Chapter 1643: Wanxiang Sea Native Forces

Lu Ye quietly waited in front of the portal.

A moment later, the portal rippled, and Yan Miao reappeared, a wide, uncontainable smile on her face.

Just as she had anticipated, the Mermaid Clan had been incredibly anxious during the month-long wait. They couldn't contact Lu Ye or Yan Miao and had no idea about their situation, whether they had gone to sea, or if Yan Miao would be in danger after venturing out. Amidst this agonizing suspense, Yan Miao returned, bringing with her extraordinary news!

The entire Mermaid Clan was in an uproar. Several elders, along with Queen Baishuang and Princess Bailu, crowded around Yan Miao, asking numerous questions. If the portal's time limit hadn't been approaching, Yan Miao wouldn't have been able to get away.

The Mermaid Clan actually knew quite a lot about the situation on the Myriad Manifestations Ocean side, as You Ling had been cultivating there, and Bailu often mentioned various trivial matters when chatting with her. But it was all just hearsay. Who wouldn't want to see it for themselves? Now that Grand Elder Yan Miao had taken this step, would others be far behind?

Yan Miao handed over a storage ring: "Young friend, here are some spirit jades for the spirit pills. The amount isn't quite enough, but I've already instructed people to speed up mining, and I'll make up the difference later."

"No problem!" Lu Ye took the storage ring and glanced at it casually. It seemed to contain several million spirit jades.

The funds to reinforce the array were now available! With the wealthy Mermaid Clan as a backing, it was safe to say that as long as spirit pills could be supplied, Three Realms Island would never lack for funds.

"Also, when would it be convenient for you to visit our clan's territory again, young friend? Several elders are very keen to come and see for themselves," Yan Miao asked again.

With Yan Miao's successful precedent, the other elders clearly all wanted Lu Ye's help to resolve the curse poison within them.

Lu Ye glanced at the slowly dissipating portal and said, "Not right now. I'll need at least seven days. How about this: I'll go over again in seven days."

"No rush, no rush at all. We'll follow your convenience, young friend," Yan Miao replied with a smile, clearly in a very good mood. Resolving the curse poison in their bodies would not only allow their clan members to leave the deep sea but also greatly increase their hope of advancing to the Sun-Exposure realm. Who wouldn't desire such a good fortune?

Lu Ye was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something: "However, there's one more thing I'd like to inform Grand Elder about. Your clan is considered a rare species in the vast starry sky. If your identities are exposed, it will inevitably attract the covetousness of powerful individuals. For someone like Grand Elder, cautious actions should be fine, but for someone like the Princess, it would be best not to leave your territory."

Hearing this, Yan Miao remembered Bailu's expectant gaze earlier and nodded slightly. Although Bailu was bound to be disappointed, for safety's sake, it was indeed not advisable for her to show her face publicly. This branch of their clan had lived beneath the Myriad Manifestations Ocean for far too many years and had very little understanding of the outside world. If Lu Ye hadn't specifically warned them, they might indeed stir up trouble later.

"Grand Elder, please feel free. I have some other matters to attend to," Lu Ye said before departing.

On the other side, Luan Xiao'e and Tang Jun were still waiting, unaware why Lu Ye wanted them to wait there...

It wasn't until Lu Ye returned and handed them a storage ring containing several million spirit jades.

Tang Jun was astonished: "Where did this come from?"

In such a short time, where did Lu Ye get so many spirit jades? He certainly didn't have them before, otherwise he could have given them earlier.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment and decided that the two of them should know about the existence of the Mermaid Clan. After all, if he wasn't on Three Realms Island in the future, they would still need to rely on the Mermaid Clan to help protect the island's safety. As the two island masters, Luan Xiao'e and Tang Jun were qualified to know about this ally. Furthermore, Lu Ye also wanted the cultivators of Three Realms Island to visit the Celestial Conch Hall!

Inside, cultivators had a chance to receive gifts from the Celestial Conch Hall and obtain their own conches. Some conches had very significant uses. While the functions of conches varied greatly, some were indeed remarkably powerful. With five hundred cultivators from Three Realms Island, even if their luck was terrible, they should still obtain dozens of conches, right? If they happened to acquire any rare or powerful conches, it would further enhance the foundation of Three Realms Island.

"Have you two heard of the Mermaid Clan?" Lu Ye asked.

Luan Xiao'e nodded: "Of course, I've heard of them. I heard the Mermaid Clan possesses wondrous voices, and their songs often hold incredible power, making them a rare and precious species in the starry sky." As she spoke, Luan Xiao'e looked at Lu Ye with confusion, wondering why he had suddenly brought up the Mermaid Clan.

Tang Jun's eyes lit up: "I heard that all Mermaid Clan women are as beautiful as flowers, and their singing voices are exquisitely melodious. What a pity I've never had the chance to see them!"

Lu Ye shot him a glance. "So, that's the kind of old Tang you are! At your age, your focus is a bit... frivolous."

"Grand Elder Yan Miao, whom you just saw, is from the Mermaid Clan."

"What?!" Both Luan Xiao'e and Tang Jun were startled, looking at Lu Ye with suspicion, as if trying to discern if he was joking. But they quickly realized that Lu Ye wouldn't joke about something like this; it made no sense.

Luan Xiao'e said, "No wonder that Grand Elder's aura felt a bit strange to me, not purely human. So, she truly isn't human!" As for why she didn't have the legendary human-torso-fish-tail appearance... Luan Xiao'e clearly understood the secret. The Grand Elder was clearly an adult woman, and thus could naturally manifest legs.

