Chapter 2008: Preparation

How could a renowned top realm like Purple Radiance suddenly deploy troops against another realm without sufficient benefit? What puzzled Luan Xiao'e even more was how Purple Radiance could have known the correct route to Emerald Snail. It was Lu Ye who had led them through numerous hardships to forge the path from Emerald Snail to the Myriad Manifestations Sea years ago. If Purple Radiance didn't know the correct route, it would have been impossible for them to dispatch troops to Emerald Snail, yet they did.

"Years ago, some Constellations from this island went missing. Several of them fell into Yuan Du's hands, and he used soul-searching techniques..." Lu Ye slowly recounted the full story. Black Cloud's journey to Emerald Snail was instigated by Yuan Du, and also driven by his own self-interest. The Purple Radiance realm had suffered heavy losses in the conflict with Three Realms Island, and Black Cloud had lost face. However, neither Black Cloud nor Yuan Du anticipated that Black Cloud would discover something else of interest after arriving in the Nine Provinces. This led to the current situation of Purple Radiance sending troops to Emerald Snail.

Lu Ye broadly understood Black Cloud's intentions: he likely sought to find the Dragon Tree's legacy. Therefore, he personally acted in the Myriad Manifestations Sea while simultaneously having Purple Radiance besiege and conquer the Nine Provinces, ensuring that the Dragon Tree's legacy, wherever it was, would not escape his grasp. His plan was clever, but man proposes, God disposes; ultimately, he met his demise.

Upon hearing this, Luan Xiao'e's face flushed with anger: "That old dog Yuan Du truly deserves his death!" Tracing back, there was no direct conflict between Three Realms Island and Yuan Du; in fact, the island had once intended to pay homage to him. However, Yuan Du disdained the Three Realms cultivators and instead wished to support the Hundred Yue to occupy Three Realms Island. This led to a series of escalating conflicts, until this final encounter, where he even personally intervened.

After a curse, Luan Xiao'e grew worried: "Purple Radiance is powerful, Emerald Snail is completely defenseless. Junior Brother, what should we do?" In her understanding, the entire Emerald Snail Star System didn't even have a single Sun-drenched cultivator. With Purple Radiance targeting them, what power could they possibly have to resist? She wished she could sprout wings and fly back to Emerald Snail immediately. Even though she had just advanced to Sun-drenched and might be no match for Purple Radiance's army, she would fight to the death to defend her homeland.

"Don't be nervous, Senior Sister. I have my arrangements. For now, just rest and regain your strength. Emerald Snail will be fine." Strangely, while anger, nervousness, and worry for her homeland had filled Luan Xiao'e after hearing about Purple Radiance's invasion, Lu Ye's words suddenly made those anxieties vanish. They were replaced by an ineffable sense of calm, as if Emerald Snail would certainly be fine just because Lu Ye said so.

"I understand." Luan Xiao'e nodded and quickly withdrew. Lu Ye telling her to regain her strength meant he would need her help in the future.

Lu Ye stood still, contemplating for a moment, then suddenly turned his head to look in one direction. Hua Ci stood quietly at the cliff edge, her beautiful eyes gazing deeply at the endless sea. Sensing his gaze, Hua Ci turned her head. Their eyes met, and she nodded to Lu Ye from a distance, revealing a gentle smile. There were no further gestures. In the past, this would have been impossible, but Hua Ci was like this now. Lu Ye blinked, disinclined to bother with her. He had other matters to attend to and no time for a battle of wits with her. He could deal with her later, after he was done with his current tasks. He shifted his form and vanished.

A short while later, Lu Ye appeared in Chu Shen's pavilion. The two brothers sat down, Chu Shen's face filled with worry: "Big Brother, my current situation is a bit awkward. What will become of us in the future?" On the entire Three Realms Island, besides Chu Shen himself, who wasn't from the Emerald Snail Star System, there was a group of cultivators who had followed him from the Cheling Realm years ago. At that time, Three Realms Island had nominally paid homage to Nine Colors, and the Cheling Realm naturally had to show its respect. The way they did this was by sending disciples to reside and cultivate on Three Realms Island. This group wasn't large, and Lu Ye had never treated them unfairly; they received all the same benefits as the Three Realms cultivators. When Yuan Du attacked earlier, this group had evacuated with the Three Realms cultivators to the Merfolk territory. However, upon their return, the Myriad Manifestations Sea had been turned upside down. Even the long-standing dominion that their star system had maintained over this treasured land for tens of thousands of years had been stripped away.

Emotionally, Chu Shen naturally sided with Lu Ye. The two brothers had become friends as Constellations, and their many years of camaraderie were extraordinary. But ultimately, Chu Shen was also a Myriad Manifestations cultivator, backed by the Cheling Realm. The fallout between Three Realms Island and the Myriad Manifestations Star System inevitably affected him. In recent days, he had been restraining the cultivators from his realm, keeping them in their residences and preventing them from going out, fearing conflicts with the Three Realms Island cultivators. If Lu Ye hadn't come to find him, he would have sought Lu Ye out himself; this feeling of being caught in the middle was unbearable.

