigger fist speaks; losing it was due to inadequate strength.
Nobody mentioned anything about revenge because it wasn't realistic, yet everyone kept this matter in mind, ready to repay it given the opportunity in the future.
"You said your name is Li Taibai?" Tang Jun questioned Lu Ye right away.
He felt betrayed after knowing Lu Ye for so many years, wandering and relying on each other, believing they were genuinely close, never imagining that Lu Ye's name and origin were fake!
It wasn't until meeting with the Three Realms cultivators this time that he learned Li Taibai wasn't Li Taibai, but Lu Yiye!
Tang Jun was deeply hurt inside.
Lu Ye calmly said, "When traveling, one must be cautious; Li Taibai is another name I use. You know me as a person, what does the name matter?"
Tang Jun was momentarily speechless, vaguely convinced but felt something was amiss.
Some cultivators from the Nine Provinces also had strange expressions, eyeing Lu Ye.
Because back then, a Li Taibai emerged in the Nine Provinces, paired with Lu Yiye as the Twin Prides of Bingzhou. The Ten Thousand Demons Ridge held great expectations for Li Taibai, hoping he could outshine Lu Yiye.
Unexpectedly, Li Taibai suddenly vanished without a trace! At that time, some God Seas from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge tried to find him but never succeeded, ultimately concluding that Li Taibai was killed by someone from the Haotian Alliance.
Now they realize, Li Taibai is indeed Lu Yiye, and Lu Yiye is Li Taibai—the so-called Twin Prides of Bingzhou is actually one person!
Truly astonishing, for when the name Twin Prides of Bingzhou emerged, Lu Ye was merely in the True Lake stage, yet he fooled countless God Seas from both camps.
Moreover, according to the clues they gathered, Twin Prides of Bingzhou had appeared simultaneously on occasions, even jointly killing Insect Race; it's unclear how Lu Yiye managed such feats.
However, thinking back, the Nine Provinces were pacified because of him, rose because of him, and thanks to him, many cultivators could come to this flourishing land of myriad phenomena.
Such a character cannot be viewed lightly, naturally capable of extraordinary feats.
Luan Xiao'e didn't quite understand the twists, but discerning the meaning in the words, she knew Tang Jun was fooled by Lu Ye. Smiling slightly, she veered off the topic: "Junior Brother, do you think this island is suitable?"
When Lu Ye departed to the Cheling World, he instructed Luan Xiao'e to find a desolate island, with no other requirements but being large enough.
Thus, they found this desolate island.
Indeed, it is large enough, more than three times the size of Unparalleled Island; it's still not the largest desolate island, but many other desolate islands have been occupied by cultivators here. Since this one was unoccupied, it's been temporarily claimed by the Three Realms cultivators.
"It's suitable!" Lu Ye nodded.
Upon arriving, he specially observed this desolate island and deemed it quite suitable to his requirements. Too large isn't good as the expense to set up the protective array would be significant; this scale is barely acceptable within range.
