Sage of Humanity-Chapter 1728 - 1726: Yu Huan of Baiyue Island
Half a day later, Lu Ye met up with He Baichuan and Ma Shangsi on a deserted island. This island was very small, covering about two or three acres, so even the lowest tier, unranked forces wouldn't care for such an island.
Lu Ye arrived at the location, turned his head, and was surprised not to see Ma Shangsi's figure. But soon, he turned to look in a certain direction, from where blood-red liquid flowed out of a crevice in the reef, quickly forming into human shape, revealing Ma Shangsi.
"Where?" Lu Ye asked as he looked at him.
Ma Shangsi shook his head and said, "I'm not sure exactly where. When I tracked them to this spot, I lost the trail." Tracking two Moon Jade cultivators was certainly no easy task, especially on the All Phenomena Ocean, which had very few places for concealment. This demanded even more patience and skill from the tracker.
Although Ma Shangsi could use some secret techniques to conceal himself and his breath, he also dared not get too close, which led to their aura suddenly disappearing when he reached this place.
However, this did not mean Ma Shangsi's tracking had failed.
"The Spirit Island they are on should be nearby. The reason the trail disappeared is because they entered their own Spirit Island, which is isolated by a big array."
Lu Ye nodded and immediately took out his star map to investigate.
After some exploration, he identified two locations, both Spirit Islands. On the map, one is marked as a mid-class Spirit Island, the other as a high-class Spirit Island.
These two Spirit Islands are the most suspicious; if not mistaken, the enemy is likely on one of these islands.
From the previous encounters, the force able to dispatch five Moon Jades at once definitely wouldn't be weak, but it's hard to say how strong they are specifically.
The forces behind these two Spirit Islands seem very fitting.
Choosing between the two appears simple, but in reality, it is quite troublesome. Unless someone from our side is stationed near these two Spirit Islands long-term, which would certainly raise others' alert, the defense and management around major Spirit Islands are very strict.
After some thinking, Lu Ye decided to transmit a message to Tang Jun. Given the current situation, he could only have him try to gather some intel. If the information could be heard, that would be best, otherwise, they would have to resort to posting a guard, which would be the last choice.
The message returned quickly with Tang Jun's response: "I took a look at the star map; your location is not far from Sifang Island. Over there, the situation in the Sifang Star System should be somewhat understood; why not ask them?"
Lu Ye's eyes lit up, delighted by this unexpected gain, and he hurriedly investigated the star map, wanting to locate Sifang Island. But after searching around, he couldn't find a mark for Sifang Island on the map.
It occurred to him that he had purchased this star map quite some time ago, and when he bought it, the Sifang Star System's cultivators had not yet arrived.
Clearly, Sifang Island was renamed by cultivators from the Sifang Star System after capturing a Spirit Island.
Lu Ye had audio talisman markings from several Moon Jade cultivators in the Sifang Star System, and previously, even had talks with them about forming an alliance with the Three Worlds Island. This alliance was essentially a form of patronage; Lu Ye had done a favor for the Sifang Star System. Before coming, their Sun Blaze had specifically instructed them to take extra care of Lu Ye's side while in the All Phenomena Galaxy.
In terms of strength, the Sifang Star System was far more powerful than Three Worlds Island, wanting to help Three Worlds Island capture a mid-class Spirit Island.
But Lu Ye declined because they had the Small Constellation Palace, and the Three Worlds Island would eventually rise, and there was no need to seize someone else's Spirit Island.
Moreover, at that time, the Three Worlds cultivators lacked foundation, and Lu Ye did not want to rashly involve himself in Sifang Star System's actions, potentially bringing trouble to his side.
The Sifang Star System knew this well, so they did not proactively reach out to Three Worlds Island afterward. This wasn't becoming distant; rather, they recognized that maintaining close ties could invite trouble upon Three Worlds Island.
So when Lu Ye contacted them, several Moon Jade cultivators from the Sifang Star System were quite pleased.
Lu Ye didn't go directly to Three Worlds Island, but instead waited on the deserted island.
After a while, someone arrived. Upon meeting, the newcomer greeted warmly: "Fellow Daoist Lu!"
"Fellow Daoist Zhou!" Lu Ye cupped his fists, "Sorry for the trouble."
The person was none other than Zhou Chuang from the Beixuan Galaxy, a Moon Jade Late Stage in cultivation. In fact, he wasn't the only Moon Jade Late Stage; several other Moon Jades from the Sifang Star System were of this cultivation as well.
Within the Sifang Star System, Lu Ye's most frequent encounters were actually with Indeterminate, since he passed through Indeterminate twice and had contacts with quite a few Moon Jade cultivators there. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
But personally, Lu Ye's affections leaned the most toward Beixuan; for no reason other than when he was in the Indeterminate World, Beixuan's Sun Blaze, Qin Yi, visited him by night, personally thanking Lu Ye and even gifting him a Token which allowed Lu Ye to unconditionally mobilize any forces from the Beixuan Galaxy here in the All Phenomena Ocean.
The other three galaxies' Sun Blaze were not unkind to Lu Ye but weren't as direct as Qin Yi, primarily because Lu Ye killed Bai Jin, considered to be avenging Qin Yi's deceased Dao companion.
