It was precisely because the hidden, unobservable channel suddenly expanded that a tremendous surge of energy from the Myriad Manifestations Sea flooded into Purple Jade Island, thus altering the island's cultivation environment.
"In Junior Brother's view, is this change good or bad for our island?" Lionheart asked again.
"It's good news!" Hu Guang replied, "But it's also bad news. The good part is that the island's energy is becoming increasingly concentrated, making cultivation progressively easier for our cultivators."
"And the bad part?"
Hu Guang's expression turned solemn. "If this situation continues, the island's grand formation might not last three years."
"Why is that?" Lionheart's face was filled with confusion. While his strength was terrifying, he knew nothing about formations and had never encountered such things.
This was a common affliction among demon cultivators; it wasn't unique to him. Hence, among the demon race, cultivators proficient in external arts were extremely precious and rare.
Hu Guang naturally understood this and patiently explained to him, "Senior Brother, if the energy leaking from the channel beneath our island is not contained, it will simply dissipate. That's why every spirit island, including ours, sets up grand formations to separate the inside from the outside. This way, the energy seeping up from beneath the sea is concentrated within the island, for the use of cultivators on the various spirit islands. Of course, because this energy continuously seeps out, relying solely on cultivators' consumption is not enough to completely deplete it. That's where the defensive grand formation comes in. The energy that cannot be consumed by cultivators is absorbed by the formation's base, becoming stored energy. At the same time, maintaining the grand defensive formation's operation also consumes energy. Therefore, by merely adjusting the grand formation's power, the energy within the spirit islands can be kept in a balanced state."
Lionheart's eyes gleamed. "Was the earlier adjustment to the grand defensive formation's power due to this reason?"
The changes in the grand defensive formation naturally couldn't escape his perception. Just before Hu Guang arrived, he clearly detected that the formation's defensive strength had increased, indicating an enhancement in its power. The most obvious and direct change was that the light barrier enveloping Purple Jade Island had become significantly brighter.
"Precisely," Hu Guang nodded. "Because too much energy has been released these past two days, more consumption is required. Otherwise, it would put pressure on the grand formation. However, this adjustment is only temporary. If the island's situation continues like this, the grand formation's power will need to be continuously readjusted. Due to tens of thousands of years of accumulated reserves, the energy stored in the formation base is already sufficient; there's no current need for more energy reserves."
Lionheart said, "In that case, let's unleash the grand formation's power to its limit!"
Hu Guang gave a wry smile. "If we were to truly do that, the grand formation wouldn't last long. While our formation bases and cores are of high quality, they also have a limit to what they can bear. Operating the grand formation at its limit for a short period is fine, but it's not a long-term solution. What worries me most is if this situation continues indefinitely. If it does, our grand defensive formation will burst."
Lionheart was astonished. "Too much energy is actually not a good thing?"
"Everything in excess is harmful."
Lionheart pondered for a moment, then suggested fancifully, "What if we opened a gap in the grand formation, allowing the energy to proactively dissipate through it?"
Hu Guang nodded. "That is indeed a feasible method, but unless absolutely necessary, it's best not to do so. Lu Ye from Three Realms Island is lying in wait outside, and no one knows what he's thinking or planning. Once the grand formation has a gap, it becomes vulnerable."
Lionheart said, "Then I'll leave this matter to you, Junior Brother. You have full authority to decide; there's no need to consult me further." He knew nothing about formations, so rather than cause trouble, he preferred to leave it to Hu Guang.
"Yes," Hu Guang knew this would be the outcome. However, Lionheart was the Great Island Master, and there were some things he had to report. Changing the subject, he asked, "Considering the time, Junior Brother Chai and Junior Brother Lang should be on their way back, shouldn't they? I wonder how things are on their end."
Lionheart replied, "They messaged me half a day ago; everything was smooth!"
Just as he spoke, his sound talisman suddenly stirred. Lionheart smiled. "Junior Brother Chai has messaged again. They must be returning soon." Both junior brothers were at the mid-Moon-Gazing Realm. If they returned, he and Hu Guang would need to intercept Lu Ye to prevent him from ambushing them again.
Upon checking the sound talisman, the smile on Lionheart's face abruptly froze. Then he roared, "This is preposterous!"
Hu Guang was startled. "What is it, Senior Brother?"
Lionheart looked at him. "Three Realms Island was prepared. The two junior brothers were ambushed an hour after leaving Myriad Manifestations Island. I'm afraid... they won't be coming back!" The message was from Junior Brother Chai, sent when his situation was already critical. He was being jointly attacked by two women from Three Realms Island and had desperately sent the message back, primarily to inform Lionheart by whose hands they had fallen.
Hu Guang's face turned pale. He quickly took out his sound talisman to check and indeed found that the imprints for Junior Brother Chai and Junior Brother Lang were unresponsive. This undoubtedly meant that both junior brothers had perished.
His eyes reddened, and he clenched his teeth. "Three Realms Island, we'll flatten it sooner or later!"
