Chapter 1531: Fear That It Really Exists

Lu Ye was actually quite confident about this matter. He had no intention of hiding anything from the powerful cultivators of the Boundless Star System. As long as he could meet them and explain the situation with the Myriad Manifestation Sea, he believed they would be very willing to get involved.

No one could resist the allure of the Myriad Manifestation Sea. It was practically the center of the entire Starry Sky. Who wouldn't want to connect with such a place?

However, this meant that starting from Kyushu, he would need to bring people from the Green Summit Dao Realm and the Jade Snail Realm along the way. And upon arriving here, he would also need to bring people from the Boundless Star System. The fleet's scale would undoubtedly be immense.

If they were to enter the Long Cloud Star System again, he wondered if it would provoke hostility...

He could only take things one step at a time. Lu Ye couldn't predict what would happen several years from now. There would always be a way when the time came.

Collecting his thoughts, Lu Ye asked, "Brother Du Lang, what is the status of the Scarlet Sky Continent in the Boundless Star System? Does your realm have any Sun-Exposed cultivators?"

If Scarlet Sky had Sun-Exposed cultivators, things would be much simpler.

Du Lang shook his head with a wry smile. "If Scarlet Sky had Sun-Exposed cultivators, we wouldn't have fallen into our current predicament."

"What do you mean?" Lu Ye frowned. It seemed Du Lang was not having an easy time.

Du Lang sighed. "Brother Lu, do you remember what I told you about my realm back then?"

Only then did Lu Ye remember that when he was mining with Du Lang, Du Lang had indeed mentioned the issue of the Scarlet Sky Continent: its foundational energy was draining, and the realm was weakening. That's why he had no other aspirations in the Grand Beginning Realm, only wanting to mine some spirit jades to take back, to see if he could slow down Scarlet Sky's decline.

In the Starry Sky, realms were countless. Some were growing vigorously like newborns, while others were old and decaying, like the setting sun.

Kyushu was a flourishing realm, whereas the Scarlet Sky Continent was its complete opposite.

The weakening of a realm's foundational energy would lead to many problems. The most affected group was the cultivators. Within a realm, the maximum cultivation level a cultivator could achieve was directly related to the strength of its foundational energy.

The Scarlet Sky Continent was once a powerful force. Although not a top-tier realm, it was considered one of the most powerful realms in the Boundless Star System, often having three to five Sun-Exposed cultivators residing within it.

However, with the weakening of the realm's foundational energy and the natural deaths of the Sun-Exposed cultivators, the cultivation of Scarlet Sky cultivators was gradually affected.

Especially in the last thousand years, Scarlet Sky's foundational energy had weakened significantly. Now, the realm could no longer produce spiritual light to allow Divine Sea cultivators to advance to Star Host.

If this continued, Scarlet Sky's tier would constantly decline. With gradual evolution, the highest achievements of cultivators within the realm would be continuously suppressed, until no spiritual energy existed in the realm, making it unsuitable for cultivation.

Of course, such a decline would last for many years, and the lives of mortals within it would not be significantly directly impacted.

Currently, Scarlet Sky had no Sun-Exposed cultivators, only a handful of Moon-Reflecting cultivators, and it was difficult for Star Hosts to be born. For the entire Scarlet Sky cultivation world, this was akin to an apocalypse.

To find a way out, Scarlet Sky could only rely on the most powerful realm in its star system, the Boundless Realm, in exchange for the qualifications for some cultivators to advance to Star Host.

Because their own realm could no longer allow cultivators to advance from Divine Sea to Star Host, they could only send qualified individuals to the Boundless Realm for cultivation.

However, such quotas were ultimately limited. Only three people from the Scarlet Sky Continent could be sent to the Boundless Realm each year. Whether these three could successfully advance to Star Host was still unknown. Sometimes, if they were lucky, one or two could advance; sometimes, if unlucky, none could.

And for this, Scarlet Sky had paid a heavy price. It could be said that cultivators of the Scarlet Sky Continent currently lived under the Boundless Realm's roof, acting at their behest.

This trip, Du Lang and a senior brother from his realm had come here together. One reason was to search for spirit jades for cultivation, and the other was for a certain opportunity. However, they encountered Xu Dingyang, a Boundless Realm cultivator, here. This was the late-stage Star Host who had abandoned him and fled earlier.

Du Lang and his senior brother were forcibly conscripted by Xu Dingyang. The two brothers had no choice but to follow him.

The result was encountering this group of star beasts. They fought bravely but were overwhelmed; his senior brother died on the spot. Xu Dingyang fled, and if Lu Ye hadn't appeared out of nowhere to intervene, Du Lang would have long since perished.

After listening, Lu Ye couldn't help but sigh. "I see that this place is a chaotic mix, with cultivators from all four star systems coexisting. If you want to search for spirit jades, there's no need to specifically come here."

Du Lang replied, "We don't want to be here, but our realm is weak. The nearby space is full of cultivators from other realms. It's incredibly difficult to find spirit jades, so we can only try our luck here."

Generally, the nearby space of a realm is where its own cultivators search for spirit jades. Cultivators from other realms wouldn't easily intrude; otherwise, it would be considered a provocation.

But the Scarlet Sky Continent's current strength was too meager. And being dependent on others, cultivators from realms in the Boundless Star System no longer cared about the feelings of Scarlet Sky cultivators. Even if spirit jades could form near Scarlet Sky, they would have been collected by cultivators from other realms.

Forced by necessity, Du Lang and his senior brother had come here.

