Chapter 1530: Fate

Lu Ye didn't recognize the cultivator, who was from an unknown galaxy. The streaking light he shot out was not dangerous; it was merely a jade slip.

Lu Ye reached out and grabbed it. He was about to ask what was happening, but the other party flew away without a word, leaving him no chance to communicate.

He frowned and immersed his divine sense in the jade slip to investigate. There was only one piece of information inside.

"One month later, at the Tiangou Star location, treasures await those fated to claim them!"

The message had a signature at the end. Lu Ye looked at it and found the signer's name was Luo Shenzi!

The name was strange; he wasn't sure if it was a title or a real name.

The information was simple: an invitation for him to go to a specific location outside the Tiangou Star, one month later.

Lu Ye was not a cultivator from a nearby galaxy, so he had no idea where Tiangou Star was located. Moreover, he didn't intend to get involved in local affairs; his priority was to continue his journey home.

He had only covered about twenty percent of his journey and had no time for distractions. The person who passed him the information probably mistook him for a cultivator from a nearby galaxy, unaware that he had traveled all the way from the Myriad Forms Galaxy.

After putting away the jade slip, Lu Ye continued his leisurely journey forward. However, within a few days, he noticed something interesting: many cultivators passing by from nearby were all heading in the same direction as him. This time, the cultivators he encountered were all piloting star-boats, with clear destinations, no longer traveling by physical body alone.

The little girl he rescued from the mist dragon had not yet woken up and remained in a coma. Li Shang was taking care of her, so Lu Ye had nothing to worry about.

One day, Lu Ye spotted signs of a conflict far ahead.

Such conflicts were not uncommon in this desolate region. Lu Ye had previously encountered several fierce and lively clashes between cultivators, though they were generally small-scale, mostly one-on-one duels.

After all, cultivators from four galaxies had gathered here, making peaceful coexistence impossible.

This time, the situation seemed different. Lu Ye strained his vision to look ahead and saw an intense battle unfolding: two cultivators were being besieged by a group of star beasts.

He wondered what those two cultivators had done to encounter such bad luck. Judging from their spiritual energy fluctuations, one was at the late Constellation stage and the other at the early Constellation stage. Beside them lay a mangled corpse, utterly lifeless.

There were five or six star beasts surrounding them, resembling a pack of hyenas. Despite being star beasts, their attacks were surprisingly coordinated, making the two cultivators' situation increasingly perilous.

Lu Ye watched from afar, then suddenly raised an eyebrow. He stared intently at the early Constellation stage cultivator, a look of surprise on his face, because he realized he actually knew this person.

Even if he didn't know the person, Lu Ye wouldn't mind helping out in such a situation to forge a good connection, let alone when he recognized them.

Just as he piloted his spirit boat, accelerating towards the battle, he saw the late Constellation stage cultivator suddenly unleash a spiritual talisman. Seizing the moment its power erupted, repelling the hyena-like star beasts, he leaped out of the battle circle and swiftly fled into the distance.

He had actually abandoned his early-stage companion.

His situation was already precarious; now that his late-stage companion had abandoned him, how could this early-stage cultivator survive? A pack of star beasts converged from all directions, opening their gaping maws to end his life.

Just then, a silver light crashed into them. It directly slammed into a star beast that had lunged close to the cultivator, sending it flying. The immense impact not only caused Lu Ye's star-boat to violently shake, but also split the star beast in half at its waist, sending blood spraying.

The silver light brushed past the early-stage cultivator's body and shot forth, its momentum undiminished. From within the silver light, a figure leaped out, a faint clang of a blade echoing. Immediately after, countless blade lights flashed across the sky.

The early Constellation stage cultivator hadn't yet registered what was happening. He only knew that a large hand had gripped his shoulder. Under the hand's guidance, he repeatedly and narrowly avoided the star beasts' lunges and bites; once, a hyena's fangs were merely an inch from his neck, making him break out in a cold sweat.

By the time he came to his senses, those several arrogant hyena-like star beasts were all dead.

He looked utterly shaken, having never imagined he would survive. Finally realizing someone had saved him at the crucial moment, he turned his head and saw a seemingly familiar face smiling at him.

The cultivator couldn't help but be stunned, clearly not expecting to encounter Lu Ye here. Then, overjoyed, he exclaimed, "Brother Lu?"

"It's been a long time, Brother Du Lang!" Lu Ye said with a smile, watching him as his Pan Shan Blade slowly returned to its sheath.

The person before him was indeed Du Lang, whom he had met in the Grand Beginning Realm.

During the Sea of Souls competition for the Reincarnation Tree that year, he had met a group of young cultivators from various realms. However, he didn't have deep interactions with most of them; only with Du Lang and Yu Yaorao did he spend some time together.

His first fortune in the Grand Beginning Realm was thanks to Du Lang. At that time, Du Lang had given him some jade-eating ants, which enabled him to mine the spiritual jade ore vein. Unfortunately, years had passed, and Lu Ye hadn't taken care of those jade-eating ants, so the little creatures had long since starved to death...

