Chapter 1585: Big Windmill

The fleet departed from the Qingli Dao Realm. Though their speed was not slow, it would still take two months to reach the Chaotic Blast Zone.

Lu Ye remained on Luan Xiao'e's starship, ready to act whenever summoned. However, with no immediate need for his assistance—as the fleet merely followed the star map's route—he spent most of his time in his cabin engaged in personal activities.

When they occasionally encountered star beasts, most were hunted down from afar by Kyushu cultivators piloting the Tiger Shark battleships, preventing them from approaching the fleet. While most star beasts possess low intelligence, many have an instinct for seeking advantage and avoiding harm. A fleet of this size was clearly not something to be trifled with, so few star beasts dared to provoke them. Any that did challenge the fleet were typically simple-minded creatures relying solely on brute force.

Inside the green hall, Lu Ye, wielding the Mountain Breaker Blade and Soul Severing Blade, crossed his twin blades and engaged Qing Mantis in continuous combat. After such a long period of confrontation, he felt he had thoroughly studied Qing Mantis's twin blade techniques. Although his execution wasn't as fluid as Qing Mantis's, he had at least grasped seventy to eighty percent of its true essence.

He slowly discovered a pattern: these inheritances within the Fang were all extremely demanding on one's own foundation. Qing Li's "Fangs Bared" wasn't particularly obvious; it was an explosive blade technique that required unleashing a portion of one's foundation in a very short time to achieve its full power, otherwise it would merely be a superficial imitation. Yan Xi's "Vaulting Leap" was even more taxing; each leap placed a significant burden on both the physical body and spiritual power. Even with Lu Ye's current foundation, he couldn't sustain it for very long.

Qing Mantis's twin blades were the most obvious example. Once this blade technique was performed, each strike became heavier and faster than the last. By the end, the power of each strike far exceeded a normal full-power burst. Just like now, the long blades in Qing Mantis's hands were almost invisible, a continuous blur of blade shadows.

Lu Ye, however, was able to perfectly block them. He could clearly feel the terrifying power contained within each of Qing Mantis's slashes and secretly felt that he was probably about to pass Qing Mantis's test. He wondered what the next inheritance would be like.

Just as he was thinking this, Qing Mantis's swift, wind-like movements suddenly paused slightly. Then Lu Ye was surprised to find that Qing Mantis had reversed its grip on the long blade in its left hand and assumed a strange posture. His heart skipped a beat, and he vaguely felt something was amiss, as Qing Mantis had never made such strange movements since their confrontation began.

If this were a life-or-death battle, Lu Ye would never give Qing Mantis any chance; he would have unhesitatingly pounced forward at that very moment. But this was, after all, an inheritance, so even knowing Qing Mantis was about to pull some trick, Lu Ye could only wait and see.

Sure enough, with one blade reversed in its grip, Qing Mantis's aura became even sharper. Both long blades suddenly burst with dazzling light, and its body began to spin rapidly, carrying the two long blades with it in a whirling motion. A low voice emanated from Qing Mantis's mouth: "Great… Wind… Wheel!" Then Lu Ye saw a storm of blades sweeping across the entire green hall!

Three breaths later, Lu Ye, who had been resisting with all his might, grunted as he was slashed out of the green hall. He slowly opened his eyes in his cabin, his mind throbbing with a slight stinging pain. Silently, he took out a Soul Refining Grass, holding it in his palm to refine it. Lu Ye's mind replayed the scene he had just witnessed. After a long while, he mumbled, "That's cheating!"

How could one defend against such a move? The green hall was only so big; even if he used Yan Xi's "Vaulting Leap," he couldn't escape the sweep of that Great Wind Wheel. He had thought he was close to passing Qing Mantis's test and grasping the essence of its blade technique inheritance. Now, it seemed he had been too naive.

After much thought, he concluded that with his current strength, he truly couldn't withstand that terrifying and violent storm of blades, unless he could also perform such a blade technique, returning the opponent's move with their own. However, this Great Wind Wheel was indeed terrifying. If he truly comprehended it, he thought, unleashing it when surrounded by enemies in the future would surely devastate all foes nearby. Pondering all the details of Qing Mantis activating that blade technique, Lu Ye was no longer in a hurry to re-enter the green hall.

Suddenly, violent spiritual power fluctuations emanated from outside. That wasn't the signature of a Star Constellation Realm cultivator's attack; it was clearly a Moon Reflection Realm cultivator. Lu Ye's heart tensed. He quickly flashed out of his cabin and soon arrived on the deck, where he saw many Jade Snail Realm cultivators gathered, including Shi Chuan, whom he had defeated.

These Jade Snail cultivators were all standing by the railing, looking in one direction. The fleet had stopped, and on all the starships, cultivators from the three realms were gazing in that same direction. Lu Ye followed their gaze and indeed saw an intense battle taking place. One side was Luan Xiao'e, and the other was a ferocious-looking star beast.

At first glance, the star beast resembled a giant lizard, but its body was covered in sharp barbs, its claws were extremely sharp, and its long tail was agile. Its most terrifying weapon was a long tongue that shot out from its mouth, flickering back and forth, sweeping across the area. The aura emanating from the star beast was clearly at the late Moon Reflection Realm, comparable to Luan Xiao'e's. At this moment, both sides were locked in fierce combat in that expanse of starlight, creating a fiery scene.

