Chapter 1870: I’m Not Dead Yet!

"Yes!" Lu Ye quickly replied. "Guardian Mu, please rest assured, this will never happen again."

Mu Qing nodded, just thinking that this young man was quite agreeable, when Lu Ye spoke again: "I fought against and killed that female demon, but I don't understand why it angered Guardian Yuandu, prompting him to intervene with such suppressive force?"

At these words, Mu Qing couldn't help but frown, glaring at Lu Ye with a hidden warning.

Lu Ye, however, acted as if he hadn't noticed, speaking without pause: "Guardian Mu, it is precisely because of guardians like you maintaining order in this vast Myriad Manifestations Sea that for countless years, it has remained fair, just, and impartial. This allows us, the foreign cultivators, to settle and strive here, contributing to the continued prosperity of Myriad Manifestations Sea. Myriad Manifestations Sea has its rules: major factions may contend, but Sun-Illumination Guardians are not to interfere unless one party requests arbitration. Guardian Yuandu's actions just now have left me quite puzzled. I wonder if Three Realms Island has, at some point, offended Guardian Yuandu. As the Third Island Master of Three Realms Island, my personal honor is inconsequential, but behind me stands Three Realms Island. Therefore, I dare to ask Guardian Yuandu for an explanation."

Mu Qing narrowed her eyes slightly, then realized that Lu Ye was anything but agreeable. This guy was like a dog, ready to bite whenever he found an opportunity.

Don't you know perfectly well what grudge exists between your Three Realms Island and Yuandu, and why Yuandu suddenly suppressed you with such force?

Raising these questions at this moment, while simultaneously praising the Sun-Illumination Guardians to the skies, and with Jiu Yan, whose allegiance was clearly elsewhere, standing right there—even without Jiu Yan, with so many cultivators observing, Mu Qing could not ignore Lu Ye's inquiry.

The Sun-Illumination cultivators are the strongest fighting force in Myriad Manifestations Sea, but from ancient times until now, only Sun-Illumination cultivators from the local star system have been stationed here. This is a result of the balance between the local star system and various other star systems. Stationed here, they must uphold fairness and justice, and maintain the various rules they themselves have established. If they disregard these rules themselves, why would cultivators from other star systems care?

Mu Qing now understood how Yuandu must have felt when he was verbally pressured that day.

Turning her head to Yuandu, Mu Qing asked, "Senior Brother, what was the situation just now?"

Yuandu gazed coldly at Lu Ye, having remained silent after speaking only two sentences since his appearance. Only now did he speak faintly: "There was a confrontation here with considerable commotion. I detected something unusual and feared it might disturb passing guests, which is why I came to investigate and immediately suppressed the situation to prevent it from escalating."

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. What he said... there was nothing wrong with it.

"So that's how it is," Mu Qing nodded slightly, then looked at Lu Ye. "Did you hear that?"

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then cupped his fist towards Yuandu: "It seems I misunderstood Guardian Yuandu's good intentions. Guardian, please forgive me."

"No problem!"

Mu Qing said, "Since it was a misunderstanding, then there's no issue." She looked at Lu Ye: "Go do what you need to do."

Lu Ye cupped his fist: "Farewell!"

He glanced at Aunt Yue, nodded slightly, giving her a grateful look, then activated his spiritual power and sped away.

After Lu Ye left, Mu Qing softly commanded, "Everyone disperse."

With a Sun-Illumination cultivator speaking, the cultivators gathered around dared not disobey, scattering like birds and beasts.

Yuandu snorted coldly, then turned and headed into Myriad Manifestations Island.

"Senior Brother Yuandu!" A clear, cold voice suddenly came from behind him. Yuandu stopped, turned his head, and met Jiu Yan's gaze.

Jiu Yan looked directly into his eyes and spoke chillingly: "I'm not dead yet!" The implication was that until her death, Three Realms Island would remain under her protection, and Yuandu had best not try anything underhanded.

