Chapter 1616: Undermining

The All-Embracing Ocean was as bustling as ever, with human voices clamoring on the spirit islands and an endless stream of cultivators and star-ships soaring through the air.

Lu Ye couldn't help but recall his first visit to the All-Embracing Ocean. Back then, he had been cautious during his flight, fearing he might encounter powerful individuals who disliked him.

Although he had just advanced to the mid-stage of the Constellation Realm at that time, he had only just reached that level and might not have been a match for truly powerful opponents.

Many years later, on his second visit to the All-Embracing Ocean, although his cultivation had only advanced by one minor stage, his current strength was vastly different from what it had been back then.

Now, even if he encountered an ordinary Moon-Gazing Realm cultivator, he might not be without the power to fight. Moreover, having lived on the All-Embracing Ocean for several years, he was quite familiar with the place and no longer needed to be as cautious as he was on his first visit.

Piloting his star-ship, the closer he got to Peerless Island, the more cultivators he encountered in the air.

Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. Given the current situation, Peerless Island clearly maintained its former prosperity and even seemed to be doing better. But where were Tang Jun and the others?

Several days later, Lu Ye arrived at Peerless Island. From a distance, the entire island seemed largely unchanged, still much as it had been before.

The spirit island was enveloped by a light screen, but this was not the light screen of a defensive array. Lu Ye recognized it at a glance as an isolation array.

This was a common array found on every spirit island. Only in this way could the dissipation of the island's energy be prevented. Without such an isolation array, the astral energy generated on the spirit island would escape, resulting in pure waste.

With an isolation array, it was different. Energy would not dissipate; instead, it would permeate the spirit island, allowing cultivators to practice cultivation using it.

Lu Ye observed from a distance for a while before soaring in one direction.

In the past, when he entered Peerless Island from outside, he would enter wherever it was convenient, and no one would say anything to him because it was his own spirit island.

However, every spirit island actually had a port. Visiting cultivators were required to enter and exit through these ports, which was also how all spirit islands managed external cultivators.

Peerless Island was not small, but it wasn't overly large either. When Chu Shen developed it, a total of three ports were planned. Later, as Peerless Island gained popularity, two more were added to meet the demands of daily traffic.

Lu Ye was aware of this.

Arriving at one of the ports, Lu Ye put away his star-ship and walked straight in.

There were cultivators guarding the place. To Lu Ye's surprise, the one stationed there was actually a Moon-Gazing Realm cultivator! However, judging by the power fluctuations emanating from the individual, they were likely only in the early stage of the Moon-Gazing Realm.

This was clearly not right. When he left back then, the entire Peerless Island had only one Moon-Gazing Realm cultivator, Tang Jun. Lu Ye recalled that Chu Shen had assigned only Constellation Realm cultivators to the ports.

When did Peerless Island get another Moon-Gazing Realm cultivator?

Moreover, this was just the situation at this particular port; Peerless Island had five such ports!

The Moon-Gazing Realm cultivator sat quietly not far away, with eyes closed, deep in meditation, without moving a muscle. Seemingly indifferent to the cultivators entering and exiting, in reality, it was because everyone followed the rules. If anyone did not, he would surely respond with swift and powerful measures.

Unlike the All-Embracing Island, no transit fees were collected here, so Lu Ye smoothly passed through the port and entered Peerless Island.

The moment he stepped onto Peerless Island, Lu Ye's expression froze.

Because he felt that the astral energy permeating the surroundings was much denser than when he left years ago.

One must know that Peerless Island had no shortage of visitors, and cultivators staying there consumed the island's energy. Yet, despite this, the energy remained so abundant.

Peerless Island... could it have been upgraded to a top-tier spirit island?

When he left back then, Peerless Island was only a mid-tier spirit island. Such islands, while not abundant in the All-Embracing Ocean, were not rare either. Generally, any significant force with some standing could occupy a respectable mid-tier spirit island.

Now, several years had passed. To Lu Ye, Peerless Island upgrading to a high-tier spirit island should be no problem, after all, the Minor Constellation Palace had been placed beneath Peerless Island by him and had been continuously functioning.

Whether it could upgrade to a top-tier spirit island, Lu Ye couldn't be sure. Because throughout the entire All-Embracing Ocean, the number of top-tier spirit islands was limited, not exceeding twenty, and all were occupied by renowned, world-shaking major forces.

But now, with a slight perception of the changes within Peerless Island, Lu Ye vaguely felt that even if Peerless Island hadn't upgraded to a top-tier spirit island, it wasn't far off.

The gradual transformation by the Minor Constellation Palace over time had slowly turned a desolate, unnoticed island into the spirit island it was today. What an astonishing change this was.

The changes on Peerless Island were likely linked to this. One should know that top-tier spirit islands could give birth to spirit jade veins, which was something many large realms longed for but could not attain.

"Do not linger here and obstruct others' entry and exit!"

Just as Lu Ye was sensing the changes on Peerless Island, the Moon-Gazing Realm cultivator stationed there slowly opened their eyes and reprimanded him.

Lu Ye snapped back to attention and quickly moved further inside.

He soon arrived inside Peerless Island. Compared to when he left years ago, Peerless Island was noticeably more prosperous. The layout of the shops here hadn't changed much, but the number of cultivators coming and going had undoubtedly increased many times over.

