Chapter 1841: Luan Xiao'e's Guess

Since the conquest of Baiyue, the cultivators of Three Realms Island had established a firm foothold. If the cultivators had consistently remained on Three Realms Island, no accidents would have naturally occurred.

However, as cultivators, there were always various reasons necessitating their departure from the island. Encountering conflicts and subsequently perishing in the chaotic Myriad Manifestations Ocean was perfectly normal.

Three Realms Island was not alone in facing such issues; any force developing in the Myriad Manifestations Ocean would encounter similar circumstances. Therefore, while the casualty list contained dozens of names, it was actually acceptable relative to the total number of cultivators on Three Realms Island.

What Lu Ye found unusual was the name of Wei Po, a newly ascended Moon Shadow cultivator. Based on the timestamp next to his name, Wei Po had met with an incident a year ago. However, his name was different from the others: while everyone else's names were blood-red, Wei Po's was blue.

"What's the situation here?" Lu Ye asked.

Luan Xiao'e replied, "Everyone on this list, except for Wei Po, has perished. Only Wei Po is still alive, and he's right here in the Myriad Manifestations Ocean!"

"Where?" Lu Ye inquired.

"It's unclear!" Luan Xiao'e shook her head. "We suspect Wei Po was captured alive and is being held on a spiritual island somewhere in the Myriad Manifestations Ocean. We can still contact him via sound transmission talismans, but there's been no response to our messages!"

Lu Ye couldn't help but frown.

Although Wei Po was a newly ascended Moon Shadow, he was still a Moon Shadow cultivator. In the Myriad Manifestations Ocean, assuming a Sun Illumination cultivator wouldn't intervene, anyone capable of capturing him alive must have been a Moon Shadow, and their strength would have to far exceed Wei Po's. Otherwise, such a feat would be impossible. Therefore, it was highly probable that a late-stage Moon Shadow cultivator was responsible for his capture.

The fact that Wei Po was captured but not killed was intriguing. Given the current situation, it seemed the hidden assailant wasn't aiming for Wei Po's life; otherwise, a year's time would have been more than enough to end him, no matter how many lives he had.

"Do you have any suspects?" Lu Ye asked.

Luan Xiao'e nodded. "Myriad Manifestations Island!"

Lu Ye was startled. "Surely not?" Myriad Manifestations Island was a prominent symbol, a top-tier spiritual island occupied by the native star system. It had never participated in the conflicts between various factions because several major Sun Illumination guardians from the native star system were stationed there. Thus, no matter how turbulent the Myriad Manifestations Ocean became, they remained unshaken.

However, from another perspective, if Myriad Manifestations Island were to make a move, Wei Po would indeed be powerless to resist...

Lu Ye seemed to realize something. "Yuan Du?"

Of the five Sun Illumination guardians in Myriad Manifestations Ocean, Lu Ye had publicly offended Yuan Du, even forcing him to make a choice against his will. Yu Huan, the Great Island Master of Baiyue Island, had been publicly executed by Yuan Du.

"I also suspect him."

Lu Ye found it somewhat unbelievable. "He's a Sun Illumination cultivator, after all. Would he really bother Three Realms Island over such a minor matter?"

Luan Xiao'e sighed. "You're underestimating the impact that incident had on Yuan Du back then."

"How so?" Lu Ye asked.

Luan Xiao'e explained, "The Myriad Manifestations Ocean originally only had three native Sun Illumination guardians. But after a powerful individual arrived that year, forcibly killed one of them, and successfully broke through to leave, the native star system increased the number of Sun Illumination guardians to five. Yuan Du was one of them. As a newcomer, he was in urgent need of spiritual islands to pledge allegiance to him, and Baiyue was the first to do so. When we broke through Baiyue and annihilated all its Moon Shadow cultivators, Yu Huan managed to escape. Yuan Du even personally intervened to save his life. He wasn't just protecting Yu Huan's life; he was primarily protecting his own prestige. The result was..."

The result was that Lu Ye pressured him with words, forcing Yuan Du to personally kill Yu Huan in front of everyone.

In this way, Yuan Du appeared to uphold fair and just rules, but it dealt a fatal blow to his prestige, as everyone with discerning eyes knew exactly what had transpired.

Baiyue had pledged allegiance to him, but then Baiyue was conquered, and even its Great Island Master was killed by his own hand. After this incident, which spiritual island would dare to seek allegiance? Even those who had originally intended to would change their minds.

As a result, Yuan Du gained nothing further in the entire Myriad Manifestations Ocean beyond the few spiritual islands that initially pledged allegiance to him. This directly led to cultivators from his home realm, the One Yuan Realm, being unable to obtain enough cultivation quotas from the Myriad Manifestations Ocean.

After listening to Luan Xiao'e's explanation, Lu Ye finally understood the immense blow that incident had dealt to Yuan Du's prestige. In that light, it was normal for the other party to harbor resentment towards Three Realms Island. Had it not been for the rules, he would likely have intervened personally long ago.

While it was difficult for him to act openly, he could certainly engage in some covert maneuvers.

"Furthermore, besides Junior Brother Wei Po, we also investigated the other deceased cultivators. There were some clues pointing towards Myriad Manifestations Island, but unfortunately, no conclusive evidence."

If Yuan Du was indeed manipulating things from behind the scenes, he would certainly leave no obvious traces. Moreover, apart from Wei Po, everyone else on the casualty list was a Constellation cultivator.

In this vast Myriad Manifestations Ocean, the demise of Constellation cultivators was far too common. Even if Three Realms Island wanted to investigate, they wouldn't find any concrete information.

