Chapter 1991: Smart Zandang

The powerful Insectoid and Three-Eyed Clan Sun Shiners died on the spot in mere moments. Mu Qing knew the golden light possessed an incredibly powerful sealing effect, but Lu Ye's terrifying lethality still horrified her. Had she not witnessed it herself, it would have been hard to believe that someone who had just advanced to the Sun Shiner realm, with an unstable cultivation, could wield such brutal power.

So, when Lu Ye killed the two Sun Shiners and turned to look at her, Mu Qing didn't hesitate. A layer of blood mist erupted around her as she activated an unknown secret technique, transforming into a streak of rainbow light and fleeing into the distance. In that instant, she felt a chilling killing intent in Lu Ye's eyes.

Her decisive reaction surprised Lu Ye slightly. He merely glanced in the direction of her escape before withdrawing his gaze. The matters of the Myriad Manifestations Ocean could wait; the priority now was to deal with the Formless Palace!

"Are you alright?" Lu Ye asked, looking at Luan Xiao'e and Yan Miao.

Both women shook their heads. Whether it was their prior fight with Mu Qing or the recent clash with the Insectoid and Three-Eyed Clans, they had only sustained minor injuries and were fine.

"Where is Senior Ma Bin?" Lu Ye asked.

The vast Myriad Manifestations Ocean was in utter chaos, with signs of conflict and aftermath everywhere, yet Lu Ye couldn't sense Ma Bin's presence. This was certainly unusual. Ma Bin was a Sun Shiner, after all; even if his injuries weren't fully healed, his aura should be discernible if he engaged in combat. Unless he was no longer in the Myriad Manifestations Ocean.

Yan Miao explained, "After the Formless Palace members appeared, Mo Wenli went to confront them. Black Cloud fled, and Senior Brother Ma Bin pursued him."

Lu Ye was stunned to hear this. The old senior from the former Nine Provinces still harbored such strong killing intent; despite his own poor condition, he actually went to pursue others. However, since he acted, he must have had a plan.

Lu Ye nodded, looked around, confirmed their current location, and then said, "Senior Sisters, this place is not far from Four Directions Island. Please go and look after it." Four Directions Island had no Sun Shiner guarding it. Furthermore, the spiritual island they now occupied was the former Baiyue, making it a clear target for the Formless Palace. Without a Sun Shiner intervening, Four Directions Island might barely be able to hold its ground with its current foundation, but if a Sun Shiner did act, Four Directions Island would surely be unable to resist. Four Directions Island and Three Realms Island had always maintained good relations. Several Moon Shiners guarding Four Directions Island had secretly assisted Lu Ye multiple times. Now that they were in trouble, he certainly couldn't stand idly by.

Luan Xiao'e and Yan Miao nodded slightly and, without delay, immediately flew towards Four Directions Island. Meanwhile, Lu Ye continued holding Hua Ci and flew in another direction.

The Pixiu beast pet in her arms was gone, apparently having been sent into the Myriad Manifestations Ocean to devour seawater. As Lu Ye flew, he looked down and could vaguely see the beast pet following closely on the sea surface. Its speed was not as fast as his, but as long as he kept Hua Ci with him, the little creature would find its way back, so there was no need to worry about it getting lost.

Throughout the Myriad Manifestations Ocean, numerous forces were established on various spiritual islands, but only two places truly concerned Lu Ye, aside from his own island: Four Directions Island, where Luan Xiao'e and Yan Miao were headed, and Five Colors Island, where Mang Dang resided. In the earliest stages of Three Realms Island's development, it faced immense difficulties. Mang Dang was the first to offer full support, establishing a Five Colors Chamber of Commerce branch on Three Realms Island. The Formless Palace could not possibly overlook a top-tier spiritual island like Five Colors Island, so the current situation there was unknown. However, Lu Ye could sense a Sun Shiner's aura brazenly flaunting itself in the direction of Five Colors Island.

The Formless Palace's sudden invasion of the Myriad Manifestations Ocean caught everyone off guard. The key was the sheer number of Sun Shiners they brought this time, and their timing was impeccable, occurring precisely when a conflict erupted on Three Realms Island. All five Sun Shiner guardians were preoccupied by Three Realms Island; three of them died in battle, and two were too distracted to intervene, which led to the Formless Palace's successful invasion. Under normal circumstances, when such a portal opened, Yuan Du and the others could have quickly dealt with it, denying the Formless Palace any chance to invade.

When Lu Ye arrived at Five Colors Island, it was shrouded in a gloomy, sorrowful atmosphere, with wails of agony echoing everywhere. Large sections of buildings across Five Colors Island had collapsed, countless cultivators had died tragically on the spot, and fierce conflicts erupted everywhere. Clearly, the cultivators of Five Colors Island were fighting a desperate battle.

Lu Ye's face was grim because he couldn't sense Mang Dang's aura. There were many Moon Shiners on the island, but their auras were tyrannical and brutal, clearly belonging to the Formless Palace.

Just as Lu Ye arrived, a divine sense landed on him, followed by a faint voice that declared, "Finally, I can stretch my muscles!" As the voice spoke, a figure shot out from the depths of Five Colors Island, clearly the Formless Palace Sun Shiner who was leading the team there. Lu Ye looked up and saw a burly man with a formidable physique. Though not tall, he exuded an incredibly sturdy presence, and in terms of the robustness of his aura alone, Lu Ye was inferior to him. Having just advanced to the Sun Shiner realm, Lu Ye found it difficult to judge the opponent's exact level, but he vaguely estimated that the newcomer was at least a mid-stage Sun Shiner. Furthermore, judging by his physique and surging vitality, he clearly followed the path of a body cultivator. He looked like a human, but whether he truly was, Lu Ye couldn't tell. Many races in this world resembled humans in appearance but were not actually human. He had led the team here to plunder Five Colors Island's resources and hadn't encountered any decent opponents, leaving him utterly bored. One could say Lu Ye had arrived at just the right time.

