Chapter 1691: Return

For the Soul Clan living in an environment like the Ancestral Land, soul jades are virtually useless; they can cultivate directly on the Lotus Continent if they wish. It is only when they leave the Ancestral Land that the Soul Clan needs to exert effort to condense some soul jades for later use.

Nevertheless, Lu Ye still received over two hundred soul jades from Xu Yuan, leftover from Xu Yuan's last journey years ago. Since they were useless to him, Xu Yuan gave them to Lu Ye when he asked.

An elder and a youth stood by the Starry Sky Pond, which seemed to reflect the entire cosmos in miniature. However, locating the path to Kyushu within this Starry Sky Pond was no simple feat, as Lu Ye couldn't pinpoint Kyushu's exact position in this vast expanse! Thus, he had no choice but to ask Xu Yuan for assistance. Having been stationed here for many years, Xu Yuan had spent his idle time solely studying the Starry Sky Pond. His knowledge of the cosmic environment was naturally far superior to Lu Ye's.

“Where are you going this time?”

“The Jade Snail Galaxy,” Lu Ye stated, giving a general region first. If the Starry Sky Pond had a direct passage to the Jade Snail Galaxy, that would, of course, be ideal.

Xu Yuan replied, “Give me a landmark location. I've never even heard of that galaxy you mentioned.”

With countless galaxies in the cosmos, Xu Yuan naturally hadn't heard of every single one. Asking him to locate a corresponding place in the Starry Sky Pond that he was unfamiliar with was undoubtedly an unreasonable request.

“How about the Chaotic Blast Zone?” Lu Ye offered, trying a less specific option.

Xu Yuan shook his head.

“Thousand Hills Graveyard?” Lu Ye asked again.

If Xu Yuan could help pinpoint any single location, he could then deduce the positions of both the Jade Snail Galaxy and Kyushu. Unfortunately, even for a cosmic marvel like the Thousand Hills Graveyard, Xu Yuan was unfamiliar with it.

“How about the Unfixed, Silent Moon, North Profound, or Grand Luo galaxies?”

If he still couldn't pinpoint a location, Lu Ye truly wouldn't know how to find the region corresponding to Kyushu in the Starry Sky Pond, as he was only familiar with that particular route. As for attempting to deduce from the Myriad Manifestations Sea, that was unreliable. This was because after exiting the Myriad Manifestations Sea and passing the Long Cloud Galaxy, one had to traverse a wormhole directly into the Mist Dragon Marvel. There was a discontinuity in between, making it impossible to deduce a location by following the route.

Fortunately, Xu Yuan finally nodded this time: “I know the Grand Luo Galaxy.”

Lu Ye immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Yuan's divine sense surged, and he quickly got to work, soon announcing, “Found it.”

Hearing this, Lu Ye immediately released his divine sense as well, following Xu Yuan's guidance and immersing his consciousness into the Starry Sky Pond.

“This location is near the Grand Luo Galaxy; the rest is up to you.”

“No problem!” Lu Ye nodded. Once the Grand Luo Galaxy was located, deducing the direction of the Jade Snail Galaxy would not be difficult.

With his consciousness immersed in the Starry Sky Pond, it felt as though he had truly entered the vast cosmos. As his consciousness traversed the space, Lu Ye quickly found the projection of the Unfixed Galaxy within the Starry Sky Pond. Continuing forward, in a single thought, his consciousness crossed the battlefield where he had once clashed with the Insect and Blood races, then swept past the Thousand Hills Graveyard, and through the Chaotic Blast Zone.

Locating the Jade Snail Galaxy!

With the expansive vision provided by his consciousness, Lu Ye traversed the Jade Snail Galaxy and easily found the precise location of the Azure Li Dao World, even discovering the projection of the Jade Snail Realm there.

Speaking of which, Lu Ye had never actually visited the Jade Snail Realm. He had intended to go there in person last time, but due to his hurried schedule, some matters had to be entrusted to Wu Zhu. Silently noting the exact coordinates of the Jade Snail Realm, Lu Ye began searching for Kyushu.

It was found quite easily!

Because next to Kyushu's projection in the Starry Sky Pond, there was another extremely distinctive object: The Blood Refining Realm!

Viewed from the cosmos, the Blood Refining Realm resembled the headless, limbless body of a colossal female figure. Its projection in the Starry Sky Pond was identical, only scaled down countless times. Thus, upon seeing this landmark projection, Lu Ye immediately knew that the adjacent realm must undoubtedly be Kyushu!

Once he located Kyushu's projection in the Starry Sky Pond, the next steps became straightforward. He only needed to search for an accessible passage in the vicinity.

A few moments later, Lu Ye locked onto a position.

“Elder, I'm going,” Lu Ye said, turning to Xu Yuan. He then plunged into the Starry Sky Pond at the location of the passage, his figure vanishing.

“So impetuous!” Xu Yuan shook his head, musing on how much young people could stir up. Yet, he recalled that he hadn't been much better in his own youth. Time flows endlessly, never to return.

Somewhere in the Jade Snail Galaxy, several star beasts were on their migratory path. Their rotund bodies, black and white all over, resembled bouncing balls. Two large and three small, they moved in a neat procession, their origins and destinations unknown. This was likely a family of five.

As they leisurely traversed the cosmos, the void beside them suddenly twisted. The five steadily advancing star beasts were visibly startled by the sight. One by one, their colors shifted, and even their round bodies began to distort. In the blink of an eye, the five star beasts transformed into five meteor-like objects, scattering in all directions, completely devoid of any aura, as if they were genuine meteors.

