Chapter 1840: The Development of the Three Realms Island

Lu Ye looked up at Xiang Yin. "Are you negotiating with me?"

Xiang Yin quickly said, "I wouldn't dare. Under your command, my sister and I would naturally go through fire and water. It's just that we humbly ask for your compassion, Honored Lord, and grant us another drop of sacred blood. Honored Lord... if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it first. Otherwise, you could just take us sisters to the Myriad Manifestations Sea."

Ding Beifeng, listening from the side, was filled with trepidation. He glanced at Xiang Yin, utterly astonished by her audacity. That a Blood Servant dared to speak to her master in such a manner was truly beyond his imagination. What he didn't know was that having spent a long time with Lu Ye, Xiang Yin and her sister had already grasped his temperament, which was why they dared to speak so. Not only had she haggled, but she had even attempted to seduce the Honored Lord, though unfortunately, she hadn't succeeded.

"Bold!" Lu Ye snorted coldly. Ding Beifeng's body went weak, and he almost knelt on the ground.

Xiang Yin, however, began to whine playfully, "Honored Lord, just take us to the Myriad Manifestations Sea..."

Lu Ye was somewhat exasperated by her. He had taken on four Blood Servants over time: Ma Shangsi was utterly loyal, Xuan Yu was also fine with her naturally aloof temperament, and Ding Beifeng, needless to say, held him in extreme awe. Only Xiang Yin was full of coquetries, showing no hint of the Snow Clan's usual aloofness. If her characteristics hadn't been so obvious, Lu Ye might have even doubted if she truly belonged to the Snow Clan.

With a flick of his finger, two drops of precious blood flew out. Xiang Yin's eyes lit up. She snatched them, her face beaming with joy. "Thank you, Honored Lord!"

Although Xuan Yu said nothing, there was a clear hint of joy in her ice-cold expression.

"Scram!" Lu Ye waved his hand.

Xiang Yin and her sister instantly vanished, streaking into the distance.

Lu Ye then looked at Ding Beifeng, who was still standing foolishly in place. "Do you want some too?"

"I wouldn't dare!" Ding Beifeng shrank his neck and promptly withdrew.

A moment later, the three Blood Servants gathered. Xiang Yin and her sister each held a drop of precious blood, captivated by its sacred essence. She turned to Ding Beifeng and asked curiously, "Why didn't the Honored Lord give you any?"

Ding Beifeng looked at her with an incredulous expression. "You two are far too bold! Sacred Blood is not something one can refine casually. You're seeking death!" What he found even more incomprehensible was that the Honored Lord actually granted them Sacred Blood. Did the Honored Lord not care at all whether they lived or died?

Xiang Yin looked Ding Beifeng up and down, then scoffed, "Fool, you'll never know what you missed." Perhaps refining true Sacred Blood was a near-certain death, but refining Lu Ye's precious blood, as long as one's will was strong enough, merely involved enduring some pain. The risk was not as great as imagined.

Xiang Yin and her sister departed, finding a place to refine the precious blood. Ding Beifeng shook his head and sighed, feeling that after this farewell, it would be difficult to meet again. Even if one of the sisters miraculously succeeded, the other would surely be separated by life and death.

The next day, Lu Ye set off alone, heading for the Myriad Manifestations Sea. Using the Soul Clan's ancestral land as a transit point, he successfully entered the Azure Moon Galaxy and, via a wormhole, arrived in the Myriad Manifestations Galaxy.

In just one month, Lu Ye appeared on Three Realms Island. It had been three years since his last visit, which was primarily to procure large quantities of fire-attributed treasures to refuel his talent tree.

Lu Ye's return was uneventful and didn't attract much attention. Three Realms Island remained as prosperous as ever. After years of operation, its reputation had long spread across the Myriad Manifestations Sea, making it one of the few relatively flourishing commercial Spirit Islands in the entire region. The cultivators who had initially leased shops there had long since reaped immense profits, especially the branch of the Five Colors Merchant Association, whose earnings on Three Realms Island had already surpassed those of its main guild on Five Colors Island.

On his previous return, Lu Ye had been in a hurry, eager to go back to the Nine Provinces to sort out the core, so he hadn't gained a detailed impression. This time, however, was clearly different. The development of Three Realms Island was secondary; the crucial point was the significant overall increase in the strength of the Three Realms cultivators.

Currently, Three Realms Island boasted over a dozen Moon Reflection cultivators alone. Abundant cultivation resources and a superior cultivation environment, combined with the accumulation of time, naturally led to the growth in cultivators' strength. The newly promoted Moon Reflection cultivators all hailed from the Jade Snail Realm. It wasn wasn't that cultivators from the Azure Dawn Dao Realm lacked talent; rather, the Azure Dawn Dao Realm itself had an inherent problem, which prevented its cultivators from breaking through the shackles of the Constellation stage and advancing to the Moon Reflection stage. Tang Jun had discovered this problem long ago. Now, any promising talents from the Azure Dawn Dao Realm were sent to the Jade Snail Realm for cultivation, using this method to break free from the realm's restrictions. Cultivators who grew up in the Jade Snail Realm in the future would then be qualified to advance to the Moon Reflection stage. As for why no one from the Nine Provinces had advanced to the Moon Reflection stage, it was simply because insufficient time had passed. When Lu Ye first brought them to the Myriad Manifestations Sea, the Nine Provinces cultivators were uniformly at the early Constellation stage. Now, there were no more early Constellation stage cultivators on Three Realms Island; they were all either mid or late Constellation stage.