Especially many people were heading in one direction. As Lu Ye passed by, he observed and listened to conversations around him, hoping to find some useful clues, but he didn't discover much.

If cultivators had something they didn't want others to hear during their conversations, they could transmit their thoughts telepathically. Those who conversed openly usually discussed trivial matters, so Lu Ye, attempting to gather information this way, naturally heard nothing of significance.

Following the crowd forward, he soon arrived in front of a huge building.

Lu Ye looked up and observed, almost thinking he had arrived at the All-Embracing Commerce Guild, because from its exterior, its various styles and layout were almost identical to the All-Embracing Commerce Guild!

However, the plaque above the entrance bore four large characters: "Heavenly Flame Commerce Guild."

Lu Ye frowned slightly.

He remembered this building. When he left back then, this largest building was still unclaimed because Chu Shen wanted to establish his own commerce guild. This location had been specifically reserved for that purpose. Chu Shen had a remarkable talent for business and was bold in his ideas and actions; he was instrumental in Peerless Island's success back then, which, of course, also had something to do with his background and status.

As the young master of the Chime Realm, he was a notable figure. Without Chu Shen's background, Peerless Island would never have easily achieved success back then and would likely have been targeted and attacked.

Chu Shen had discussed his plans with him more than once, having great expectations for his future commerce guild. That's why he had always kept this largest building on the island, never leasing or selling it, regardless of the price offered by other forces.

But now, for this building to bear the plaque of the Heavenly Flame Commerce Guild, was quite unusual.

Lu Ye vaguely remembered having seen the characters "Heavenly Flame" somewhere before...

He took out his star map to check and indeed found that there was a Heavenly Flame Realm within this All-Embracing Star System, which was a native realm.

Given this, this Heavenly Flame Commerce Guild was related to the Heavenly Flame Realm, clearly an enterprise of the Heavenly Flame Realm.

Although the All-Embracing Star System had an All-Embracing Commerce Guild, that was a shared enterprise of the entire star system, with all Sun-Gazing Realm cultivators in the entire star system registered with it, making it the largest force on the All-Embracing Ocean.

However, the star system did not only have the All-Embracing Commerce Guild as its sole enterprise; various major realms also had their own enterprises.

Walking into the Heavenly Flame Commerce Guild, the flow of people was endless, shoulders brushing against shoulders. Lu Ye was secretly surprised, because even at the All-Embracing Commerce Guild, he had never seen such a bustling scene. He wondered what power this Heavenly Flame Commerce Guild possessed to achieve something even the All-Embracing Commerce Guild could not.

This might be related to the transit fees collected on All-Embracing Island. A few spirit jades might not be much, but cultivators who didn't need to go to All-Embracing Island would naturally not waste them.

Peerless Island was different. There were no transit fees; anyone could come and go as they pleased, naturally attracting more people.

Lu Ye stood in the spacious hall for a while, and no one paid him any attention. After a moment, a female cultivator wearing the Heavenly Flame Commerce Guild's attire walked over. This female cultivator was dressed rather revealingly, with large areas of fair skin exposed. More importantly, she had an excellent figure—a slender waist that seemed graspable and a prominent bosom—which drew many furtive glances.

She handed Lu Ye a jade slip and spoke in a clear, crisp voice: "Esteemed guest, our guild is celebrating its grand opening with special discounts. All goods listed in this jade slip are 10% off. If the guest has any needs, feel free to take a look. Furthermore, if the goods the guest requires are not listed in the jade slip, our guild is capable of helping the guest acquire them."

Lu Ye finally understood why so many people had come here.

Cultivators were also very keen on discounts. After all, who wouldn't like to save some spirit jades for free? Moreover, Peerless Island didn't charge any transit fees, so naturally, people came to join the fun, whether they had business or not.

Lu Ye took the jade slip, casually looking at it while asking, "Ma'am, I haven't been to the All-Embracing Ocean in a long time. I recall that your Heavenly Flame Commerce Guild wasn't on Peerless Island before. When did you arrive?"

The female cultivator smiled slightly: "Guest, this is no longer Peerless Island."

Lu Ye feigned surprise: "Peerless Island was taken down? What is this place called now?" Spirit islands generally wouldn't change names easily unless they changed owners!

The female cultivator didn't respond to his first question, only saying, "Our Heavenly Flame Commerce Guild has taken over this island, so it is naturally now Heavenly Evolution Island."

"Congratulations then," Lu Ye said, betraying no emotion. On the All-Embracing Ocean, the ownership of many spirit islands changed constantly, with various forces taking turns, one rising as another fell. Changing the name of a spirit island was also a common occurrence.

Lu Ye's heart sank slightly. Although the female cultivator hadn't answered his question, judging solely from these clues, Peerless Island had truly been captured!

He had had this premonition before. Otherwise, there would be no reason why Chu Shen, Tang Jun, and the others couldn't be contacted.

But Chu Shen's status was clear, so Lu Ye couldn't understand who would be bold enough to attack Peerless Island. After all, no matter how powerful forces from other star systems were, Chu Shen had Jiuyan backing him, who would at least command some respect.

Only now did he realize that Peerless Island was not taken by forces from another star system, but by another force from the native star system!

This was like being undermined by one's own people, which was somewhat illogical.