Chapter 1693: The Flower Clan's Investigation

Jiuzhou currently has many Star Lords, and Lu Ye naturally doesn't know every single one. However, since they had all participated in the campaign against the underground insect lair and the expedition to the Blood Refinement Realm, even if they weren't acquainted, they were familiar with each other's faces. These particular Star Lords were among those Lu Ye wasn't very familiar with. While Lu Ye wasn't familiar with them, they were very familiar with him. Moreover, regardless of their past origins, the Star Lords of Jiuzhou now coexisted harmoniously.

After some casual chat with Lu Ye, a middle-aged Star Lord from Ding Province asked, "Lu Yiye, how many people are you planning to take to the Wanxiang Sea this time?" The others also looked at him eagerly, their eyes filled with anticipation.

Lu Ye replied, "The Wanxiang Sea is just starting, and the situation there hasn't stabilized yet. Let's make plans once it's settled."

The others weren't disappointed. They knew it wasn't easy for someone from the Jade Snail's background to establish a foothold in a place like the Wanxiang Sea. It had only been a few years, so it was normal for the situation to be unstable. The Star Lord who had spoken nodded and said, "Well, if you're recruiting people for the Wanxiang Sea again next time, please let us know in advance so we can prepare."

"Definitely!"

"Then you should head back first. We still need to hold down the fort here."

"Thanks for your hard work!"

The Star Shuttle flew directly towards Jiuzhou. In no time, all the Star Lords in Jiuzhou who could be contacted knew that Lu Ye had returned, and they were all excited and expectant. At this very moment, Lu Ye had already returned to Aoshan in Bing Province.

The Bixue Sect was now a first-rank sect in Jiuzhou. When Lu Ye first joined the sect, its base in the Spirit Creek battlefield was still on the outermost periphery. But now, the sect's base had moved into the core area, occupying the best piece of land, where the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy was extremely rich, allowing cultivators in the Spirit Creek Realm to practice and grow more effectively. Several Star Lords had emerged from the Bixue Sect, but they were all currently in the Wanxiang Sea. So, at present, the Bixue Sect only had Divine Sea realm cultivators residing there.

With Lu Ye's current cultivation, it was extremely easy for him to secretly infiltrate the Bixue Sect without anyone knowing. He returned to his own Cuihufeng without disturbing a single person.

"Build yourself a place to stay, and don't wander off if there's nothing important," Lu Ye instructed Ma Shangsi.

Cuihufeng only had a few bamboo buildings, which were the residences of Lu Ye and his closest companions. Although he hadn't returned for several years, the spiritual peak was protected by a grand formation year-round, so there were no changes. Of course, Lu Ye couldn't let Ma Shangsi stay in these places. With Ma Shangsi's late Moon-Tier cultivation, it was simple for him to construct a temporary dwelling anywhere.

Just as he finished giving instructions, a flash of light appeared beside him, and a snow-white rabbit abruptly materialized. Ma Shangsi glanced over in surprise, finding that despite his vision, he couldn't discern how the rabbit had appeared, which piqued his curiosity. Immediately after, he saw his Venerable Master approach with a smile, pick up the rabbit, and rub it, as if the two were very familiar with each other. Ma Shangsi didn't look further and turned to get busy.

"Why do you seem to have gained quite a bit of weight since I last saw you?" Lu Ye asked, rubbing Xiaojiu, finding its feel quite good. Xiaojiu had always manifested as a rabbit for some unknown reason, but this time, Lu Ye clearly felt it had gotten fatter. He guessed it was closely related to the growth of Jiuzhou's foundations. Since Jiuzhou's promotion to a large realm, Xiaojiu had been controlling Jiuzhou's absorption of the Blood Refinement Realm's foundations and the Wushuang Continent's foundations over the years. Coupled with Jiuzhou's own growth, although it was still a large realm, its foundations were undoubtedly much stronger than when it had just been promoted.

"Stop it! That tickles..." Xiaojiu struggled, but it couldn't escape Lu Ye's grasp. After a brief playful scuffle, Lu Ye finally let it go, and Xiaojiu huffed.

"I brought you something good," Lu Ye said, then took out a large piece of realm debris that Ma Shangsi had bought from the market earlier. Xiaojiu's eyes lit up when it saw it. With a flick of its rabbit paw, the large piece of realm debris vanished before Lu Ye could even comprehend how, spirited away to who knew where.

"It's rare that you remembered; I thought you'd forgotten," Xiaojiu said, squinting its eyes, clearly very happy.

"No way, I always remember my promises to you," Lu Ye patted its small head. "It's just that these things are very rare and usually impossible to find."

Xiaojiu said, "It's enough that you thought of me. It must have been very expensive, right? You should keep the spirit jade for your own cultivation. You haven't been a Star Lord for many years, so you need spirit jade. Don't buy it next time..." As it spoke, Xiaojiu paused, looking at Lu Ye suspiciously. "What's your current cultivation level?" It always felt that Lu Ye's cultivation wasn't as simple as just a Star Lord.

Lu Ye smiled upon hearing this and slightly activated his spiritual power. Xiaojiu looked shocked: "You've reached Moon-Tier?" How long had it been, and he was already Moon-Tier? Although Lu Ye was already late-stage Star Lord when he last returned, advancing from Star Lord to Moon-Tier was not that simple. This was, after all, a breakthrough to a major realm. In the starry sky, countless Star Lords were stuck at this bottleneck, unable to progress, or even remained there for life. It knew Lu Ye wouldn't be unable to reach Moon-Tier, but it hadn't expected it to be so fast.