The island's development pleased Lu Ye. It was foreseeable that with the passage of time, the island's foundation would grow stronger and stronger. Although years had passed since the battle that annihilated Baiyue, the lingering influence of that war persisted to this day. Moreover, Three Realms Island now clearly showed signs of assistance from the Cheling Realm. As a result, in recent years, no one dared to cause trouble for Three Realms Island. Any cultivators bold enough to stir up trouble on the island were severely reprimanded by the patrolling cultivators.

The first thing Lu Ye did upon returning to Three Realms Island was to find Shui Yuan, asking her to blow the Azure Conch, and then made a trip to the Merfolk's territory. Hua Ci had not yet been unsealed, and Lu Ye didn't know how long this state would last. What was clear, however, was that Hua Ci's cultivation level was rapidly increasing. Because the amber that sealed Hua Ci possessed extremely strong isolating power, Lu Ye's perception wasn't very precise. However, he even suspected that Hua Ci had already advanced to the Moon Reflection stage, as he faintly sensed traces of spiritual power fluctuations on her. This filled him with wonder.

Undeniably, this was Hua Ci's fortuitous encounter. If the situation continued to develop like this, it wasn't impossible for the sealed Hua Ci to advance to the Sun Illumination stage. This gave Lu Ye a faint conjecture: perhaps Hua Ci was passively sealed at first, but now she should possess the ability to break the seal. However, given the rare fortuitous encounter at hand, she had intentionally maintained this state. Otherwise, there would be no explanation for why the seal had persisted until now, and why Hua Ci's cultivation level was still rapidly increasing during the sealing period.

Returning from the Merfolk territory, Lu Ye spoke with Shui Yuan for a while, relaying the recent situation in the Nine Provinces. Shui Yuan was both shocked and delighted. Mount Fangcun was renowned. She clearly remembered the awe-inspiring might when the Western Mount Fangcun passed by the Myriad Manifestations Sea some years ago, with several Sun Illumination cultivators appearing together. She also knew Lu Ye had a connection with Mount Fangcun, and currently, a group of Lilliputians resided on Three Realms Island. Yet, she never imagined that Lu Ye would become the master of Mount Fangcun, and that the Eastern part had already merged with the core, now situated outside the Nine Provinces, with the Southern and Western parts also in the process of merging. The young junior brother who, years ago, had been surrounded and pursued by enemies on the Spirit Stream battlefield, needing her and Li Baxian to come to his rescue, had now transformed, achieving such great accomplishments. Looking back, Shui Yuan sighed with endless emotion, feeling more and more that their old Sect Master had a discerning eye for talent. The greatest fortune for their sect was surely accepting Lu Ye as a disciple.

The development of Three Realms Island had considerably eased the pressure on Shui Yuan. In the past, she had to rely on her alchemy gourd to refine pills daily, but now she no longer needed to be so busy. Not only was the sale of spiritual pills not the primary source of income for Three Realms Island, but the arrival of the Flower Clan had also alleviated a significant portion of the pressure on the pill refining chamber. As a result, Shui Yuan now had ample time for cultivation. However, she continued to refine spiritual pills, as they were needed by her own people. Especially the Soul Refining Pill—both Yan Miao, the Merfolk Great Elder, and Luan Xiao'e, had consistently refined Soul Refining Pills over the past few years, bringing them to the threshold of the Sun Illumination stage. Perhaps one day, these two would become the first Sun Illumination cultivators in their respective forces, which would be a monumental breakthrough for both the Jade Snail Realm and the Merfolk.

Leaving the pill refining chamber, Lu Ye then visited the Lilliputians' talisman shop, where he found Haitang and handed her the storage ring that Su Yuqing had given him. Haitang was greatly surprised, wondering how Lu Ye had re-established direct contact with her master. When she learned that Lu Ye had actually retrieved the core and that the Eastern part had merged with it, she was even more astonished. Soon, all three divisions of the Lilliputians arrived upon hearing the news, inquiring with Lu Ye about Mount Fangcun. Lu Ye, without concealment, informed them that it wouldn't be many years before the three divisions would be reunited. After a moment of stunned silence, the group of Lilliputian cultivators burst into cheers. Within moments, a "30% off Grand Sale" notice was posted outside the talisman shop, temporarily causing a surge of crowds outside the already bustling establishment. Lu Ye seized the opportunity to slip away.

Upon returning to his residence, he found Luan Xiao'e already waiting there.

"Is there something you need, Senior Sister?" Lu Ye asked after inviting her to sit and offering her tea.

"Take a look at this," Luan Xiao'e said, handing him a jade slip.

Lu Ye took it and examined it, his brows furrowing moments later. The jade slip recorded dozens of names, each with a time annotation. Among these dozens of individuals, Lu Ye even recognized a few familiar names; these were undoubtedly cultivators from the Nine Provinces, which was why they seemed familiar. Without exception, all these individuals had already perished.

On the Myriad Manifestations Sea, and throughout the entire Myriad Manifestations Galaxy, conflict was ubiquitous, except for the airspace near the major realms of the local galaxy. It was common for cultivators to perish here. The Three Realms cultivators had been in the Myriad Manifestations Sea for some years. Over these years, the loss of dozens of individuals was not a high proportion, and such deaths were mostly open cases that couldn't be thoroughly investigated or yield any specific findings. Perhaps they had simply encountered other cultivators, disliked each other, and were killed in a conflict. Lu Ye even saw a newly advanced Moon Reflection cultivator on the list. This cultivator, named Wei Po, was undoubtedly from the Jade Snail Realm.