Chapter 1726: Baiyue Island Afterglow

A little less than half a day later, Lu Ye, He Baichuan, and Ma Shangsi met on a small, barren island. The island was only about two or three mu in size, making it undesirable even for the lowest-tier, insignificant forces.

Upon arriving, Lu Ye turned his head and, to his surprise, didn't see Ma Shangsi. However, he quickly looked in another direction. From a crack in the rocks, a crimson mist flowed out, rapidly coalescing into a human form, revealing Ma Shangsi.

“Where?” Lu Ye asked, looking at him.

Ma Shangsi shook his head. “I’m not sure of the exact location. The trail went cold when I reached here.” Tracking two Moon Dews was no simple feat, especially in the Myriad Forms Sea, where there weren’t many places to hide. This greatly tested a tracker’s patience and skill.

Although Ma Shangsi could conceal his presence and aura with certain secret arts, he dared not get too close. This caution meant that when he reached this point, the opponents’ auras suddenly vanished.

But this didn’t mean Ma Shangsi’s tracking had failed.

“Their Spirit Island should be somewhere nearby,” Ma Shangsi explained. “The trail went cold because they entered their own Spirit Island, which is protected by a grand formation.”

Lu Ye nodded and immediately pulled out his star map to examine it.

After some searching, he identified two locations, both Spirit Islands. On the star map, one was marked as a medium-grade Spirit Island, and the other as a high-grade Spirit Island.

These two Spirit Islands were the most suspicious. If he wasn’t mistaken, the enemies were from one of them.

After all, judging by their previous encounter, a force capable of deploying five Moon Dews at once would certainly not be weak, though their exact strength was hard to say.

The forces behind both Spirit Islands fit the profile.

Choosing between the two seemed simple but was actually quite troublesome. Unless they stationed people long-term near both Spirit Islands, it would inevitably raise suspicion. Major Spirit Islands maintained very strict defenses and management of their surroundings.

After some thought, Lu Ye sent a message to Tang Jun. Given the situation, he could only ask Tang Jun to try to gather information first. If he could find out, that would be ideal; otherwise, sending people to stake out the islands would be their last resort.

Tang Jun quickly replied, “I’ve checked the star map. Your location isn’t far from Quadrant Island. The Quadrant Star System should have some knowledge of the situation there. Why don’t you ask them?”

Lu Ye’s eyes lit up. This was a pleasant surprise. He immediately searched his star map for Quadrant Island’s location, but no matter how hard he looked, there was no mark for it.

It was then that he remembered his star map was quite old; the cultivators from the Quadrant Star System hadn’t arrived when he purchased it.

Quadrant Island was clearly a Spirit Island that the Quadrant Star System cultivators had conquered and renamed.

Lu Ye had the sound note imprints of several Moon Dews from the Quadrant Star System. Furthermore, the Quadrant Star System had previously intended to ally with Three Realms Island. This alliance was actually a form of care, as Lu Ye had rendered a great service to the Quadrant Star System. Before their arrival, the Sun Glimmers of various families had instructed them to look out for Lu Ye once they reached the Myriad Forms Star System.

In terms of strength, the Quadrant Star System had been far more powerful than Three Realms Island at the time; they had wanted to help Three Realms Island conquer a medium-grade Spirit Island.

However, Lu Ye politely declined. With the Small Starry Palace, Three Realms Island would eventually rise on its own and had no need to conquer other Spirit Islands.

Moreover, at that time, Three Realms cultivators lacked sufficient foundation, and Lu Ye didn’t want to rashly involve them in the Quadrant Star System’s actions, lest it cause trouble for their side.

The Quadrant Star System evidently understood this, so since then, they hadn’t actively contacted Three Realms Island. This wasn’t due to alienation, but rather their realization that too close a connection might bring trouble upon Three Realms Island.

Therefore, when Lu Ye contacted them, the Moon Dews from the Quadrant Star System were quite pleased.

Lu Ye didn’t go directly to Three Realms Island but waited on the barren island.

After a while, someone arrived. They greeted each other, the newcomer warmly calling out, “Fellow Daoist Lu!”

“Fellow Daoist Zhou!” Lu Ye said, cupping his fist. “My apologies for troubling you.”

The newcomer was none other than Zhou Chuang from the North Profound Star System, a late-stage Moon Dew cultivator. In fact, he wasn’t the only late-stage Moon Dew; several other Moon Dews who came from the Quadrant Star System shared the same cultivation level.

Within the Quadrant Star System, Lu Ye had interacted most with Wu Ding, having passed through Wu Ding’s territory twice and met many of their Moon Dews.

However, he personally favored North Profound the most. This was because, back in the Wu Ding Realm, Qin Yi, North Profound’s Sun Glimmer, had visited him one night to personally thank him. She had also given him a token, granting him the power to unconditionally mobilize all forces of the North Profound Star System within the Myriad Forms Sea.

While the Sun Glimmers from the other three Star Systems weren’t bad to Lu Ye, none were as direct as Qin Yi. After all, Lu Ye had killed Bai Jin, which could be considered avenging Qin Yi’s deceased Dao companion.

Zhou Chuang chuckled. “Fellow Daoist Lu, you exaggerate. Before I came, the Realm Lord had instructed us to fully cooperate with you if you needed anything.” As he spoke, he paused, examining Lu Ye from head to toe, and asked in astonishment, “Fellow Daoist, have you… become a Moon Dew?”

