Chapter 1507: Summoning

An Zhe mused, "Are you perhaps referring to Unrivaled Island?"

Among all the spirit islands in the Myriad Manifestations Sea, if there's one that's currently thriving and steadily gaining popularity, it can only be Unrivaled Island.

"Precisely, Unrivaled Island."

An Zhe seemed to have heard of Unrivaled Island, which made things easier.

"Unrivaled Island is indeed impressive; it shows signs of great success. I went to see it myself before. However, leasing a shop there comes with certain conditions. To be frank, the realm I come from isn't powerful enough to meet their requirements."

Chu Shen was currently seeking partnerships only with forces that possessed substantial foundations. This ensured their mutual interests were intertwined, further enhancing Unrivaled Island's safety and stability. An Zhe's background realm wasn't strong enough, so it wasn't within Chu Shen's considerations. Therefore, even though An Zhe had previously thought about opening a shop on Unrivaled Island, he had abandoned the idea after inquiring.

"If you are interested, feel free to go to Unrivaled Island and find Island Master Chu Shen. Just tell him I sent you, and he will make the arrangements."

An Zhe's eyes lit up. "You know Island Master Chu Shen?"

Lu Ye nodded.

An Zhe was immediately intrigued. He understood that if Lu Ye dared to say such a thing, their relationship must be more than a simple acquaintance. Moreover, Lu Ye had been generous with him, clearly indicating an extraordinary background. It wouldn't be surprising if he had some connection with Chu Shen.

Thanking Lu Ye, he excitedly flew off in the direction of Unrivaled Island.

Lu Ye didn't leave. Instead, he cast his gaze towards a nearby stall where a beautiful woman was seated behind it. Cultivators passing by would stop at her stall, ask a few questions, and then walk away shaking their heads.

Only when there was no one left in front of the stall did Lu Ye step forward.

"Do you need spirit pills? Feel free to take a look, fellow daoist." The stall owner greeted him warmly, but after speaking, she stared at Lu Ye in surprise. "It's you?"

This stall owner was the same woman Lu Ye had encountered selling spirit pills on his previous visit. Her alchemy skills seemed excellent, as the spirit pills she refined were of high quality, though slightly more expensive than those at the Myriad Manifestations Chamber of Commerce. Last time, Lu Ye had bought all her pills, and now she had refined more to sell.

Lu Ye had previously asked Chu Shen to send people to search for her here, but according to Chu Shen's subsequent reports, they hadn't found the woman.

Unexpectedly, he had serendipitously encountered her again this time.

Lu Ye squatted down, casually picked up a jade bottle, opened its mouth, and gently sniffed. The fragrance of the pills wafted out.

The woman said, "Don't worry, fellow daoist, the quality of the spirit pills I refine is absolutely guaranteed."

Lu Ye believed her words because, thanks to the Talent Tree, he could more intuitively assess the quality of spirit pills than others.

"I'll buy them all," Lu Ye said.

The woman was greatly surprised. Last time, Lu Ye had bought all her spirit pills, and this time he was being so generous again. He was clearly someone with money to spare.

She quickly counted her spirit pills and quoted a price. Lu Ye didn't haggle and paid without hesitation.

After receiving the spirit jade, the woman smiled sweetly. "Fellow daoist, would you like to exchange sound transmission marks? If you want to buy any more spirit pills next time, just send me a message directly. And if you need any special spirit pills, I can refine them specifically for you."

"You can refine all kinds of spirit pills?" Lu Ye asked.

"Basically, I can refine any spirit pills circulated on the market."

Lu Ye nodded and asked, "Are you interested in opening a shop?"

He didn't ask if she was interested in joining him, because her alchemy skills were quite impressive. If she wanted to align herself with a certain force, she would have done so long ago. Since she chose to set up a stall here, it indicated she wasn't someone willing to be constrained.

There were many such cultivators.

However, unwillingness to join a force and be bound by its rules didn't mean unwillingness to open a business.

The woman smiled upon hearing this. "Of course, I'd like to, but I don't have the money."

Lu Ye said, "Go to Unrivaled Island and find Island Master Chu Shen. He'll give you a shop, and you won't need to pay a single spirit jade. You'll just need to sell your spirit pills there."

The woman looked at Lu Ye with some caution. Although she hadn't been in the Myriad Manifestations Sea for long, she knew there was no such thing as unprovoked goodwill in this world. If Lu Ye was simply doing business with her, she would welcome it, but if he had any ulterior motives, she would naturally be wary.

Sensing her thoughts, Lu Ye explained, "I have a few friends who are also medical cultivators. In the future, they might want to learn from you regarding alchemy. At that time, I hope you can share some of your experience and insights with them."

The medical cultivators from Kyushu would eventually come here, such as his Second Senior Sister and Hua Ci. If no one guided or taught them, they would waste a lot of time by relying solely on self-exploration. After all, the types and properties of medicinal materials in the starry sky were incomparable to what was produced within the Kyushu realm. There were many herbs and spirit pills in the starry sky that Kyushu simply didn't have. The woman's alchemy skills were impressive, and if she could provide some guidance, his Second Senior Sister and the others would be able to pick things up easily.

"Is that all?" The woman clearly still found it hard to believe.

"Just that!"