Lu Ye, of course, understood his meaning and replied, "Don't worry so much. You represent the Cheling Realm, and its stance towards my Three Realms Island is decided by your mother. Your worrying is useless."

Chu Shen said with a pained expression, "That's true, but my mother is also a Myriad Manifestations cultivator. Such a huge event happened while she was away; what will happen when she returns and finds out?" As he spoke, he seemed to recall something and looked at Lu Ye: "Big Brother, let me say this first, don't use that golden light on my mother." His mother was indeed powerful, but he had heard that the golden light was the power of a supreme treasure. No matter how strong his mother was, she certainly couldn't withstand a supreme treasure, and if she were enveloped by the golden light, the outcome would surely not be good. He didn't want to see any conflict between Lu Ye and his mother.

Lu Ye chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't." He paused, his expression turning serious, and said, "Actually, there's something I've always been curious about."

"What is it?" Chu Shen asked.

"The Myriad Manifestations Star System has six large realms, so why were there only five Sun-drenched guardians before?" This seemed somewhat illogical. If benefits were to be shared equally, there should have been six. Yet, the Myriad Manifestations Star System had uniquely excluded the Cheling Realm, with the other five major realms all having Sun-drenched cultivators stationed in the Myriad Manifestations Sea.

Lu Ye hadn't known how strong Nine Colors was before, but after their recent interactions, he vaguely sensed that Nine Colors was no ordinary Sun-drenched cultivator. Her strength might even be among the top in the entire Myriad Manifestations Star System. This was also evident from Yuan Du's chosen timing for his attack; he clearly feared Nine Colors, which was why he only moved against Three Realms Island after she had left. It was even possible that Nine Colors' departure from Three Realms Island was not unrelated to him; he might have used some method to lure her away. Why had such a powerful individual never been a Sun-drenched guardian of the Myriad Manifestations Sea?

Chu Shen was not foolish. When Lu Ye asked this, he generally understood what Lu Ye meant. After some thought, he said, "Big Brother, some things I only heard Aunt Yue casually mention a few times, so they might not be accurate. My mother never tells me too much, so..."

"I understand!" Lu Ye nodded.

Chu Shen pondered for a moment and said, "Here's the thing: our star system indeed only had five major realms before. The Cheling Realm rose later with my mother's emergence. You've been to the Cheling Realm; it's very small, and there aren't many people. Without my mother's renown, such a realm wouldn't actually be of much value."

Lu Ye nodded.

"During her rise, Mother gradually made a name for herself, drawing the attention of the Sun-drenched cultivators in our star system. I don't know the exact events that transpired, but I heard Aunt Yue say that after Mother advanced to Moon-drenched, she left our star system to explore. Then, one day, she suddenly returned as a Sun-drenched cultivator, becoming an equal to the other Sun-drenched cultivators in our star system. However, for all these years, our realm has maintained a distant relationship with the other realms, with not many close interactions, and my Cheling Realm has always been in a semi-closed state."

Less than half a day later, Lu Ye left Chu Shen. Lu Ye couldn't care less about the attitudes of the other Sun-drenched cultivators in the Myriad Manifestations Star System; after all, he now called the shots in the Myriad Manifestations Sea! However, Nine Colors was the one he couldn't disregard. Nine Colors had provided him considerable help, especially in the early development of Three Realms Island. Without the presence of Cheling Realm cultivators, Three Realms Island wouldn't be what it was today. Since she had shown him kindness, Lu Ye naturally couldn't be ungrateful. He hadn't brought Little Gourd to those realms to annihilate Yuan Se and the others, partly out of consideration for Nine Colors' reputation. It was one thing to kill Yuan Du and his group when they were enemies, but truly attacking their realms would be equivalent to trampling Nine Colors' dignity. Lu Ye certainly wouldn't do such a thing.

Nine Colors was absent now, but she would eventually return, and not too late. The changes in the Myriad Manifestations Sea were too significant, and news would spread quickly. Therefore, no matter where Nine Colors had gone, she would undoubtedly rush back as soon as she received the news. So Lu Ye needed to first figure out what Nine Colors' attitude would likely be. After a thorough discussion with Chu Shen, he had some idea. Chu Shen didn't say much, but Lu Ye subtly gathered that there seemed to be some tension between Nine Colors and Yuan Se, and her relationships with the other major realms were also not particularly good. Only Mu Qing could converse with her a bit. So, if they were lucky, Three Realms Island shouldn't have to face Nine Colors in battle. After all, he wasn't the one who initiated the conflict; everything he did was a forced counterattack. It was just that the force of the counterattack was... a little bit too strong, exceeding what the enemy could bear.

Returning to his own pavilion, Lu Ye sat down cross-legged. After carefully considering everything Chu Shen had said and confirming there were no major issues, he extended his hand. A treasure gourd appeared in his palm. It was none other than the Sword Gourd, which he hadn't used in a long time. Since acquiring this personal treasure, it had indeed provided Lu Ye with considerable help. Years ago, in the Nine Provinces, he had adopted the alias Li Taibai, relying on this treasure's power. During that time, he had been a carefree sword cultivator, earning a significant reputation that the Myriad Devil Ridge highly valued.