“Fortuitously, I have,” Lu Ye nodded.

“Congratulations!” Zhou Chuang offered his felicitations. Previously, Lu Ye was merely a Constellation, a level below Moon Dew. Now, they were both Moon Dews; although Lu Ye’s cultivation was slightly lower, there was no difference in their realm level.

After a few pleasantries, Zhou Chuang asked, “Fellow Daoist, what can I do for you?”

“I wouldn’t presume,” Lu Ye replied. “I merely wished to inquire about two individuals.” As he spoke, he gestured to Ma Shangsi.

Lu Ye had intended for Ma Shangsi to describe the appearance of the two individuals he had just tracked. To his surprise, Ma Shangsi took out a scrying stone and handed it to Zhou Chuang.

He had actually managed to capture some images while tracking the enemies earlier!

This was quite well done.

Having visual evidence was undoubtedly more accurate than a verbal description, even if the images in Ma Shangsi’s scrying stone weren’t perfectly clear. After all, he hadn’t dared to follow too closely, and recording Moon Dews was inherently very risky.

Zhou Chuang took the stone, examined it carefully, and then frowned. “From my judgment, the taller person in there should be Yu Huan from Baiyue Island.”

“Are you certain?” Lu Ye asked.

Zhou Chuang replied, “About 70% certain. It would be clearer with other corroborating images.”

Lu Ye was now almost certain that Baiyue Island was behind the earlier ambush on Tang Jun. Of the two Spirit Islands he had just identified on the star map, the high-grade one was Baiyue Island!

Lu Ye had originally thought it was people from the medium-grade Spirit Island causing trouble covertly. He reasoned that since they only had a medium-grade island, they might covet a high-grade one like Three Realms Island, wanting a better base.

But unexpectedly, it was Baiyue Island!

This was quite peculiar. Having already occupied a high-grade Spirit Island, why would they be interested in Three Realms Island? Weren’t they afraid of biting off more than they could chew?

Although it wasn’t an explicit rule, generally speaking, most forces operated by forming alliances within star systems, with only particularly powerful realms being able to occupy a Spirit Island independently.

It was rare for a single star system to simultaneously occupy two Spirit Islands. This involved the allocation of resources in the Myriad Forms Sea, and many such matters were unspoken understandings.

Zhou Chuang looked at Lu Ye with some puzzlement. “Fellow Daoist, what grievances do you have with Baiyue Island?”

Zhou Chuang and others knew about Three Realms Island’s promotion to a high-grade Spirit Island and were quite envious. After all, not everyone could experience something like a barren island becoming vibrant. It was as if the Three Realms cultivators had acquired a high-grade Spirit Island as their base effortlessly.

Since Three Realms Island was already a high-grade Spirit Island, Zhou Chuang surmised that Lu Ye’s inquiry about Baiyue Island wasn’t about conquering it—given the Three Realms cultivators’ foundation, they wouldn’t be able to defend it. Therefore, there must be some animosity between them.

“There was some conflict; our people were ambushed by them earlier,” Lu Ye said, not concealing the information. It wasn’t a major secret, as such incidents were common in the Myriad Forms Sea. Even for Zhou Chuang himself, it wouldn’t be surprising if he were ambushed when out and about.

The Quadrant Star System hadn’t been idle recently, stirring up quite a bit of trouble.

“They’re trying to make a move on you?” Zhou Chuang immediately realized. Although they didn’t directly communicate with Three Realms Island, they were aware of its situation. The Three Realms cultivators had never actively sought trouble recently, yet others were provoking them, clearly eyeing Three Realms Island.

“That seems to be the case,” Lu Ye nodded. “So I intend to strike first.”

Zhou Chuang immediately declared, “Count North Profound in!”

He didn’t say “Quadrant Star System” because he couldn’t represent the entire Quadrant Star System, only the North Profound portion.

Lu Ye smiled. “I appreciate your kindness, but for Three Realms Island to establish itself, it must do so on its own. Relying on external aid is not an option, especially since this matter also involves a Sun Glimmer.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chuang roughly understood the situation. Although he had arrived in the Myriad Forms Sea later than Lu Ye, he knew much more about its affairs, such as the “Mountain Calling” ritual... because the Quadrant Star System had recently been involved in this very matter.

“Which Sun Glimmer?” Zhou Chuang asked.

“Yuan Du!”

“Him…” Zhou Chuang immediately showed a resentful expression. “We’ve had dealings with his people before. That Sun Glimmer is somewhat insatiable.”

Lu Ye asked curiously, “Your contact with him was also about Mountain Calling?”

Zhou Chuang sighed. “Initially, everyone underestimated things. We thought that with the Quadrant Star System’s foundation, conquering a high-grade Spirit Island would be no problem. But when we actually began preparations, we realized the Myriad Forms Sea was much deeper than we had imagined.”

After occupying Quadrant Island, the Quadrant Star System had attempted to attack a high-grade Spirit Island. On the surface, their strength gave them an advantage, as they had a large number of Constellations.

However, once the battle began, Quadrant Island was actually ambushed by another group.

Panicked, they quickly withdrew their troops to defend Quadrant Island. They later learned that both the force they were attacking and the second force that ambushed them were protected by the same Sun Glimmer, which explained their close ties and cooperation.