After parting ways at the spiritual jade ore vein, Lu Ye continued to participate in the Sea of Souls competition, while Du Lang withdrew early. He knew his strength was insufficient to win, so he chose not to take the risk.

Lu Ye only knew that Du Lang was from a realm called the Scarlet Void Continent, but he wasn't sure which galaxy that realm was located in. He never expected to meet him here.

This implied that the Scarlet Void Continent was located in one of these four nearby galaxies.

In this vast star-filled sky, being able to meet again after parting ways was a kind of fate.

"You... you're at the late Constellation stage?" Du Lang could hardly believe his eyes.

Back then, they were all only at the Sea of Souls stage. Even if Lu Ye had claimed first place, it had only been a few years, yet he had already cultivated to the late Constellation stage, far surpassing Du Lang in cultivation.

It was truly incredible.

"Just good luck, I encountered some excellent opportunities."

Du Lang naturally knew it wasn't just a matter of opportunities. However, his question was an instinctive reaction born of shock, and realizing it was inappropriate, he didn't probe further. With a look of admiration, he exclaimed, "Brother Lu is truly remarkable! Even back during the Sea of Souls competition, I could tell Brother Lu was extraordinary. Now it seems my judgment was quite good!"

"Who was that person just now?" Lu Ye asked.

Du Lang must have been traveling with him, yet at a critical moment, that person actually abandoned Du Lang and fled alone, not even bothering to say goodbye, which was truly excessive.

"Ah, it's a long story!" Du Lang sighed. He turned to look at the corpse beside him, his expression dim. He bowed to the mangled body, then with reddened eyes, put the corpse away.

It was clear that the deceased cultivator must have had some relation to Du Lang, perhaps a fellow disciple or similar.

Seeing that Lu Ye had no intention of dealing with the star beast corpses, Du Lang asked, "Brother Lu, if you don't mind, may I take these corpses?"

"As you wish!" Lu Ye nodded. Star beast corpses actually held some value, especially their crystal cores, but Lu Ye had experienced periods of great wealth and didn't place much importance on such things.

Du Lang collected the star beast corpses and boarded the star-boat at Lu Ye's invitation.

After all, the star-boat was primarily for travel. Fortunately, the one Lu Ye bought was of good quality, so even after that astonishing collision, it sustained no damage.

Seeing Li Shang caring for the unconscious little girl, Du Lang bowed. "Greetings, esteemed sister-in-law. I am Du Lang of Scarlet Void, a pleasure to meet you!"

It was no wonder he misunderstood; Lu Ye and the two others presented a scene too much like a family of three. As Du Lang offered his greetings, he was muttering to himself, "Haven't seen him in a few years, and Brother Lu's child is already so big! How capable!"

Li Shang's face flushed slightly upon hearing this, but she didn't try to explain, merely glancing at Lu Ye.

Lu Ye quickly said, "Brother Du Lang, you've misunderstood. This is Fellow Daoist Li Shang."

Du Lang looked embarrassed and bowed again. "Fellow Daoist Li Shang, please forgive my rashness."

Li Shang remained silent, clearly not intending to blame Du Lang.

"Which way are you going?" Lu Ye asked. Although he was eager to return home, it was a rare coincidence to meet an acquaintance here, so giving Du Lang a ride was no problem.

Du Lang's reaction was a bit strange: "Brother Lu, aren't you going to compete for the treasure?"

"Compete for what treasure?" Lu Ye looked bewildered. However, he quickly recalled the jade slip he had received from Luo Shenzi a few days prior, which mentioned that treasures belonged to those who were fated to find them. He speculated that the 'treasure competition' Du Lang referred to was the same event mentioned in the jade slip.

"Brother Lu doesn't know?" Du Lang asked, surprised. Frowning, he continued, "Brother Lu, since you're here, I assumed you came for the treasure. Which galaxy are you from?"

"I'm from the Jade Snail Galaxy, not from a nearby one."

"Jade Snail..." Du Lang thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Never heard of it." After all, he was only at the early Constellation stage and hadn't been there for many years, so he wouldn't know about the Jade Snail Galaxy.

But if Lu Ye was from the Jade Snail Galaxy, why was he here? Du Lang genuinely couldn't figure it out.

"Which galaxy are you from, Brother Du Lang?" Lu Ye asked.

Du Lang replied, "Our Scarlet Void Continent is located in the Undetermined Galaxy!"

Lu Ye's eyebrows rose. What a coincidence! He was indeed planning to traverse the entire Undetermined Galaxy. The star map given to him by the Reincarnation Tree showed that to return from the Myriad Forms Sea to Kyushu, he had to pass through two galaxies: Changyun and Undetermined.

In that case, giving Du Lang a ride back would be convenient.

He had originally been concerned that as an outsider, traversing the Undetermined Galaxy might cause trouble. After all, cultivators within that galaxy likely had means to identify each other, and if others mistook him for a villain, it would be difficult to explain.

If he were to cross the Undetermined Galaxy alone, being cautious would suffice. However, in the future, he would eventually bring people from Kyushu over, a massive fleet, which could easily lead to misunderstandings.

If he could communicate with the powerful figures of the Undetermined Galaxy through Du Lang beforehand, these unnecessary troubles could be avoided.