Chapter 1465: Exposed

Chu Shen began rambling nonsense, causing Lu Ye's brows to furrow. How had Xiao Dai and the others suddenly become his confidantes?

Seeing Lu Ye remain silent, Chu Shen assumed the name of Fa Wuzun had intimidated him. He then earnestly pleaded, "My elder brother is a rare genius, unmatched for generations. Even with only mid-level Star Cultivator cultivation, he caused a bloodbath in the chaotic battles. Powerful figures like Zhou Yuchuan were no match for him. If not for urgent matters delaying him this time, securing the top spot on the Accumulation Leaderboard would have been effortless! Brother Dao, as the saying goes, 'it's better to resolve enmity than to create it.' This time, I, Chu Shen, have fallen. Do with me as you wish, but these women are not involved in this matter; please release them!"

He appeared quite resolute, seemingly noble and righteous.

Lu Ye had no intention of killing or torturing him; he merely wanted to teach him a lesson. At this moment, his resolve faded. He put away his Pan Mountain Blade and waved his hand, "You may leave."

Chu Shen's face lit up with delight, thinking to himself that "Old Brother Fa's" name was indeed effective. He immediately signaled to Xiao Dai and the others, took a few steps back, and cupped his hands in a respectful bow, "Thank you, Brother Dao. The green mountains remain, the green waters flow on; we shall meet again!" Before he could finish speaking, Lu Ye had already darted away into the distance.

Since the battle had subsided, the women had been wary of Lu Ye, except for Xiao Dai, who kept scrutinizing him up and down. Now, seeing Lu Ye about to depart, she suddenly called out, "Senior Brother Fa?"

Chu Shen was overjoyed and quickly turned to look around, "My elder brother is here? Where?"

But he saw nothing. Looking at Xiao Dai, he saw her still staring intently in the direction Lu Ye had left. Chu Shen frowned, "Who are you calling?"

Xiao Dai said, "Don't you think his back looks like Senior Brother Fa's? And the style and techniques he used just now also seem very similar to Senior Brother Fa's."

After all, Xiao Dai had fought alongside Lu Ye in a chaotic battle. Although she usually seemed a bit dull, her observational skills were quite keen.

If she hadn't said that, the others wouldn't have thought in that direction. But hearing her words, when they looked at Lu Ye's retreating figure again, they were startled to find a striking resemblance to Fa Wuzun. Recalling how Lu Ye had acted just now, they immediately became filled with doubt and surprise.

Fa Wuzun was a blade-wielding martial cultivator, and Lu Ye was also a blade-wielding martial cultivator. There were too many similarities!

Chu Shen's eyelids twitched wildly. "How could he be Old Brother Fa? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he exclaimed, "Right! Old Brother Fa is only a mid-level Star Cultivator, but this person is already a late-level Star Cultivator! So he's not Old Brother Fa!"

Cai Xing calmly said, "Cultivation can advance. And this person's strength is so formidable, he must be a top-ranked expert on the Accumulation Leaderboard. Judging by his performance just now, breaking into the top thirty is absolutely no problem. But there doesn't seem to be this person in the top thirty of the Accumulation Leaderboard."

How could an ordinary late-level Star Cultivator break their formation single-handedly in such a short time? This was definitely a top-ranked expert on the Accumulation Leaderboard. Yet, as far as they knew, all the top-ranked experts on the Accumulation Leaderboard were currently in the Star Cultivator Palace preparing to advance to the Moon Core realm; there was no reason for them to be lingering outside.

Unless it was someone with such strength who was not on the Accumulation Leaderboard. There was only one such person: Fa Wuzun, who for some reason did not participate in the ranking battle!

Since that auction, major forces had been searching for traces of Fa Wuzun, trying to gather information on him and enlist him for their own purposes. But ever since the auction, Fa Wuzun had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Some speculated that he had acquired over a hundred million spirit jades and, fearing attention from powerful cultivators, had left the Star Cultivator Palace early, which was why he didn't participate in the ranking battle. This conjecture gained much agreement, as the Star Cultivator Palace Accumulation Leaderboard ranking was a significant opportunity for Star Cultivator realm cultivators; no one would easily give it up unless absolutely forced.