Zhou Chuang chuckled: "Fellow Daoist Lu, don't be so formal. Before I came, the World Lord had instructed that whatever you need us for, we're to assist with full cooperation." He paused, looking Lu Ye up and down, stunned, "Are you… a Moon Jade now?"
"I was fortunate to advance," Lu Ye nodded.
"Congratulations, congratulations!" Zhou Chuang offered his congratulations. Before, Lu Ye was a Constellation, one tier below Moon Jade, but now, they were both Moon Jades; although Lu Ye's cultivation was a bit lower, their stages were at the same level.
After exchanging a few words, Zhou Chuang asked, "Fellow Daoist, what instructions do you have for calling me over?"
"I wouldn't dare. I just wanted to inquire about two people from you," Lu Ye said, giving Ma Shangsi a meaningful glance.
Lu Ye initially wanted Ma Shangsi to describe the appearance of the two individuals he was tracking earlier. To his surprise, Ma Shangsi took out an image stone and handed it to Zhou Chuang.
He had actually left behind some images while tracking the enemy earlier!
This was quite well done.
Having images to investigate is undoubtedly more precise than verbal descriptions, even if the images on Ma Shangsi's stone were not too clear, as he did not dare to follow too closely, and leaving image traces for Moon Jade was quite risky.
Zhou Chuang took it and discerned carefully before frowning, "In my judgment, the taller person inside should be Yu Huan from Baiyue Island."
"Are you certain?" Lu Ye asked.
Zhou Chuang said, "I'm about seventy percent sure. If there are other images to corroborate, it should be clearer."
Lu Ye was almost certain that the earlier ambush on Tang Jun was orchestrated by Baiyue Island, as he had just confirmed from the star map that one of the two Spirit Islands was indeed Baiyue Island!
Lu Ye initially thought it was people from that mid-class Spirit Island scheming in the dark, as they only had a mid-class Spirit Island and might have set their sights on Three Worlds Island, wanting to occupy a better locale.
Who knew it was Baiyue Island!
This was truly baffling. Having already occupied a high-class Spirit Island, why would they be interested in Three Worlds Island? Aren't they afraid of overreaching?
Though it's not a written rule, generally speaking, except for domains with exceptionally deep foundations that can occupy a Spirit Island independently, most forces act in groups among galaxies.
It's rare for a single galaxy to occupy two Spirit Islands, which involves the issue of resource distribution in the All Phenomena Ocean, and many matters are tacitly understood.
Zhou Chuang looked at Lu Ye with a bit of puzzlement, "Fellow Daoist, is there any grudge between you and Baiyue Island?"
The promotion of Three Worlds Island to a high-class Spirit Island was known to Zhou Chuang and others, and they were quite envious. After all, not everyone can experience such an event as turning a barren island into a vibrant one, and the Three Worlds cultivators there acquired a high-class Spirit Island as their base effortlessly.
Three Worlds Island was already a high-class Spirit Island, so Zhou Chuang thought Lu Ye's inquiry about Baiyue Island wasn't for the purpose of attacking it, as the Three Worlds cultivators couldn't defend it with just their resources. Hence, it must be due to a grudge between them.
"There have been some conflicts; our people were ambushed by them earlier." Lu Ye didn't conceal it, as it wasn't a big deal. Things like this often happen in the All Phenomena Ocean. Even for Zhou Chuang himself, it wouldn't be surprising if he got ambushed going out.
During this period, the four galaxies have been busy, causing quite a bit of trouble.
"They want to make a move against you?" Zhou Chuang quickly realized. Though they had no direct contact with Three Worlds Island, they were aware of its situation. The Three Worlds cultivators had never stirred trouble, yet now someone came to provoke, clearly targeting Three Worlds Island.
"That seems to be the case," Lu Ye nodded, "so I need to act first for strategic advantage."
Zhou Chuang immediately said, "Count Beixuan in on this!"
He didn't mention the four galaxies because he couldn't represent them. He could only speak for the Beixuan part.
Lu Ye smiled, "Appreciate the offer, but Three Worlds Island needs to stand on its own and can't rely on outside help, especially since this involves Sun Blaze."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chuang roughly grasped the situation. Although he arrived at the All Phenomena Ocean later than Lu Ye, he understood many things there better than Lu Ye, such as the practice of visiting the mountain... for the four galaxies had recently been engaging in this.
"Which Sun Blaze?" Zhou Chuang asked.
"Yuan Du!"
"Him..." Zhou Chuang immediately showed a disgruntled expression, "We had contact with his people before; this Sun Blaze is somewhat insatiable."
Lu Ye curiously asked, "You've had dealings with him too, for visiting the mountain?"
Zhou Chuang sighed, "Initially, we oversimplified things, thinking the depth of the four galaxies would suffice to conquer a high-class Spirit Island without issue. But once preparations started, we discovered the waters of the All Phenomena Ocean were deeper than we anticipated."
After seizing Sifang Island, they attempted to assault a high-class Spirit Island. In terms of overt strength, they held some advantage, given their numerous Constellations.
But once the battle commenced, Sifang Island was unexpectedly ambushed by another force.
In panic, they hastily withdrew troops to defend Sifang Island, later discovering that the force they attacked and the one ambushing them were both under the same Sun Blaze's protection, resulting in their close association and cooperation.