After thinking, Du Lang said, "Furthermore, we didn't just come here for spirit jades. If we could obtain that opportunity, even if we couldn't keep it, offering it would significantly improve Scarlet Sky's situation in the future."

"What kind of opportunity is it, exactly?" Lu Ye had heard Du Lang mention it several times, and even though he wasn't particularly interested, he was now intrigued.

Unexpectedly, Du Lang shook his head. "Actually, I don't know what kind of opportunity it is. It's just that for over a hundred years, rumors have circulated among the nearby star systems that there's a great opportunity in this barren land. Since then, people have been exploring this area."

Lu Ye chuckled. "You don't even know what kind of opportunity it is, yet you came here. Aren't you afraid the information is wrong? And it's been a hundred years; even if there was such an opportunity, it's probably already been seized."

Du Lang, however, shook his head earnestly. "The information isn't wrong. I asked the elders in my realm, and they confirmed it's true. And that opportunity has always been there; it hasn't been obtained by anyone."

Lu Ye was unconvinced. "Brother Du Lang, think about it: if there truly is such a great opportunity, why aren't Moon-Reflecting and Sun-Exposed cultivators making a move? All the cultivators I've encountered recently are Star Hosts; there's no sign of any Moon-Reflecting or Sun-Exposed cultivators."

Du Lang explained, "I'm not entirely sure of the specific reason, but the Sun-Exposed cultivators of the four nearby star systems seem to have reached an an agreement a hundred years ago: that in this area, Moon-Reflecting and Sun-Exposed cultivators are forbidden from entering, except for Star Hosts. The opportunity within is only for Star Hosts from the four star systems to compete for. That's why you don't see any Moon-Reflecting or Sun-Exposed cultivators, Brother Lu."

Lu Ye couldn't help but frown. He had a feeling this whole thing wasn't quite reliable.

Seeing this, Du Lang said, "Brother Lu, you're also a military cultivator. This opportunity is unique to military cultivators. Since you're here, why not give it a try? With your cultivation, you might just have a chance."

"An opportunity just for military cultivators?" Lu Ye was greatly surprised. Did opportunities even have factions?

However, on second thought, about eighty percent of the cultivators he had encountered in recent days seemed to be military cultivators, which was indeed strange. Moreover, Du Lang wasn't the only one searching for the opportunity here; cultivators from all four star systems were present. If the opportunity were nonexistent, there would be no reason for so many people to be drawn here.

This opportunity... it might actually exist!

Du Lang sighed. "Ultimately, Scarlet Sky isn't strong enough. Others should know the truth about that opportunity, but unfortunately, we Scarlet Sky cultivators don't. Otherwise, I could have resolved Brother Lu's confusion."

Lu Ye thought for a moment, then asked, "Who is Luo Shenzi?"

Du Lang replied, "He is a descendant of a Sun-Exposed cultivator from the Grand Luo Realm, the dominant power in the Grand Luo Star System. Looking at these four star systems, he can be said to be the strongest among the Star Host realm. Brother Lu, have you received a summons from Luo Shenzi?"

Lu Ye nodded. "A few days ago, someone came and gave me a message, telling me to go to something called Heavenly Dog Star."

"We received it earlier too," Du Lang said. "Actually, over the past hundred years, that opportunity has appeared several times, but no one has ever obtained it. It seems to have appeared again this time, on the Heavenly Dog Star. Luo Shenzi must have discovered something, but unfortunately, he's unable to resolve it on his own. That's why he's gathering people. Brother Lu, if you're not in a hurry, you could go and take a look."

Seeing Lu Ye deep in thought, Du Lang said, "The Heavenly Dog Star is straight ahead; it won't be a detour."

"It's on the way?" Lu Ye was surprised. "Then let's go take a look."

Du Lang had sustained some injuries in the previous battle, so he spent the subsequent time healing on the starship.

Li Shang's voice suddenly reached Lu Ye's ears. "Fellow Daoist, should I call you Li Taibai? Or Lu Yiye?"

Earlier, when dealing with the Jade Blue Realm's troubles with Lu Ye, a Blood Clan Star Host had blurted out Lu Ye's name. At the time, Li Shang found it a bit strange but didn't dwell on it.

It wasn't until Du Lang kept calling him "Brother Lu" this time that she realized the name Li Taibai was problematic.

Lu Ye looked up at her, seeing her watching him with a half-smile. Without embarrassment, he replied via voice transmission, "A name is just a designation. Fellow Daoist can call me whatever you like. However, my real name is Lu Ye, and people call me Lu Yiye; I can't help it. Li Taibai is just an alias."

He had also gone by Ye Liu and Fa Wuzun before...

"Why do people call you Lu Yiye?" Li Shang asked, a bit confused.

Lu Ye explained, "In my homeland, there's a small device for testing cultivator aptitude. Sixty-four leaves blooming represents the highest aptitude. When I was tested, only one leaf appeared. So, some unethical person gave me the nickname 'One Leaf,' and it just spread."

Li Shang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly covered her mouth and laughed, appearing greatly amused. "Sixty-four leaves is the highest, and you only got one leaf?"

This was simply the biggest joke in the world.

Although Li Shang hadn't met many non-Human cultivators, she was certain that no one in the Star Host realm could be Lu Ye's opponent. After all, she had personally witnessed how Lu Ye moved freely and effectively among the many Blood Clan cultivators.

For someone like him to have only 'one leaf' of aptitude, that aptitude-testing device must have been seriously flawed!