Only then did Lu Ye realize Luan Xiao'e was also a soldier cultivator. Although he had speculated this when he saw her attire earlier, he couldn't confirm it until he saw it with his own eyes. Luan Xiao'e wielded a long spear, which glowed with a silver light. With the spear in hand, she exuded a valiant and dashing aura.

"Brother Lu, you're here?" Shi Chuan quickly greeted Lu Ye upon seeing him. Although he had been defeated by Lu Ye in just three strikes earlier, Shi Chuan did not hold a grudge. Instead, he was able to quickly adjust his mindset, which showed his temperament was quite good. Beside Shi Chuan, a group of Jade Snail cultivators also greeted him. During his stay, Lu Ye had occasionally come out for a stroll and had become familiar with many of them.

"What happened?" Lu Ye asked.

Shi Chuan replied, "A powerful star beast is blocking our path. Only Martial Aunt Luan can handle it."

Lu Ye nodded slightly and observed for a while, then figured out the situation. The star beast's strength was indeed good, but it was no match for Luan Xiao'e. Given similar cultivation levels, star beasts were generally inferior to cultivators, as they fought purely by instinct, lacking the myriad techniques available to cultivators. Just like this lizard-like star beast, its attacks were limited to its long tongue shooting out, its body pouncing, and its back spines projecting. With the foundation Luan Xiao'e was currently displaying, she should be able to defeat it with little effort. Yet, the battle between the person and the beast was exceptionally fierce.

Luan Xiao'e was establishing her prestige. The cultivators from the three realms were cooperating. While the Jade Snail Realm cultivators deeply admired and trusted her, those from Kyushu and the Qingli Dao Realm still maintained a certain distance, as they were not from the same realm. Luan Xiao'e was intentionally showcasing her abilities to the cultivators from Kyushu and the Qingli Dao Realm, making everyone realize her strength, which was why she fought in such a flashy manner. Knowing this, he didn't expose her. Luan Xiao'e's actions were appropriate; if Lu Ye were in her position, he would act the same way.

As expected, on each starship, numerous cultivators from the three realms watched this astounding battle, all utterly captivated. Especially the Kyushu cultivators, who had rarely witnessed the grandeur of the Moon Reflection Realm, each felt a surge of longing and aspiration.

A moment later, as Luan Xiao'e's long spear thrust out, directly piercing the lizard star beast's head, she retrieved her spear, her body completely spotless, and flew back, carrying the star beast's corpse. The fleet continued its journey.

Luan Xiao'e saw Lu Ye emerge from his seclusion and called out, "Fellow Daoist Lu, come with me!" The star beast's corpse was dropped onto the deck, where Jade Snail Realm cultivators would naturally handle it. Such items, when taken to the Myriad Manifestation Ocean, were all valuable spiritual jade.

Following Luan Xiao'e into the starship's central command area, a star map, like a projection, appeared in both their fields of vision. Luan Xiao'e pointed at the star map and said, "At our current speed, in another day, we'll enter the Chaotic Blast Zone. Fellow Daoist, you came through the Chaotic Blast Zone yourself, but back then, you were alone in a single ship. Now, with the fleet, it's ultimately not as convenient as it was for you. Although my investigation shows the situation in the Chaotic Blast Zone has changed significantly, the spatial magnetic storms cannot have completely vanished. So, we still need to be prepared."

Lu Ye nodded, knowing that Luan Xiao'e was right. Even if the spatial magnetic storms in this area had decreased due to the Azure Bird's devouring, reducing the danger, necessary precautions still needed to be taken. When he was alone, he was flexible in his movements, but with the fleet moving forward, there were many more factors to consider.

"Fellow Daoist, do you have any good arrangements?" Luan Xiao'e asked. She had called Lu Ye over precisely to discuss passing through the Chaotic Blast Zone. Lu Ye had entrusted the main authority to her, which was equivalent to entrusting the lives of three hundred cultivators from his realm to her. She knew the responsibility was immense. If they could achieve a successful first cooperation, the relationship between the three realms would surely become closer in the future. However, if this cooperation went awry and they lost mutual trust, future cooperation would be difficult. Therefore, she couldn't act arbitrarily. This was also why she had kept Lu Ye on this starship in the first place.

Lu Ye thought for a moment and said, "Spatial magnetic storms have an enormous range and sweep extremely fast; even piloting a starship cannot compare to their speed. So, to pass through this Chaotic Blast Zone, it's best to proceed while simultaneously searching for places to quickly take shelter along the way, such as large meteorites, or barren/dead planets. This way, if we encounter a spatial magnetic storm, we can take cover in advance and wait for it to pass."

Luan Xiao'e showed no change in expression and said, "Continue."

"Additionally, we need people to monitor all directions and scout for any signs of spatial magnetic storms in advance." How could Lu Ye not understand Luan Xiao'e's intention? So he directly said, "Let my Kyushu's Tiger Shark battleships disperse. One can scout ahead, searching for suitable hiding spots. And one each to the left, right, above, and below, maintaining a certain distance. If there's any anomaly, they can report it immediately!" Luan Xiao'e likely had the same plan, but the Tiger Shark battleships belonged to Kyushu after all. It would be inappropriate for her to issue direct orders, but if Lu Ye gave the orders, there would be no such concerns.