Chapter 1450: Rich Mermaid

An invaded homeland was undoubtedly a sorrowful matter, but it was irrelevant to Lu Ye. He had no intention of interfering. His purpose in coming here was simply to "weed" the Star Constellation Palace. He lacked the ability to intervene in the conflicts occurring beneath the Myriad Manifestations Sea.

The mermaid's injuries had not yet healed, making her clearly unfit for further conflict. However, it was her own choice, and Lu Ye had no desire to dissuade her. If Kyushu were to face a crisis, he would never give up fighting, even if he had only a shred of strength left.

So, he could only say, "Then I wish you great success in battle!" The mermaid asked, "May I ask your name?" "Li Taibai!"

The mermaid nodded. "My name is Bailu!"

The mermaid Bailu rode away on her seahorse. Lu Ye didn't know if she would return alive. As for any promised gratitude or reward, she mentioned it, he heard it, and that was that.

Having rested, he continued his "weeding."

The process was tedious and boring. For the first few days, Lu Ye encountered no danger, but as time passed, star beasts from the Myriad Manifestations Sea would occasionally emerge, becoming an incessant nuisance.

Most of these star beasts were not particularly strong; Lu Ye could easily deal with them if they weren't in the ocean. However, the deep sea severely restricted his combat abilities, especially since he dared not casually deploy his Crag Blade.

His Scarlet Dragon Blade, after several battles, had been completely corroded and rendered useless by the seawater of the Myriad Manifestations Sea. It was a top-grade spirit treasure worth several thousand spirit jades.

One day, while "weeding," Lu Ye was attacked again. This time, it was an octopus-like star beast with eight tentacles that whipped back and forth like ropes, making it incredibly difficult to deal with. Lu Ye fought it for a while but found he was no match and had to temporarily retreat into the Star Constellation Palace to rest.

To his surprise, the creature followed him inside. It evidently sensed the rules within the Star Constellation Palace, so it merely tracked Lu Ye without disturbing him.

This was highly annoying!

After a moment's thought, Lu Ye suddenly dashed out of the Star Constellation Palace, with the octopus close behind. The octopus had likely intended to finally deal with Lu Ye, but it hadn't expected to be met with several streaks of sword light, like bolts of silk, as soon as it exited the palace.

The octopus star beast didn't even have time to react before the unparalleled sword energy pierced several bloody holes through it, even tearing through its head, killing it instantly.

Lu Ye leisurely swam back, carrying his sword gourd.

The sword energy was, naturally, unleashed by the sword gourd. He had finally found the perfect weapon to deal with star beasts in the Myriad Manifestations Sea.

Ordinary treasures were unsuitable for use in the Myriad Manifestations Sea, but the sword gourd was different. It was a subordinate treasure of a supreme spatial artifact, and Lu Ye didn't detect any sign of it being corroded.

In other words, it could withstand the corrosion of the Myriad Manifestations Sea's water, and it was probably the only treasure he possessed that could resist such erosion.

Furthermore, the sword gourd had previously absorbed many spirit treasures, and the sword energy it generated was incomparably more potent than the last time Lu Ye used it. Coupled with Lu Ye's own increase in strength, the destructive power the sword gourd could now unleash was not to be underestimated.

He grabbed one of the octopus star beast's tentacles and dragged it into the Star Constellation Palace.

He started a fire, cut off a tentacle, chopped it into many small pieces, and began roasting it over the flames.

The rules within the Star Constellation Palace prohibited conflict, so roasting meat was certainly not an issue. Moreover, Lu Ye wanted to find out if the star beasts in the Myriad Manifestations Sea had any edible value.

If not, he could free up some space in his storage ring, as he had collected quite a few star beast carcasses previously.

Moments later, Lu Ye picked up a sizzling, oily piece of roasted octopus meat and took a large bite. It was unexpectedly delicious, and he could clearly feel the extremely rich and concentrated energy within the flesh.

This creature indeed possessed great edible value, no less than White Spirit, and perhaps even superior. If he sold it, it would surely fetch a good price, easily recovering the loss of his Scarlet Dragon Blade.

While still eating with a greasy mouth, Lu Ye suddenly looked up and saw a large group of figures rush into the palace. Leading them was none other than the mermaid Bailu, whom he had met before.

She was still riding her seahorse, holding her spear.

Besides her, there were seven or eight other mermaids, all riding seahorses like her and carrying various crude weapons.

Most of them were wounded, and upon entering, they immediately turned, as if on guard against something.

At the entrance, the seawater was breached, and an incredibly ferocious head surged in, landing directly in front of the group of mermaids.

Lu Ye looked closely and realized that the creature was one of the shark star beasts he frequently encountered. After entering, it opened its gaping maw and wriggled its body, constantly lunging at the nearest mermaid.

Another shark star beast lunged in, followed by a third, then a fourth...