And it was obvious to anyone that Fa Wuzun was using an alias. If his name was an alias, he must have also disguised himself, and his appearance was certainly not his true one.

So, although many forces were currently searching for Fa Wuzun, none had found anything. If Xiao Dai and others, who had close contact with Fa Wuzun, hadn't been with Chu Shen, they would likely have been taken away for questioning by those forces long ago.

Although Jiuyan didn't allow Chu Shen to act under her name outside, Chu Shen's relationship with Jiuyan couldn't be erased. Chu Shen gathering these women around him inadvertently helped them avoid a major trouble; otherwise, if these individuals had been taken for questioning by those major forces, they certainly wouldn't have had an easy time.

On his end, Chu Shen still refused to believe, stating resolutely, "He is not Old Brother Fa!"

Cai Yue asked curiously, "How can you tell?"

Chu Shen replied, "I've known Old Brother Fa the longest; I've seen his true appearance. So he can't be Old Brother Fa."

With his confident assurance, the women no longer had doubts. There were many people in the world with similar backs, and it wouldn't be strange for someone to resemble Fa Wuzun in appearance and also be a blade-wielding martial cultivator.

"Let's go!" Chu Shen called out, leading the others to fly towards the Myriad Manifestations Sea. No one noticed that his fingers were trembling slightly, a clear sign of excitement!

Leading the way forward, he secretly took out his sound transmission talisman and sent a message.

Lu Ye, who was currently darting towards the dead star, felt his sound transmission talisman vibrate. He took it out and saw it was a message from Chu Shen.

"Elder Brother, you're back?"

Lu Ye sighed softly. Chu Shen, this fellow, seemed quite clever. It appeared Lu Ye had already been exposed to him!

Lu Ye didn't think anyone could connect him with Fa Wuzun, because no one had interacted with Fa Wuzun for a long time. Even Ghost and Poker probably hadn't noticed, because after participating in the chaotic battle, he had specifically bought a Red Dragon Blade to replace his Pan Mountain Blade. Combined with his disguise, he was virtually flawless at the Star Cultivator realm.

But Chu Shen was different; he had seen the Pan Mountain Blade.

The first time Lu Ye collaborated with Chu Shen, he had used the Pan Mountain Blade. Invincible Lucky Star was also present during that event, but just now, when Lu Ye held the long blade against Chu Shen's neck, his back was conveniently facing Invincible Lucky Star, so she shouldn't have seen the Pan Mountain Blade. Similar build, both blade-wielding martial cultivators, and the long blades looked alike—unless Chu Shen was too dull-witted, he would surely make the connection. Otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence for him to send a message; this was clearly a test.

"What is it?" Lu Ye replied.

"Nothing. Just that I haven't seen Elder Brother in a long time and miss you greatly. When will Elder Brother be free? Your younger brother would like to pay a visit!"

"I'm a bit busy lately. I'll let you know when I'm free!" "No rush, Elder Brother, please attend to your own matters first." After a few more casual exchanges, the communication ended.

Lu Ye held his sound transmission talisman, lost in thought. It seemed now that Chu Shen was likely certain that Lu Ye was Fa Wuzun. However, judging by his tone, he clearly didn't want to expose him and was likely willing to keep his secret. Based on their previous minor interactions, Lu Ye was inclined to trust him on this.

On the other hand, while a hundred million spirit jades was an enormous fortune for a solitary individual like Lu Ye, it probably wasn't much for a realm like Chering.

There was no reason for Chu Shen to expose his secret for this.

Xiao Dai and the other women followed Chu Shen as they flew towards the Myriad Manifestations Sea. For some reason, they suddenly felt that Chu Shen seemed very happy. Upon arriving at the Myriad Manifestations Sea, Chu Shen even specifically took them to Myriad Manifestations Island and into a restaurant for a good meal. The spirit jades spent made the women feel extremely pained.

Coming from impoverished areas, they had never seen such extravagance. The cost of this single meal was enough for several years of their cultivation.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye had arrived at the dead star. He found a hidden cave, set up numerous defensive formations, and then took out his Azure Conch.

Whether he could open a unique path to wealth for himself depended on this one attempt!