Lu Ye said, "The Myriad Manifestations Ocean holds many secrets; it's not as simple as it appears on the surface. We only live on the Myriad Manifestations Ocean, but beneath it, there's another profound world."

Tang Jun's eyelid twitched: "Kid, don't tell me that Grand Elder's clan lives beneath the Myriad Manifestations Ocean!"

Lu Ye looked at him: "That's right. Yan Miao's Mermaid Clan lives beneath the Myriad Manifestations Ocean!"

Tang Jun and Luan Xiao'e were even more stunned, gazing at Lu Ye with disbelief.

After a long pause, Luan Xiao'e finally spoke: "But... wasn't it said that the waters of the Myriad Manifestations Ocean are extremely corrosive, so much so that even Sun-Exposure cultivators cannot delve deep into them?"

"That's true, but places of wonder have their own unique properties. Many spirit fish and star beasts live beneath the Myriad Manifestations Ocean. If they can survive there, then naturally other species can too." The Mermaid Clan could survive primarily due to the curse poison, but there was no need to explain that in such detail.

"In short, the Mermaid Clan lives beneath the Myriad Manifestations Ocean, and for now, we've established a very good and solid cooperative relationship with that branch of the Mermaid Clan."

Tang Jun suddenly understood. So that's what you meant earlier when you called them a local force! He had thought it referred to some realm within the Myriad Manifestations Star System. The Mermaid Clan living beneath the Myriad Manifestations Ocean—calling them a local force... seemed to make sense!

"So these spirit jades were given by them?" Luan Xiao'e suddenly realized, understanding the origin of the spirit jades.

"Not given. I've established some transactional cooperation with them. These were obtained from selling spirit pills," Lu Ye explained. What kind of spirit pills could sell for so many spirit jades all at once?! Both Moon-Glimmer cultivators wanted to ask but managed to hold back. However, since it was a transactional cooperation, accepting it was fine. If it had truly been a gift, it might have felt a bit like accepting charity.

"The main reason I'm telling you all this is to let you know that Three Realms Island will not lack spirit jades in the future. The most crucial task for our Three Realms cultivators now is to enhance their own strength. Don't consider anything else; only by improving your strength can you truly protect Three Realms Island," Lu Ye said earnestly. "I might be leaving the Myriad Manifestations Ocean for a while, so I'll have to trouble you two to look after Three Realms Island thoroughly."

"Where are you going?" Tang Jun frowned. As the third island master, Lu Ye shouldn't just abandon his duties, right? Last time Lu Ye left, Peerless Island was lost, which left him with a bit of trauma.

"Some matters to handle." Lu Ye didn't elaborate. It had been some time since he returned to the Myriad Manifestations Ocean. Although Li Shang had never pressed him, it was time to put her return to her Soul Clan ancestral land on the agenda. It wouldn't be good to delay any longer.

Luan Xiao'e said, "Go ahead and do whatever you need to. Rest assured about Three Realms Island. When you return, it will absolutely still be Three Realms Island!" During this time, she and Tang Jun had been worrying about the future cultivation of the Three Realms cultivators. The root cause was a lack of funds, and they hadn't found a solution. Who would have thought Lu Ye had already resolved it? The expenses for several hundred cultivators' future cultivation were no small sum. Now, this matter was no longer a concern. If they couldn't protect Three Realms Island even with this solved, what good were they?

"Additionally, the Mermaid Clan has a Celestial Conch Hall, which holds quite a few mysteries." Lu Ye briefly explained the various aspects of the Celestial Conch Hall, leaving Tang Jun and Luan Xiao'e quite intrigued. Various types of conches with different uses—if they could obtain a practical one, it would also contribute to the future development of Three Realms Island.

"But that's their secret realm after all. Will they let us in?" Tang Jun asked with some concern.

Lu Ye thought for a moment and said, "That branch of the Mermaid Clan will be Three Realms Island's most steadfast ally in the future. They won't be stingy about opening up a Celestial Conch Hall to us. I'll discuss this with the Grand Elder later; it shouldn't be a big problem." He then turned to Luan Xiao'e: "Senior Sister, you have a task now."

Luan Xiao'e's expression became serious: "Just give the order, Junior Brother." Nominally, she was the First Island Master, and Lu Ye was only the Third, but she had come to understand that the future of Three Realms Island depended on Lu Ye. The only thing she could do was provide military assurance.

"For the next few days, please accompany Grand Elder Yan Miao. She's new here and probably wants to look around."

Luan Xiao'e immediately understood and smiled: "Don't worry, Junior Brother, I'll take good care of Daoist Friend Yan Miao." With that, she gave Tang Jun a word of caution to look after Three Realms Island, then flashed away to find Yan Miao.

Yan Miao was indeed exploring, but Three Realms Island was only so big and undeveloped. Besides a few cultivators, there wasn't much to see. Just as she was debating whether to greet Lu Ye and go for a stroll, Luan Xiao'e arrived. Under her warm invitation, Yan Miao was overjoyed.

The two women immediately flew out of Three Realms Island together, their figures gradually receding into the distance! With two late Moon-Glimmer cultivators traveling together, no one on the Myriad Manifestations Ocean would be foolish enough to provoke them, so there was no need to worry about their safety.

Luan Xiao'e's goal was clear: she led Yan Miao straight to Myriad Manifestations Island, as it was, after all, the most prosperous place in the entire Myriad Manifestations Ocean.