"Then... can I think about it?" the woman asked cautiously.

"No problem!" Lu Ye didn't force her. After speaking, he turned and left.

Watching his departing back, the woman was momentarily bewildered. Unrivaled Island had recently gained considerable fame; after all, it was a newly risen spirit island, and its ascent was surprisingly fast, spreading throughout the Myriad Manifestations Sea. Just as An Zhe had heard of Unrivaled Island, so too had the woman.

She had never imagined being able to own her own shop, especially in a place like Unrivaled Island. Now, with this opportunity presented to her, she was naturally tempted. However, she decided to first go to Unrivaled Island to assess the situation before making a decision. If she could truly obtain a shop without any troublesome attached conditions, it would certainly be a good thing.

The woman set off for Unrivaled Island, and Lu Ye was already on his way back to Unrivaled Island.

Midway, he sent a message to Chu Shen, telling him about An Zhe and the woman. Chu Shen naturally agreed without hesitation.

Unrivaled Island still had a number of vacant shops, and as the island master, it was certainly no problem for him to reserve two for future use.

Back in the cave on Unrivaled Island, Lu Ye prepared to resume his cultivation.

It had been almost a year since he advanced to the late-stage Star Constellation. Over this past year, his cultivation had stagnated, mainly because his previous progress had been too rapid, and he had intentionally taken time to consolidate it.

A year wasn't a long time, but Lu Ye felt he had accumulated enough foundation. It was time to continue his progress. Even if he resumed cultivating, he could artificially control his cultivation speed. As long as he didn't delve deep into the Myriad Manifestations Sea and only refined spirit jade, there would still be a limit to how efficient his cultivation could be.

Lu Ye currently had no plans to cultivate deep within the Myriad Manifestations Sea. Firstly, with the Soul Clan woman by his side, it was inconvenient to go deep. Secondly, cultivating in the Myriad Manifestations Sea consumed too many resources.

Although he had just acquired 7 million spirit jade's worth of Dragon Breath Crystals from An Zhe, if he truly entered the Myriad Manifestations Sea, they probably wouldn't last very long.

He didn't need to worry about Unrivaled Island's development, and he increasingly felt that leaving Chu Shen in charge was a wise decision. Otherwise, managing it himself would have cost an untold amount of time and effort.

Moreover, he didn't have Chu Shen's background. Currently, Unrivaled Island's ability to cooperate with various forces largely stemmed from Chu Shen's connections. Although Chu Shen didn't explicitly flaunt his background, which powerful figures among the top forces didn't know he had a "Nine-Colors" behind him? With such a connection, anything Chu Shen did would achieve twice the results with half the effort.

Only those from Carp Island, unaware of Chu Shen's origins, had rashly attacked and suffered heavy losses.

Days passed. Apart from refining spirit jade for cultivation, Lu Ye also fed the power of Dragon Breath Crystals to the Talent Tree. He also refined many Symbiotic Formation Plates, handing them over to Chu Shen every few days for him to sell.

Occasionally, he would find opportunities to talk to the Soul Clan woman, but she consistently showed no intention of responding, maintaining a posture as if she would remain silent until the end of time.

This woman was too difficult to deal with. Lu Ye didn't know how to break through her emotional barriers. To this day, he didn't even know her name.

One day, as Lu Ye was cultivating in the cave, he suddenly frowned and looked down at the back of his hand.

It was burning hot. Just as Lu Ye wondered what was happening, a mark suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Seeing the appearance of this mark, Lu Ye was first startled, then delighted, because the mark was distinctly shaped like a green leaf!

There were two types of marks on the back of his hand. One was a battlefield mark, but this only functioned within Kyushu. Since leaving Kyushu, it had no longer reacted, as it was a mark bestowed by and connected to the Heavenly Mystery of Kyushu.

The other mark was the Reincarnation Tree mark!

This was bestowed by the Reincarnation Tree when he accompanied Yang Qing on a trip to the Reincarnation Tree and then left.

At that time, Lu Ye had hidden two demonesses, wanting to bring them back to Kyushu. However, the Reincarnation Tree saw through his intentions. Left with no choice, Lu Ye released the two demonesses, and as compensation, the Reincarnation Tree bestowed this mark.

According to Yang Qing, the Reincarnation Tree's mark wasn't given out casually. While it was stated as compensation for Lu Ye, it was more of a wager by the Reincarnation Tree.

The Reincarnation Tree undergoes reincarnation once every ten thousand years. During this period, it becomes incredibly weak and is likely to be coveted by others. At such a time, the Reincarnation Tree can invite powerful cultivators who have been granted its mark to come and protect it.

With this mark, cultivators can enter the Reincarnation Tree at any time and from any location.

Therefore, the Reincarnation Tree's mark is generally only bestowed upon cultivators it highly favors, often with none appearing for hundreds or even thousands of years.

The Reincarnation Tree granting Lu Ye a mark indicated its high regard for him.

Previously, when he was stranded in the Myriad Manifestations Star System and couldn't find his way home, Lu Ye had considered using this mark to directly consult the Reincarnation Tree.

The Reincarnation Tree's avatars were spread across various star systems. Since Kyushu had one of its avatars, the Reincarnation Tree would certainly know Kyushu's exact location.