"They captured Wei Po but didn't kill him. What do they want?" Lu Ye asked.

Luan Xiao'e shook her head. This was also what puzzled her. If the other party intended to use Wei Po to threaten Three Realms Island, they were clearly mistaken.

Three Realms Island was a shared spiritual island for cultivators from all three realms. Even as the Great Island Master, Luan Xiao'e could not sacrifice the interests of all cultivators for the sake of one Wei Po.

What puzzled Luan Xiao'e even more was that a year had passed, and the other party had made no attempt to establish contact.

"Is Old Tang still running around outside?" Lu Ye suddenly asked.

Luan Xiao'e smiled faintly. "Don't worry about him. He's equipped with top-tier defensive artifacts. Even if he encounters an enemy, as long as a Sun Illumination cultivator doesn't get involved, he can always hold on for a while. Besides, he has a wide network of acquaintances. In this vast Myriad Manifestations Ocean, his 'fox friends and dog companions' are everywhere. As long as people aren't foolish, they won't be stupid enough to attack him."

Lu Ye nodded, feeling a little relieved. Indeed, Old Tang knew his own limitations in strength, so he had put considerable effort into self-preservation. Even when he was besieged by Baiyue's Moon Shadow cultivators back then, he managed to hold out until Lu Ye's rescue.

The current Old Tang's defensive artifacts were even stronger than before, as he was no longer short on funds.

Just then, Luan Xiao'e suddenly turned her head and looked in one direction. "Speak of the devil, and he appears."

Lu Ye also sensed Tang Jun's aura, and judging by his direction of movement, he was clearly heading this way.

A few breaths later, a rosy-cheeked Tang Jun swept into the bamboo building, casting a surprised glance at Lu Ye. "You actually came back?"

Lu Ye had been back for a few days, but after his return, he had gone directly to the Mermaid Territory, so he hadn't shown his face on the island or contacted Old Tang.

"Where have you been drinking now?" Luan Xiao'e frowned, primarily due to Old Tang's strong smell of alcohol.

"Socializing, socializing!" Tang Jun casually explained, then turned to Lu Ye and pulled out a storage ring, handing it to him. "Someone asked me to give this to you."

Lu Ye took it, perplexed. "Who?"

"I don't know him," Tang Jun shook his head. "But he had a very strong demonic aura; he looked like a demon cultivator."

Tang Jun actually didn't know Lu Ye had returned because he hadn't been on Three Realms Island recently. He had simply been stopped by the demon cultivator today. After identifying himself, the other party had tossed him this storage ring, explicitly telling him to pass it on to Lu Ye.

After listening to Tang Jun's explanation, Lu Ye toyed with the storage ring in his hand. His divine sense perceived no protective seals, indicating it could be opened easily.

"Be careful!" Luan Xiao'e warned.

No one knew what was inside the ring. It wouldn't be wise to hastily take something out if it contained anything malicious.

Lu Ye motioned, "It's fine." With his divine sense, he already knew what the ring contained.

He immediately took out its contents.

A sachet and a jade slip.

"This is..." Luan Xiao'e's gaze immediately fixed on the sachet.

Lu Ye had been curious about the sachet's significance. Seeing her reaction, he looked up at Luan Xiao'e. "Have you seen this before, Senior Sister?"

"Let me see." Luan Xiao'e reached out, picked up the sachet, and examined it carefully. Her expression turned grim. "There's no mistake. This belongs to Junior Brother Wei Po. I always saw him carrying it. It was a parting gift from a woman he admired in his younger years!"

"Wei Po's item?" Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

This was interesting. He had just been discussing Wei Po with Luan Xiao'e and wondering who had harmed him, only for Tang Jun to unexpectedly bring back Wei Po's sachet moments later.

There was no doubt that the force to which the demon cultivator who gave Tang Jun the storage ring belonged was the one behind these actions!

Realizing this, Luan Xiao'e quickly asked, "Senior Brother Tang, what was the origin of that demon cultivator?"

Tang Jun shook his head. "I don't know. He handed me the item and left without telling me his exact origin. I didn't think of tracking him either." He then changed his tone. "However, since he's a demon cultivator, it's not impossible to investigate. There aren't many spiritual islands with demon cultivators in the entire Myriad Manifestations Ocean."

"No need to investigate," Lu Ye suddenly said.

Both of them looked towards him.

Lu Ye handed the jade slip in his hand to Luan Xiao'e. "Take a look. They've already revealed their identity."

Luan Xiao'e took it and immediately felt disbelief. "Purple Jade Island! How could it be Purple Jade Island?"

The jade slip contained no other information, only the three characters for "Purple Jade Island."

In her previous deductions, the hidden assailant targeting Three Realms Island cultivators should have been Yuan Du from Myriad Manifestations Island. It wouldn't have been him personally, but certainly with his covert instruction.

Given this, the few spiritual islands that had pledged allegiance to Yuan Du were all under suspicion.

She had never considered Purple Jade Island!

Because throughout the entire Myriad Manifestations Ocean, Purple Jade Island was renowned. Behind Purple Jade Island was the Purple Jade Demonic Star, which was a top-tier realm!

Generally, spiritual islands occupied by top-tier realms did not need to pledge allegiance, as they had sufficient confidence to stand firm in the Myriad Manifestations Ocean. Regardless of how the affiliations of other spiritual islands changed, no one would dare to target them.

If Yuan Du harbored resentment towards Three Realms Island because of that incident, it was understandable. But why would Purple Jade Island do this? It made absolutely no sense.