After a brief perception, the brawny man frowned, an expression of dissatisfaction on his face. "What's this? Just a little guy who only recently advanced to the Sun Shiner realm!" Saying this, he raised his fist. "I'll smash you with one punch!"

Lu Ye merely watched him quietly, indifferent to his arrogance. It wasn't until the brawny man rushed within a hundred feet of him that Lu Ye suddenly patted Hua Ci's waist. The next instant, a golden light shot out from the Pixiu in Hua Ci's arms. On the way here, the Pixiu's consumed energy had already been replenished, and it had returned to Hua Ci. The hundred-foot distance was instantly covered.

The brawny man's arrogant, invincible expression turned to astonishment. His body, propelled by inertia, crossed the space and lunged directly in front of Lu Ye. Then he saw Lu Ye raise a long saber, its blade gleaming with cold light. The scene was as if the brawny man himself was actively charging into the Pishan Saber. The brawny man desperately tried to dodge, but the spiritual power in his body couldn't be activated at all. This sudden turn of events caused him to crash directly onto the tip of the Pishan Saber. The blade penetrated three inches into his flesh, and blood streamed out.

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, secretly surprised by the man's powerful physique. Although he hadn't exerted much force, with his advancement to the Sun Shiner realm, the Pishan Saber's quality had greatly improved. He hadn't used much effort to slay the Insectoid Sun Shiner earlier. The strength of this man's physique was even tougher than the Insectoid's carapace he had encountered earlier. With a sudden exertion of force, the Pishan Saber finally pierced through his body. The intense pain contorted the brawny man's expression, and his eyes became bloodshot. He didn't know what the golden light was, but at this moment, his vitality and spiritual power were both suppressed, leaving him completely at the mercy of others, like a fish on a chopping board. This experience terrified him. Only then did he realize that a newly promoted Sun Shiner dared to come after him because he possessed a trump card.

Fortunately, he wasn't foolish. With his spiritual power and vitality completely suppressed, he immediately tried to activate his soul power. Lu Ye, however, had already withdrawn the Pishan Saber and then kicked him. After several joint efforts with Hua Ci, he had discovered a vulnerability: the power of the treasure coins was not without flaws. This flaw was soul power; the golden light of the treasure coins couldn't seal a Sun Shiner's soul power. A Sun Shiner's soul power was incredibly potent; it could be said that anyone not a Sun Shiner couldn't resist it at all. Lu Ye himself wasn't too worried; even if he encountered a Sun Shiner with a higher cultivation, he had the Seven-Colored Divine Lotus to stabilize his divine soul, so he wouldn't be in danger unless he faced an overwhelming impact. But Hua Ci was different. With her Moon Shiner cultivation, if she were to be impacted by a Sun Shiner's soul power, the outcome would not be good. Not to mention her, even the Pixiu beast pet couldn't withstand it. So, upon detecting signs of the opponent activating his soul power, Lu Ye immediately kicked him away.

The force he used was skillfully applied; the brawny man only flew a few tens of feet before arcing downwards and falling into the Myriad Manifestations Ocean, splashing water. This man was tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, making him troublesome to kill. In that case, throwing him into the Myriad Manifestations Ocean was just as effective. No matter how high his cultivation or how strong his physique, falling into the Myriad Manifestations Ocean while sealed meant certain death. Yuan Du had survived earlier because he wasn't in a sealed state when he fell into the sea, allowing him to struggle...

The Sun Shiner clash here ended in a mere instant, with victory decided. On Five Colors Island, few even noticed the commotion of the fight. The cultivators of Five Colors Island were busy resisting desperately, while the Formless Palace cultivators were busy killing and plundering. Then, a sea of blood suddenly unfurled, covering the sky and earth, descending from above, and engulfing the entire Five Colors Island.

Within the sea of blood, Lu Ye and Hua Ci stood side by side, but his Blood-Treasure Clones had already dispersed. After his cultivation improved, his Blood-Treasure Clones also improved, each reaching the Sun Shiner realm. In such a situation, how could the Formless Palace members possibly resist? However, the reason Lu Ye unfurled the sea of blood was not merely to conveniently slaughter the Formless Palace cultivators, but to search for Mang Dang's whereabouts. There was no trace of Mang Dang's aura here, so Lu Ye suspected he had already perished. Yet, despite searching everywhere, he couldn't find Mang Dang's corpse. It wasn't until his Blood-Treasure Clones questioned several cultivators that he learned Mang Dang had already rallied the cultivators of Five Colors Island to seek refuge on Myriad Manifestations Island before the Formless Palace members arrived.

This guy wasn't dead... he was quite clever! Lu Ye breathed a sigh of relief. From the current situation, it appeared many on Five Colors Island had responded to Mang Dang's call and gone with him to Myriad Manifestations Island, but quite a few still remained. Lu Ye didn't know why these people chose to stay; everyone had their own thoughts, and if they were unwilling, Mang Dang couldn't force them. It was just that many of those who stayed had now suffered terrible fates.