The void twisted more and more violently, until, at one moment, a figure suddenly stepped out of it!

Lu Ye turned and surveyed the surrounding celestial phenomena, finding them unfamiliar… When he first ascended to the Star Lord realm, although he had ventured out from Kyushu to explore, he had ultimately only explored in one direction. If he were in that direction, he would recognize the constellations along the way, but he had no knowledge of other directions. The Starry Sky Pond should be reliable; he was certainly in the Jade Snail Galaxy. However, how far he was from Kyushu remained unknown.

Lu Ye's gaze swept over the five large and small meteors nearby. He hadn't paid them much mind at first, but quickly noticed something amiss. These weren't meteors at all; they were clearly five star beasts! If he wasn't mistaken, Starfall Beasts?

Understanding this, Lu Ye didn't expose their disguise. Starfall Beasts were harmless and naturally timid. No matter how far their cultivation advanced, their inherent timidity remained. At the slightest disturbance, they would immediately disguise themselves as meteors. Their disguise, however, was exceptionally clever, making it difficult even for star beasts one realm stronger than them to detect. Thus, Starfall Beasts often utilized this unique racial ability to evade potential dangers.

He chose to pretend he hadn't seen them!

Lu Ye reached out and pressed his battle mark, mentally calling out, “Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu!”

If this location was near Kyushu, then he should be able to contact Xiao Jiu and have it guide him. Soon, an echo came from the mark. Xiao Jiu’s voice, full of bewilderment and delight, called out, “Lu Ye?”

“Haha, I'm back!” Lu Ye replied, simultaneously feeling fortunate. It seemed this location truly wasn't far from Kyushu; otherwise, it would have been impossible to contact Xiao Jiu so easily.

“You… how are you back so soon?” Xiao Jiu still couldn't believe it.

“Is that an unwelcome? Should I just leave then?” Lu Ye teased.

Xiao Jiu quickly responded, “Not at all! I'm just… I'm just very surprised. How did you return so quickly?”

When Lu Ye last departed, he said he was taking people to the Myriad Manifestations Sea. How long had it been? A little over three years at most. But according to Xiao Jiu's understanding, a journey to the Myriad Manifestations Sea, even if rushed, would take three to four years for a single trip, and seven or eight years for a round trip. Lu Ye appearing near Kyushu at this time was clearly not normal! Had he encountered some accident on the way? Xiao Jiu couldn't help but let her thoughts wander.

“It's a long story; I'll tell you later. First, just point me in the right direction; I'm a bit disoriented.”

Xiao Jiu then indicated a direction for Lu Ye.

Lu Ye then mentally communicated with Hua Qianying in the Flower Realm, asking her to open the Flower Realm's portal and release Ma Shangsi, who had been placed inside.

“Holy Venerable!” Ma Shangsi had obediently remained within the Flower Realm for several days. Upon seeing Lu Ye now, he quickly bowed.

“Head that way!” Lu Ye indicated a direction to him.

“Yes!” Ma Shangsi replied, then summoned his starboat and flew forward with Lu Ye aboard.

As Lu Ye sat on the starboat, he chatted with Xiao Jiu. Xiao Jiu soon learned how he had returned so quickly, and upon discovering the wondrous power of the Starry Sky Pond in the Soul Clan's Ancestral Land, she was both shocked and delighted.

“Doesn't this mean you can return anytime you wish in the future?”

“It's not quite that simple. After all, the passages to and from the Soul Clan's Ancestral Land are fixed and somewhat scattered. Still, it's definitely not as difficult as it used to be.”

Lu Ye had initially thought that once the Jade Snail Galaxy's wormhole stabilized, travel between the Myriad Manifestations Sea and his home galaxy would become very convenient. Little did he know that before the Jade Snail's wormhole stabilized, the Starry Sky Pond in the Soul Clan's Ancestral Land would now offer assistance. It was hard to say which method was more convenient.

However, considering the unique nature of the Soul Clan's Ancestral Land, this method was currently only available to him. He couldn't possibly bring a large group of people into the Soul Clan's Ancestral Land to use the Starry Sky Pond for transit. He could use it because he was already considered a semi-member of the Soul Clan; neither Xu Yuan nor Hun Que regarded him as an outsider. But if he wanted to use this method to provide similar convenience for Kyushu cultivators, it would not be appropriate. Aside from whether the Soul Clan would agree, he himself would feel awkward doing it.

“I brought you something good!”

“What good thing?” Xiao Jiu’s tone was filled with anticipation.

“You'll know when you see it,” Lu Ye replied, keeping her in suspense. The remnant of that realm was secondary; it wouldn't significantly enhance Kyushu and could truly only be considered a snack for Xiao Jiu. But a divine object like the Flower Realm was a rare sight indeed. He believed Xiao Jiu would be very happy to accept the Flower Realm's allegiance. Similarly, the Flower Clan should not refuse such a rapidly growing large realm.

Currently, Kyushu's foundation wasn't particularly strong, yet its potential was unparalleled across the cosmos. After all, ten thousand years ago, Kyushu was also a top-tier realm. Even though it had fallen on hard times, it now possessed the resources to rise again. Once they reached Kyushu, he simply needed to arrange for Hua Qianying to witness Kyushu's splendor.

Chatting with Xiao Jiu along the way, he learned that Kyushu was currently in a very peaceful state. Furthermore, contact had already been established with both the Azure Li Dao World and the Jade Snail Realm, with cultivators occasionally visiting between them. In a galaxy with only these three large realms, increased interaction was natural, especially given that cultivators from all three realms had already joined forces to venture into the Myriad Manifestations Sea.