Chapter 1627: Enclosure

"What should we do next?" Luan Xiao'e asked again. "I heard there's an Allure Island where there are many opportunities to earn spiritual jade. Should we send some people there?"

Although everyone brought some spiritual jade when they departed from their respective realms, cultivation is always needed during the journey. Most people now have little spiritual jade left. Without spiritual jade, cultivators cannot cultivate, and that's unacceptable.

So Luan Xiao'e wondered if they should send some people to Allure Island to try their luck, at least to ensure the daily cultivation of the cultivators from the Three Realms.

The Myriad Forms Ocean is indeed a good place, prosperous and bustling with people, presenting a truly magnificent spectacle. However, there's an undeniable drawback: it's not easy for cultivators to acquire spiritual jade here.

In the Jade Snail Star System, if a cultivator ran out of spiritual jade, they could delve into the starry sky to search for it. But in the Myriad Forms Ocean... where would one find spiritual jade?

One could leave the Myriad Forms Ocean and search within the Myriad Forms Star System, but that wouldn't be safe. They might not find spiritual jade and lose their lives instead.

They had only been here for a few days, but the cultivators from the Three Realms had already experienced the harshness of this place. Those with ability could live incredibly well here, while those without could only struggle at the bottom.

Every cultivator who came to the Myriad Forms Ocean was chasing a dream. Some could make their dreams come true, while others could only exit sorrowfully in the end.

"Not Allure Island!" Lu Ye shook his head. He knew the situation on Allure Island better than Luan Xiao'e. While one could earn some spiritual jade there, it required a lot of time and effort, and many commissions carried risks. The overall strength of the cultivators from the Three Realms was already low; they should stick together now, not disperse.

He looked around and said, "Let's set up a grand formation first."

Since they had occupied this barren island, they needed to declare their sovereignty. Setting up a grand formation here would let others know that this barren island now had an owner!

This was a common practice. Many factions that couldn't occupy a spiritual island did the same. This way, their cultivators would have a relatively private space for activities, and others wouldn't intrude without permission; otherwise, it would be considered a declaration of war.

A barren island not covered by a grand formation was ownerless land, and anyone could come over.

Luan Xiao'e was slightly worried. "This island isn't small, and it's just a barren island. Wouldn't setting up a formation now be too wasteful?"

The cultivators from the Three Realms didn't have much spiritual jade to begin with, and setting up a formation would definitely incur expenses, making everyone's spiritual jade even tighter.

Lu Ye couldn't explain the full truth. He couldn't tell Luan Xiao'e that this barren island would definitely become a spiritual island in the future. He could only explain, "Setting up a formation and claiming the land can save us some trouble. Otherwise, if other factions take an interest in this barren island, conflicts might arise. As for the expenses... we'll set up some simple formations, so the cost won't be too high."

Luan Xiao'e thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then we'll listen to you." She turned to Tang Jun, who was beside her. "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Tang?"

Old Tang looked indifferent. "Whatever Li... Lu Yiye says, this old man will do. Listening to him is always the right choice."

Even though he was much older than Lu Ye, he had discovered since coming to the Myriad Forms Ocean that some places couldn't be navigated solely by age or high cultivation.

He recalled how, as a Moon Realm cultivator, he had initially thought he could easily find a good position. To his surprise, he drifted on the Myriad Forms Ocean for so long without anyone taking him in. If Lu Ye hadn't arranged for him to work on Unrivaled Island, he would probably still be drifting there.

Tang Jun now understood that despite Lu Yiye's young age and relatively low cultivation, his capabilities were truly beyond anything Tang Jun could match.

Later, he even figured out how to return to Jade Snail, and personally went back to bring a group of people out!

Tang Jun admitted that he was inferior in such abilities. Without Lu Ye, he would never have seen anyone from the Jade Snail Star System again in his lifetime.

So, following him was definitely the right choice.

Tang Jun's attitude undoubtedly surprised Luan Xiao'e. After all, Old Tang was also a Moon Realm cultivator, and one of only two in the Three Realms. Yet, he seemed so indecisive now...

However, upon closer thought, she realized that her own arrogance had slowly been worn down throughout their journey. She claimed to be a late-stage Moon Realm cultivator, a top-tier expert in the Jade Snail Star System, but apart from her cultivation, she seemed to have nothing to show for herself in this place.

She had initially intended to take care of the cultivators from the Three Realms, but in the end, she was the one constantly being looked after. In the battle outside the Indeterminate Star System against the insectoids and blood kin, without Lu Ye, the cultivators from the Three Realms would surely have been annihilated, and she, a late-stage Moon Realm cultivator, would certainly not have been spared.

Unconsciously, she found herself relying on this young man. Otherwise, she wouldn't have sought his opinion.

Logically speaking, she was the strongest cultivator in the Three Realms, capable of deciding everything with a single word!

The matter of setting up the formation and claiming the land was thus settled. The three of them each sent out messages, recalling some cultivators skilled in formations. Lu Ye and the two Moon Realm cultivators gathered and studied for half a day, finally determining the method for arranging the formation.

Because they weren't well-off, there weren't too many requirements for this formation setup; it just needed to cover the entire barren island. As for the formation's strength... they wouldn't worry about it for now, as no one would likely attack such a barren island.

They could slowly improve the formation later when they had more resources.

