Chapter 1881: Moon Yao Later Stage

After the battle with Zixuan, the popularity of Three Realms Island soared. While the number of cultivators visiting increased significantly, the island's security improved even more dramatically. Previously, a few unthinking cultivators would occasionally cause trouble, but since Zixuan's defeat, such incidents have stopped entirely, leaving the Three Realms cultivators on patrol feeling quite bored.

This was not surprising, as the battle fundamentally altered how cultivators in the Myriad Manifestations Sea viewed Three Realms Island.

Before, Three Realms Island's only claim to fame was its powerful victory over Baiyue. While Baiyue was a respectable high-grade spirit island, its defeat didn't project an overwhelming deterrent.

Now, the situation was different. With a top-tier spirit island like Zixuan no match for Three Realms Island, who would dare to underestimate it?

In essence, though Three Realms Island remains a high-grade spirit island, its reputation for power now rivals, and in many cases surpasses, that of any top-tier spirit island.

After all, throughout history, there has been only one instance of a top-tier spirit island being conquered. This unprecedented feat demonstrated a level of strength that other top-tier spirit islands simply couldn't rival.

The moniker "Leaf the Annihilator" spread far and wide.

In both of Three Realms Island's major battles—against Baiyue and Zixuan—the defeated suffered terribly. Moon Acolytes were nearly eradicated, and countless Star Constellation cultivators were killed or injured; had they not fled swiftly, they would have faced total annihilation.

In both conflicts, Lu Ye, the current Great Island Master of Three Realms Island, played an indispensable role. His strength and ruthlessness, widely recognized as unmatched among those below the Sun-level, were clear for all to see.

This title, which originated from the Spirit Stream battlefield in Kyushu, was initially just a lighthearted joke among cultivators on Three Realms Island. However, it somehow spread and quickly became firmly associated with Lu Ye.

Lu Ye had heard about this, as he always kept a Talent Tree clone stationed on Three Realms Island. He found it quite amusing, even speechless, that a title from so many years ago could be resurrected and follow him from Kyushu to the Myriad Manifestations Sea.

He had recently enjoyed a rare period of leisure.

Since the war with Zixuan concluded, his main body had been in seclusion for cultivation. Apart from his recent emergence to slay Lionheart and occasional trips to sea for recuperation and to replenish the Talent Tree's fuel, he spent most of his time underwater.

He genuinely enjoyed the sensation of his personal foundation continuously expanding. Thanks to the Talent Tree, cultivation was as effortless for him as eating or drinking.

It was only that previously, he had always been too busy, constantly on the move.

While cultivating, he could also devote attention to comprehending the legacies left by his ancestors on the Talent Tree, or immerse his mind in the Steadfast Mountain Blade to study various inherited blade techniques.

The gains were immense.

One day, deep beneath the Myriad Manifestations Sea, Lu Ye maintained his focus, feeling the surging spiritual power within his body, and a wave of elation washed over him.

In that very moment, he distinctly felt a barrier within himself break. The circulation speed of his spiritual power sharply increased, and the total reserves of spiritual power within him also saw a significant boost.

For cultivators, the speed at which their power circulates directly impacts the strength of their attacks. The purity of their spiritual or spiritual energy is equally crucial. As for their power reserves, these determine how long they can sustain a fight against an enemy.

These changes were undoubtedly a sign of his advancement to the late Moon Acolyte stage.

Upon reflection, ten years had passed since his advancement to the mid-Moon Acolyte stage.

During this time, he spent several years retrieving the core of Fangcun Mountain. After bringing it back to Kyushu and establishing it, he spent several more years integrating the core.

Yet, his recent secluded cultivation had only lasted a year.

In just one year, he had spent over a billion spirit jades, primarily on fire-element resources. This figure didn't even include the resources supplied by Zixuan Island, which would make the total much higher.

While cultivating with the Talent Tree was undeniably efficient and saved effort, the resource consumption was thousands, even tens of thousands, of times higher than normal. Without the support of Three Realms Island, Lu Ye simply wouldn't have had the capital for such an undertaking.

He had known for a long time that cultivating with the Talent Tree meant exchanging vast resources for accelerated time, a necessary and acceptable cost on his path to growth.

Now in the late Moon Acolyte stage, Lu Ye was not in a hurry to emerge from seclusion. With rare free time and abundant Talent Tree fuel, he naturally chose to consolidate his cultivation.

He also intended to use this opportunity to cultivate the Moon Acolyte realm to its Grand Perfection.

Back in the Star Constellation realm, to reach the absolute peak of that stage, he had visited the Yin-Yang Great Millstone. There, he used the unique power of that cosmic wonder to refine his physical body, leading to the birth of the Flower of Body.

The Moon Acolyte realm corresponds to the cultivation of 'Qi.' In other words, reaching the pinnacle of this realm, cultivating to Grand Perfection, should lead to the birth of the Flower of Qi.

Lu Ye believed this would not be difficult, perhaps even quite simple.

Due to his Talent Tree, the spiritual power within him was absolutely pure and free of impurities, incapable of further refinement. Therefore, in his Moon Acolyte cultivation, he had consistently been progressing towards the Grand Perfection state. Now that his cultivation had reached this point, he should naturally be able to condense the Flower of Qi.

Of course, this was merely Lu Ye's conjecture, but he anticipated no significant issues.

Therefore, his immediate task was simple: consolidate his late Moon Acolyte cultivation, then allow it to slowly settle. When the time was right, the Flower of Qi would naturally form.

Another month quickly passed.