Lu Ye said, "Moon-Tier sounds good, but in the end, it's just a mid-level power in the starry sky. There's still Sun-Tier above it!" With his current strength, if he encountered a Sun-Tier cultivator, he wouldn't have much power to fight back. The path of cultivation was long, and he still needed to work twice as hard. Only if he became a Sun-Tier one day would he have the right to look down upon this part of the starry sky. Lu Ye believed this wouldn't be too far off.

"I have another good thing to give you," Lu Ye said mysteriously.

Xiaojiu became interested: "What is it?"

"Do you know about the World King Flower?" Lu Ye asked.

Xiaojiu nodded its rabbit head: "The World King Flower is so famous, of course I know about it." Although the previous Jiuzhou era had been destroyed, many things from that time remained. Xiaojiu was born from the combination of the Heaven and Earth Will and a spirit artifact, so it knew a lot of common knowledge about the starry sky. Of course, its knowledge was fragmented; it didn't know everything. The World King Flower happened to be something it knew about.

"You found the World King Flower?" Xiaojiu asked in surprise.

Lu Ye smiled slightly: "I even brought it back!"

Xiaojiu was astonished! After a long moment of stunned silence, it said impatiently, "Since you brought it back, quickly let it attach to Jiuzhou! That way, it will be of immense benefit to both it and Jiuzhou."

"That's exactly what I was thinking, but whether they're willing is another matter. They'll need to see Jiuzhou's environment before deciding." Lu Ye, of course, wouldn't force anyone or demand repayment for his kindness. However, he believed that once Hua Qianying saw Jiuzhou's environment, she wouldn't refuse to let the World King Flower attach itself to Jiuzhou.

Lu Ye briefly explained the situation inside the World King Flower, then instructed Xiaojiu, "I'll talk to the Flower Clan chief; you don't need to say anything." Xiaojiu jumped into Lu Ye's arms, burrowing into his clothes with only its head peeking out, and obediently nodded, "I know, I'm just a pet!" Lu Ye chuckled. What kind of pet was it, looking so harmless?

Immersing his consciousness in the Flower Realm, Lu Ye transmitted a message to Hua Qianying: "Fellow Daoist, we've arrived at my homeland. Would you like to come out and take a look?" Hua Qianying immediately replied, "Then I shall trouble you." She was also very much looking forward to it. After all, the realm to which the World King Flower was originally attached had shattered. Without an object to attach to, the Flower Realm couldn't grow. It couldn't possibly stay in Lu Ye's Divine Sea indefinitely, not to mention whether Lu Ye could sustain it; it wouldn't be good for the Flower Realm either. Furthermore, if the Flower Realm couldn't grow, then the Flower Clan members born within it also couldn't grow. Therefore, finding a new realm to attach to was the next essential step.

Lu Ye had saved them and the entire Flower Realm. According to him, his homeland was a realm that had only recently been promoted, making it clearly the best candidate for the World King Flower to attach to. So Hua Qianying was not averse to this matter. To take a step back, even if Lu Ye's homeland were a top-tier realm, given his great kindness, Hua Qianying would not refuse if Lu Ye wished for the World King Flower to attach itself there. It wasn't that the World King Flower attaching to a top-tier realm had no benefits at all. It's just that top-tier realms' growth speed was already very, very slow, so the Flower Realm couldn't quickly receive feedback from it, meaning the benefits weren't as significant.

With their combined efforts, the portal to the Flower Realm appeared, and Hua Qianying stepped out. After a brief assessment of Jiuzhou's situation, Hua Qianying was slightly puzzled: "Fellow Daoist, how long has this realm been a large realm?" Lu Ye calculated and said, "About fourteen years." After speaking, Lu Ye himself was taken aback. It had already been fourteen years! He recalled the time when Jiuzhou's army had embarked on a distant expedition to the Blood Refinement Realm, engaging in a bloody battle with the Blood Clan—all those past events were still vivid in his memory. At that time, he seemed to have only been at the sixth level of the Divine Sea Realm.

Time truly flies. The higher one's cultivation, the less one perceives the passage of time. No wonder some cultivators remained in secluded cultivation for decades... Lu Ye was someone who rarely went into secluded cultivation because his efficiency was very high, essentially negating the need for it.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken, Fellow Daoist?" Hua Qianying's brows furrowed.

"Of course not mistaken, is there a problem?" Lu Ye replied.

Hua Qianying hesitated for a moment before speaking: "While your homeland is indeed a large realm, it doesn't look like it was only promoted a little over a decade ago. It seems more like it was promoted hundreds of years ago, or even longer!" A large realm promoted just over a decade ago wouldn't have such deep foundations.

Lu Ye immediately realized that Hua Qianying clearly thought he was deceiving her. He chuckled and said, "Ah, that's what it is. Let me show you around, and you'll understand the situation."

"Then I shall trouble you!" Although she had already decided to let the Flower Realm attach to Lu Ye's homeland, there was no harm in learning more about this realm. Moreover, from the current situation, this realm was indeed very suitable for the World King Flower to attach to.

Immediately, Lu Ye began to tour Jiuzhou with Hua Qianying. After leaving Aoshan, neither of them concealed their aura, so they were naturally noticed by many Star Lords. Moreover, the news of Lu Ye's return had already spread when he first arrived. Therefore, as Lu Ye guided Hua Qianying around, many Star Lords came over to chat with him.