Yuandu understood the implication, but merely frowned and said nothing, turning to leave.

Mu Qing looked at Jiu Yan, hesitated for a long while, then sighed and said, "Senior Sister, you are, after all, a Myriad Manifestations Sun-Illumination!"

Jiu Yan snorted coldly: "I know I'm a Myriad Manifestations Sun-Illumination, but some people don't."

Back then, Peerless Island was single-handedly built by Chu Shen. After Peerless Island was promoted to a top-tier Spirit Island, the local star system felt it necessary to take control of this newly ascended top-tier Spirit Island. In truth, Jiu Yan wasn't particularly resistant at the time, as she believed a top-tier Spirit Island was indeed beyond Chu Shen's level of occupation. So, she tacitly agreed, provided Chu Shen consented.

However, Chu Shen did not agree. The local star system immediately launched a strong attack, forcibly taking control of Peerless Island.

This incident greatly displeased Jiu Yan. Although Chu Shen suffered no injuries throughout the process, Jiu Yan's stance was: "I can give it to you, but you cannot take it by force!"

She was capable of considering the bigger picture for the local star system, yet some people misinterpreted her yielding as weakness.

That matter happened many years ago, and it should have been left in the past.

Now, Three Realms Island was being targeted again, which truly infuriated Jiu Yan.

To be fair, when Three Realms Island sought her patronage back then, she didn't actively seek to accept them. In fact, when Lu Ye first entered the Chime Realm, she didn't even show her face. It was mainly Chu Shen who facilitated the process, bringing a group of Chime Realm cultivators to practice on Three Realms Island, which then gave outsiders the impression that Three Realms Island had indeed sought Jiu Yan's patronage.

But regardless of whether she actively accepted them or not, the fact remained: Three Realms Island was now under her protection.

Knowing this, Yuandu was still secretly stirring up trouble, instigating Zixuan to attack Three Realms Island. This showed he had absolutely no regard for her!

Even a clay Buddha has a temper, let alone a Sun-Illumination cultivator like Jiu Yan, who had fought her way up!

Therefore, a few days ago, after receiving Chu Shen's message, she immediately set off from the Chime Realm for Myriad Manifestations Island. Ostensibly, it was to visit Mu Qing and reminisce, but in reality, it was to guard against Yuandu.

That old man had a precedent for such actions; he had appeared during Three Realms Island's conflict with Hundred Yue back then. There was no guarantee he wouldn't appear again this time.

Facts proved she was right to come. Had she not come this time, Lu Ye would likely have been in grave danger.

Turning to look in the direction Lu Ye had departed, Jiu Yan frowned. This young man, was he a magnet for trouble, or did trouble simply find him?

Looking back at the notable major events in Myriad Manifestations Sea over the years, his shadow seemed to be present in all of them.

In the distance, Lu Ye sped towards Zixuan.

In the recent confrontation with Yuandu, both sides had an unspoken understanding: no one mentioned the deceased Hu Xue. Lu Ye couldn't bring it up, lest he genuinely enrage Yuandu. While he felt confident with Jiu Yan by his side, there was a limit to everything, and deliberately provoking a Sun-Illumination cultivator was not a wise move.

Yuandu and Mu Qing not mentioning her naturally had their own reasons.

Thus, Yuandu's favored concubine became an unnamed female demon in the mouths of both parties.

But regardless, it was a fact that Lu Ye had killed Hu Xue. If the previous animosity with Yuandu hadn't been too deep, it was now completely different, having reached a point of absolute irreconcilability.

Having such a Sun-Illumination Guardian in Myriad Manifestations Sea was truly disgusting.

Three Realms Island was, after all, an outsider. Its status was inferior, and its power was lesser. If the other party was willing to abide by the rules they had set, then all was well. But if one day, the so-called rules could no longer restrain those Sun-Illumination cultivators, then cultivators from the Three Realms would have no place in Myriad Manifestations Sea.