Underwater, Lu Ye opened his eyes, a pensive expression on his face.

After a month of uninterrupted cultivation, his spiritual power had advanced further, and his late Moon Acolyte realm was thoroughly consolidated. While continuing to cultivate would undoubtedly lead to greater improvements, he sensed something was not quite right.

During this time, he had been re-evaluating the process of condensing the Flower of Body. In the Yin-Yang Great Millstone, an invisible, miraculous force continuously refined his physical body, which ultimately led to the pinnacle of the Star Constellation realm.

This "pinnacle" didn't imply his physical body could no longer improve; as he advanced to the Moon Acolyte realm, his physical strength would continue to grow with his cultivation. Rather, it was the ultimate point *within* the Star Constellation realm, where no further progress was possible at that specific stage.

If the Star Constellation realm is considered the foundation for the upper three realms, then Lu Ye had established the most formidable base possible. Across the vast starry sky, few could compare.

Yet, currently, he lacked the sensation that the Flower of Qi should be condensing.

Logically, if his inference was correct, then even if he hadn't yet reached the peak of the Moon Acolyte realm, he should at least have felt some indication.

Thus, Lu Ye vaguely perceived that continuing to cultivate in this manner would only lead to a superficial increase in his power level.

Was his cultivation insufficient?

Or was his accumulation inadequate?

After much thought, Lu Ye vaguely felt that neither of these was the reason. If he continued cultivating in this manner, even if he truly elevated his cultivation to the peak of the Moon Acolyte realm, the Flower of Qi still wouldn't condense!

If he hadn't known the secret of the Three Flowers, and if he hadn't already condensed the Flower of Body, Lu Ye wouldn't have pondered it so deeply.

But having this knowledge and possessing the Flower of Body, Lu Ye was naturally unwilling to give up halfway through his cultivation in the Moon Acolyte realm.

Elder Xu Yuan of the Soul Clan once stated that the secret of the Three Flowers was linked to the possibility of transcendence, a mystery even he couldn't fully comprehend. Lu Ye had been invincible among his peers in the Star Constellation realm and was considered the foremost among those below the Sun-level in the Moon Acolyte realm. If he failed to push the Moon Acolyte realm to its absolute extreme, he might lose this advantage upon advancing to the Sun-level.

As a cultivator, he naturally sought this absolute extreme. Throughout his journey, he had faced numerous trials and tribulations. While the Talent Tree granted him extraordinary cultivation speed, a simple increase in cultivation realm was no longer his primary aspiration.

He ceased his secluded cultivation. Having sensed something amiss, he naturally needed to find a solution.

He calmly emerged from the sea and returned to Three Realms Island.

Soon after his return, He Baichuan rushed over, exclaiming, "Junior Brother, something significant has happened!"

However, judging by his excited expression, it seemed to be good news rather than bad.

Lu Ye had a premonition but still asked, "What is it?"

He Baichuan replied, "Haven't you noticed? Sense it yourself!"

Lu Ye didn't even need to sense it. "Has the energy on the island become denser?" he asked.

"Exactly!" He Baichuan clapped his hands. "Compared to a year ago, the energy on our Three Realms Island is much denser! I asked Senior Brother Tang, and he mentioned that when Peerless Island transitioned from a high-grade to a top-tier spirit island, it experienced a similar phase!"

His eyebrows danced with excitement. "Junior Brother," he asked, "do you think there's a chance our Three Realms Island will evolve into a top-tier spirit island?"

Lu Ye looked at him, thinking that this wasn't just a possibility but something already in progress.

A year ago, when he began his seclusion, he had adjusted the power of the Minor Star Constellation Hall. Over the past year, the energy concentration on Three Realms Island had continuously increased, effectively retracing the path Peerless Island had once followed.

Had he not feared causing too much of a stir, Lu Ye could have transformed Three Realms Island into a top-tier spirit island within a month.

The year-long period before noticeable effects appeared was a deliberate result of his adjustments.

Three Realms Island had been developing for quite some years. From its origins as an ignored desolate island, it hadn't taken long to gradually transform into a high-grade spirit island.

However, having learned from Peerless Island's past, Lu Ye had deliberately prevented Three Realms Island from further evolving, maintaining it at the high-grade spirit island level to avoid attracting undue attention.

But after the battle with Zixuan, Lu Ye felt it was time for a change.

Because Three Realms Island now possessed both fame and strength, in addition to the formidable backing of the Chime Bell Realm, its transformation into a top-tier spirit island wouldn't pose a significant problem.

After conquering Zixuan, the Three Realms cultivators had lingered there for some time. When they eventually departed, everyone was reluctant, acknowledging that the cultivation environment of a top-tier spirit island was indeed far superior to that of a high-grade one, saving considerable cultivation time.

However, unwilling to abandon Three Realms Island, they ultimately left.

But now that Three Realms Island was becoming a top-tier spirit island, there was no longer a need to envy others. The cultivation environment for Three Realms cultivators would experience a monumental improvement, greatly boosting the future development of the Three Realms.

Across the Myriad Manifestations Sea, the major top-tier spirit islands were undoubtedly the cradles where their backing forces nurtured cultivators. Even within the most advanced realms, such exceptionally favorable cultivation environments were hard to find.

The Zixuan Demon Star was so reluctant to abandon Zixuan Island that they were willing to pay an immense price to reclaim it, largely due to this very reason.

The Myriad Manifestations Sea was a sacred cultivation ground granted to cultivators by the starry sky. Visitors from all directions converged and interacted here, making it one of the central hubs of the entire starry sky since ancient times.