He placed the Azure Conch to his lips and gently blew into it, simultaneously channeling spiritual energy inwards. Lu Ye's heart filled with joy, for the Azure Conch had responded.

At the tip of the conch, an azure light began to circulate. Under Lu Ye's close observation, the light grew brighter and brighter, then shot out, dyeing the space before him azure, twisting into a portal!

Lu Ye immediately put away the Azure Conch and flashed into the portal.

His emergence point was indeed the Star Cultivator Palace where he had been before. The seaweed he had brought back was still piled up in a corner. He looked around and saw no signs of anyone else having been there.

The main gate of the Star Cultivator Palace was tightly shut, which made Lu Ye frown slightly. If he remembered correctly, the gate had been open when he left, but now it was closed for some unknown reason.

He walked forward, about to investigate, when suddenly his ears twitched, and he listened intently.

Vaguely, he heard some sounds from outside. Listening more carefully, there indeed were sounds.

He quickly approached the gate, extended his hands, and slowly pushed it open. As soon as a crack appeared, a figure rushed in from outside—it was Bai Lu, riding her hippocampus star beast.

Once inside the hall, Bai Lu huffed indignantly, "You were in here; why did it take you so long to open the door!"

She had been calling for a long time outside with no response, almost thinking Lu Ye wasn't there.

"You've been here for a long time?" Lu Ye asked, surprised. "Yes!" Bai Lu nodded.

"Then you could have just come in yourself."

"I couldn't open it!" Bai Lu replied.

"That can't be right." He remembered the Star Cultivator Palace gate had been pushed open by Bai Lu's hippocampus mount before, and it hadn't been closed since.

If the hippocampus could push it open, there was no reason Bai Lu couldn't.

"I really couldn't open it!" Bai Lu reiterated, and she didn't look like she was lying.

Lu Ye thought for a moment, then casually closed the Star Cultivator Palace gate again. He gestured, "Try again!"

"It's the same no matter how many times I try," Bai Lu said, reaching out to push the gate. As a result, Lu Ye found that no matter how much force she used, she couldn't open the Star Cultivator Palace gate. This was indeed strange.

Lu Ye then looked at the hippocampus beside her. "Have it try. It's the one that pushed the gate open last time."

The hippocampus, being intelligent, acted on its own without waiting for Bai Lu's command. But strangely, this time it couldn't push the gate open either.

"What's going on?" Lu Ye wondered, bewildered.

He took deep breaths of fresh air, his chest heaving.

Confusion, bewilderment, and various emotions surged within him.

Where was this?

Then, Shi Yu subconsciously surveyed his surroundings and became even more bewildered.

A single dormitory room?

Even if he had been successfully rescued, he should be in a hospital room now.

And his body... why was there no injury at all?

Filled with doubt, Shi Yu's gaze quickly swept across the room, finally settling on a mirror on the bedside table.

The mirror reflected his current appearance: around seventeen or eighteen years old, with a handsome face.

But the problem was, this wasn't him!

His former self was a handsome young man in his twenties with an extraordinary demeanor, who had been working for some time.

But now, this appearance looked like that of a high school student, no matter how he looked at it...

This change left Shi Yu in a daze for a long time.

Don't tell him the surgery was a success...

His body and appearance had both changed; this wasn't a matter of surgery at all, but rather immortal arts.

He had completely transformed into another person!

Could it be... that he had transmigrated?

Besides the mirror at the bedside table, whose placement clearly had poor feng shui, Shi Yu also found three books nearby.

Shi Yu picked them up and glanced at them, the titles instantly silencing him.

"Essential Beast-Rearing Manual for Novice Breeders""Post-Natal Care for Spirit Beasts""Guide to Appraising Heterogeneous Beast-Eared Girls"

Shi Yu: ???

The first two book titles seemed normal, but what was up with the last one?

"Ahem."

Shi Yu's gaze sharpened, and he reached out his hand, but his arm quickly stiffened.

Just as he was about to open the third book to see what it was, a sharp pain shot through his brain, and a flood of memories surged forth.

Icefield City.

Spirit Beast Breeding Base.

Intern Spirit Beast Breeder.

Beast Tamer?