Not long after Lionheart received the news, Lu Ye also received confirmation of the successful ambush. He felt a slight regret, as it would undoubtedly have been better if they could have captured the two Moon-Gazing cultivators alive.
That way, he could have found a way to infiltrate Purple Jade Island again.
However, the fact that one of the Moon-Gazing cultivators had sent a message before dying undoubtedly meant that Purple Jade Island was now aware of the situation.
This was unavoidable. Even though Luan Xiao'e and Yan Miao together faced a mid-Moon-Gazing cultivator with no pressure, preventing the opponent from sending a desperate message was quite difficult, unless they could achieve a one-hit kill.
Looking towards Purple Jade Island, Lu Ye's eyes narrowed slightly.
Just a short while ago, he had noticed that the light barrier of Purple Jade Island's grand defensive formation had brightened, which undoubtedly meant they had adjusted the formation's power to cope with the increasingly concentrated energy on the island.
He had anticipated this and knew that their adjustments wouldn't be a one-time event, so he wasn't in a hurry and simply waited.
Another day passed, and the light barrier of Purple Jade Island's grand defensive formation brightened further. Over the next few days, the formation's light barrier changed several times.
Ten days later, when viewed from a distance, Purple Jade Island seemed to have transformed into a half-moon. The brightness of its grand defensive formation's light barrier was arguably the greatest in the entire Myriad Manifestations Sea!
Many cultivators who were still lingering nearby, not yet departed, watched in amazement, none knowing what Purple Jade Island was up to.
Adjusting the grand defensive formation's power was something only done when facing an enemy attack, because such adjustments consumed more stored energy but made the formation sturdier.
However, there was no battle occurring at Purple Jade Island now, yet the power of its grand defensive formation had significantly increased. This left countless cultivators bewildered. Was Purple Jade Island's energy reserve truly so abundant? It seemed they were simply squandering it.
Some cultivators from lower- and mid-tier spirit islands felt deep heartache, believing Purple Jade Island was wantonly wasting precious resources and didn't appreciate what it had.
What bewildered them even more was that this adjustment wasn't the limit. A few days later, the brightness of Purple Jade's defensive formation reached a new peak, and the entire spirit island became a glowing hemisphere.
As a top-tier spirit island, its grand defensive formation was inherently extremely resilient. Now, with its power significantly enhanced, if Lu Ye had initially had some confidence in breaching Purple Jade Island's formation with red talismans, he absolutely could not now. Only a Sun-Tier expert could hope to breach it.
For a time, countless cultivators who received the news rushed from afar to observe, making the thousand-li radius around Purple Jade Island exceptionally lively.
Such a peculiar sight was rare. Missing this opportunity meant no one knew when the next one would be.
Lu Ye was pleased, because the continuous adjustments of Purple Jade's grand formation signified the perfect progression of his plan. If this continued, he felt it wouldn't be long before Purple Jade Island's grand formation would burst.
Fundamentally, it wasn't the grand formation itself that would burst from the immense energy, but rather its base that would be destroyed, unable to withstand the excessive energy reserves. The base was the foundation of the formation, and if the base was destroyed, the formation would naturally cease to exist.
Just as Lu Ye was quietly awaiting the spectacle, he was surprised to find that Purple Jade's grand formation no longer changed. It maintained its brightness and power, seemingly having reached a state of equilibrium.
This left him somewhat puzzled.
However, he quickly understood why.
Purple Jade Island had actually proactively opened a gap in its grand formation. This allowed the energy on the island to dissipate outwards through this opening, no longer putting pressure on the island.
This news was heard from the cultivators who had come to observe.
Upon learning the reason, his Talent Tree clone personally went to investigate from a distance and found the situation to be exactly as reported: a gap about one zhang long was present on the other side of Purple Jade Island.
Lu Ye observed the gap for a while, then blinked.
Meanwhile, his main body, which had been cultivating underwater, opened its eyes.
He quickly descended, soon arriving at the location of the Small Star Palace. Placing his hand on it, with a thought, the seawater that was already frantically rushing into the Small Star Palace suddenly accelerated several times over. Enormous bubbles ascended from the cauldron mouth of the Small Star Palace, creating a spectacle far more intense than before.
All along, the Small Star Palace had been operating autonomously. All Lu Ye needed to do was adjust its power and set it in place.
However, this item was, after all, an auxiliary treasure to a supreme artifact. It could operate autonomously, but it could also be manually activated, and the latter was far more efficient than the former. Lu Ye had simply never done so before, because once he did, he himself would be immobilized.
But now, he had no choice but to act in this manner.
Purple Jade Island had achieved an energy balance within the island by opening a gap in its grand formation. All he needed to do was disrupt this balance.
Moreover, Purple Jade's response presented him with an opportunity for a swift victory.
It must be said, Purple Jade Island had made a grave mistake. Without that gap, he would likely have had to wait much longer to break Purple Jade's grand formation.
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