Tang Jun had done extensive research on formations, and his mastery of the Dao of Formations was much higher than Lu Ye's, after all, he had lived for such a long time...

Lu Ye's cultivation in the Dao of Formations mainly came from the Hundred Formations Pagoda in the Nine Provinces, and it was still at the Divine Sea Realm level.

When Unrivaled Island's formation was set up several years ago, it was Tang Jun who presided over it. Doing it again now, he was naturally very familiar with the process.

All cultivators from the Three Realms who had dabbled in the Dao of Formations were recalled, and the entire barren island was bustling with activity. Lu Ye did not participate directly; he merely made a few requests and then left. Although participating in such a formation setup could teach him a lot, he had other matters to attend to at the moment.

Setting up the formation and claiming the land was fine, and now the cultivators from the Three Realms would have a place to settle on the Myriad Forms Ocean. However, that alone wasn't enough; there needed to be a source of spiritual jade so that the cultivators from the Three Realms wouldn't have to worry about their future cultivation.

But on this Myriad Forms Ocean, cultivators without a foundation had no good place to earn spiritual jade other than Allure Island.

Lu Ye didn't go to Allure Island. Instead, he made a trip to Unrivaled Island, which was now known as Heavenly Flame Island.

Before that, however, Lu Ye seized an opportunity to enter the Myriad Forms Ocean and then placed the Small Star Palace beneath the barren island.

Having experience transforming Unrivaled Island into a spiritual island, Lu Ye had a general understanding of the Small Star Palace's power. So this time, he merely placed it without adjusting its potency.

Because the barren island currently occupied by the cultivators from the Three Realms was three times larger than Unrivaled Island, even with the same potency, the transformation speed of the barren island would be much slower than that of Unrivaled Island.

It was best not to transform it too quickly, to avoid drawing attention and causing trouble. A slower pace would also give the cultivators from the Three Realms more time to familiarize themselves with the Myriad Forms Ocean.

If needed in the future, he could then adjust the Small Star Palace's potency, making it stronger or weaker.

After the Small Star Palace was properly placed and he ensured it was securely wedged in a hidden spot beneath the barren island, where it wouldn't be disturbed by fish, Lu Ye then went to Heavenly Flame Island.

Compared to his previous visit, Heavenly Flame Island's popularity had not diminished but increased; it seemed even livelier than before.

Lu Ye followed his memory to a shop, looked up, and frowned. The signboard had changed; it was no longer the "Good Pills" shop. Lu Ye walked in and found it was now a shop selling magical artifacts.

Undoubtedly, Hua Qianying's shop had been reclaimed by Heavenly Flame Island, and Hua Qianying herself had left.

Lu Ye took out a sound-transmitting talisman and tried to contact her, but found he couldn't reach her at all.

After some thought, he left Heavenly Flame Island and flew directly towards Myriad Forms Island. Hua Qianying used to set up a stall selling pills at the scattered market on Myriad Forms Island. Now that she had left Heavenly Flame Island, it was highly likely she would return to Myriad Forms Island.

When Lu Ye arrived at Myriad Forms Island, he headed straight for the scattered market, while simultaneously trying to contact Hua Qianying again with his sound-transmitting talisman.

Still, there was no success, and Hua Qianying was nowhere to be found in the scattered market.

This left him somewhat disappointed. The reason Lu Ye had recruited Hua Qianying from the scattered market to Unrivaled Island back then was because he valued her alchemy skills. He wanted to forge a good relationship, hoping that one day when he brought his second senior sister and Hua Ci over, they could seek her guidance.

Now his second senior sister and Hua Ci had arrived, but Hua Qianying was gone. It was truly fate playing tricks.

If he had known this, he would have mentioned it to Hua Qianying when he saw her a few days ago. But at the time, Lu Ye was preoccupied with the changes on Unrivaled Island and had no other thoughts. He never imagined that Hua Qianying would become unreachable in less than half a month.

In this vast Myriad Forms Ocean, it was fine if one could be contacted via a sound-transmitting talisman, but once contact was lost, finding someone was incredibly difficult.

But since he had come all this way, he might as well not return empty-handed.

So Lu Ye made another trip to the Myriad Forms Merchant Guild and bought some items.

He still had some spiritual jade. When he left the Myriad Forms Ocean previously, he had two million spiritual jade remaining, and he had also obtained several hundred thousand spiritual jade from Luo Xie last time.

He also had nearly a million spirit crystals... all acquired from the Merfolk back then, which he hadn't used.

Spending several hundred thousand spiritual jade was not a big burden for Lu Ye.

Upon returning to the barren island, Lu Ye found that the formation here was mostly set up as required, clearly the result of Old Tang's strict execution.

Luo Xie was also there, speaking with Luan Xiao'e and Tang Jun, both Moon Realm cultivators, who showed extreme deference.

Seeing Lu Ye's return, Luo Xie smiled slightly and said, "Young friend!"

"Elder Luo!" Lu Ye stepped forward and bowed.

"You've returned just in time. I'm leaving, so I came to bid you farewell."

Luo Xie couldn't stay long in the Myriad Forms Ocean. He had spent a few days exploring and experiencing the magnificent scenery here, but now his time limit was approaching. Even if he didn't want to leave, he had no choice; forcibly staying would only lead to being besieged by the Sun Realm cultivators of this star system.