However, even if that day truly came, Lu Ye wasn't afraid. At worst, he could transfer the Three Realms cultivators to the Merfolk territory through the Azure Seashell's portal, thereby always avoiding losses.

Although Hu Xue was killed on this trip, Lu Ye ultimately failed to achieve his main objective. With Lionheart still alive, Lu Ye's resentment lingered.

But since Lionheart had already entered Myriad Manifestations Island, killing him again would be difficult. As long as he remained hidden inside and didn't come out, Lu Ye would have no way to deal with him.

What strategy should he devise to lure Lionheart out?

He flew along, lost in thought.

By the time Lu Ye returned to Zixuan Island, the battle there had already concluded.

Originally, only Lionheart, a Moon-Illumination cultivator, remained on Zixuan, and its protective grand array was also broken. With two thousand cultivators from Three Realms Island forcibly descending, forming three long dragons under the lead of three Moon-Illumination cultivators, Zixuan's defeat was sealed.

Following Lionheart's order, the Zixuan demon cultivators fled in panic. The Three Realms cultivators then broke into smaller groups, hot on their heels, achieving significant results.

After the major battle came the cleanup of the battlefield, which, it must be said, was the most satisfying part.

The storage rings and magical artifacts confiscated from the slain enemy cultivators were merely a small portion; Zixuan Island's treasury was the main prize.

When Lu Ye returned, Luan Xiao'e was in the treasury, leading people in inventorying the supplies. Setting aside other items, in terms of spirit jade alone, over a billion pieces were piled up in the treasury. Other various resources were countless.

It was a top-tier Spirit Island after all. The spoils from conquering Hundred Yue and inventorying its treasury earlier were simply incomparable to what was before them now.

"Lionheart escaped into Myriad Manifestations Island," Lu Ye said, standing beside Luan Xiao'e.

"Junior Brother, you've done more than enough. Don't worry about it. If Wei Po is aware in the afterlife, he should be able to rest in peace now," Luan Xiao'e said, nodding. The sorrow over Wei Po's death had completely dissipated.

Who else in this world could forcefully breach a top-tier Spirit Island just because of one person's death?

Looking across this vast Myriad Manifestations Sea, only Lu Ye!

From beginning to end, only Wei Po from Three Realms Island died. In contrast, Zixuan lost as many as seven Moon-Illumination cultivators, and two to three thousand Star-Constellation cultivators. If Wei Po's spirit existed, he should be laughing uproariously towards the heavens, knowing that so many demon cultivators had accompanied him in death. He certainly wouldn't feel that his death was unjust.

Wasn't it the same during the battle against Hundred Yue back then? The cause of that conflict was simply that Tang Jun had been ambushed...

Honestly, Luan Xiao'e felt very secure being Lu Ye's companion, because if one of their own was ever bullied, he would help them get everything back, with interest.

Lu Ye paused, then added, "Of the over a billion spirit jade here, probably a billion is ours."

Even if Zixuan was a top-tier Spirit Island, it wouldn't stockpile over a billion spirit jade in its treasury; a few hundred million might be possible. The extra billion, presumably, was the ransom Lu Ye had sent earlier, which Hu Guang had embezzled.

That day, Hu Guang took the ransom and immediately denied it. Now, ironically, he took it but never lived to spend it. On the contrary, Three Realms Island, having spent a billion, received many times that amount in return. If Hu Guang knew it would come to this, one wonders what he would think.

The inventory of the treasury's supplies might take several days. The numerous confiscated spoils of war also needed to be re-collected, categorized, and then redistributed. This was because not everyone had the opportunity to kill enemies and acquire spoils on the battlefield. For instance, medical cultivators were only responsible for rescuing the wounded; who among them would have time to seize spoils of war?

However, their contributions should not be forgotten, so all spoils needed to be collected and then redistributed.

Regardless, after this battle, the already wealthy cultivators of Three Realms Island became even more incredibly rich.