In the blink of an eye, over a dozen shark star beasts appeared in the palace. These star beasts were clearly pursuing the mermaids.

Bailu shouted something that Lu Ye didn't understand, but he saw the mermaids slowly retreating, maintaining a defensive posture.

The shark star beasts, however, continued their pursuit. Yet, since they were no longer in the sea, their movements were stiff, and the mermaids remained safe for the moment.

Lu Ye observed coolly, finding these shark star beasts far dumber than the octopus he had just encountered. The octopus, upon entering, at least knew not to attack him. The sharks, however, continued relentlessly, indicating not just a gap in intelligence, but possibly that they were blinded by bloodlust.

Sure enough, moments later, an inexplicable powerful force descended. One after another, the ferocious shark star beasts had no time to react and exploded into bloody mist.

This was clearly the Star Constellation Palace's rules taking effect.

Seeing the shark star beasts explode into bloody mist, the mermaids finally relaxed. Bailu turned, gazing at Lu Ye apologetically, as if she felt their arrival had disturbed his peace.

Then she turned to instruct her companions, dismounted her seahorse, and floated towards Lu Ye.

Lu Ye continued to observe the other mermaids, discovering that, just as recorded in the Xiyuan Pavilion, the appearance of the mermaid race was highly polarized.

The female mermaids were all as beautiful as flowers, with exquisite features, but the male mermaids were different. Each of them had a fish head but a human lower body, making them appear incredibly grotesque!

However, there were also female mermaids whose lower halves were not fish tails but human bodies. Lu Ye suddenly realized that these female mermaids with human forms must be married women; in other words, they were no longer "pure," which was why their lower bodies had transformed into human shapes with legs.

Only mermaids like Bailu, who possessed a pure Yin body, retained their fish tails as their lower halves.

Bailu came before Lu Ye, holding out an object with both hands. Her divine sense fluctuated as she asked, "Li Taibai, can I exchange this for some round things from you?"

Lu Ye focused his gaze and saw that Bailu was holding a large, pure spirit crystal!

As for the "round things" she mentioned, Lu Ye quickly understood. He took out a bottle of healing pills and restoration pills. "These?"

Bailu nodded eagerly. "Yes, those!"

Lu Ye, of course, had no objection. Spirit crystals were far more valuable than spirit jades; such a large piece was worth at least tens of thousands of spirit jades. Exchanging some spirit pills for it would certainly not be a loss for him.

He readily took out some spirit pills, including both healing and restoration types, primarily the latter. He had noticed that these mermaids didn't have a pressing need for healing pills; after all, they were all at the Star Constellation realm. Minor injuries weren't a big deal, and healing pills would only speed up their recovery.

Instead, restoration pills were more useful to them. While they could indeed recover using spirit jades or spirit crystals, they wouldn't have time to do so during combat. Even in normal circumstances, taking spirit pills would lead to faster recovery.

Bailu gratefully thanked him and accepted the pills.

Then she handed him another spirit crystal. "This is for the previous gratitude."

Lu Ye looked at it, didn't refuse, and readily accepted it.

Bailu turned and returned to her companions, distributing the newly acquired spirit pills. The mermaids occasionally glanced at Lu Ye, appearing curious, but Lu Ye could sense that they held some caution towards him.

Recalling what Bailu had said last time, Lu Ye guessed that humans were likely not viewed favorably within the mermaid race.

On another note, these mermaids were truly wealthy. Such large spirit crystals were rare outside, yet Bailu could casually produce two of them. Furthermore, their weapons were infused with large amounts of spirit crystals, indicating that they were not lacking in this resource.

After all, living deep within the Myriad Manifestations Sea, where the water itself was a dense, pure aggregation of stellar energy, it was not surprising for spirit jades or spirit crystals to form if there was some catalyst or force to further condense the water.

With a shift in thought, Lu Ye suddenly had an idea. He called out, "Bailu!"

Bailu, hearing his call, turned to look, then pointed to herself, as if asking if he was calling her. Lu Ye nodded.

Bailu immediately floated back to him.

Lu Ye asked, "How is your war progressing?"

Bailu shook her head. "Not very well. The enemy's numbers are too great, so we can only engage in hit-and-run tactics. But we will not give up in defending our home."

Lu Ye nodded. "Perhaps I can offer you a small, insignificant amount of help!"

Bailu looked at him, somewhat surprised. "You're willing to join the battle?"

However, even so, a single human probably couldn't make much difference. This was a war between two races, not something an individual could turn around, unless it was a Sunlit Realm cultivator!

But Bailu could sense that Li Taibai, standing before her, was only at the mid-Star Constellation realm, seemingly not even as strong as herself.

Bailu did not wish for Lu Ye to join the fight, as it could bring him danger.

Lu Ye shook his head. "I won't join the battle. However, I possess a treasure of unparalleled mystery that might be able to boost your strength!" As he spoke, Lu Ye produced the Allied Spirit Array Disk.