Chapter 2034: Nine Faces Summon

During Lu Ye's absence, Sanjie Island had been managed by Huaci. However, she ultimately lacked experience and her energy was limited, often leaving her overwhelmed.

Now that Old Tang had returned, he naturally took over the management of Sanjie Island. Huaci was immediately unburdened. She pulled Yiyi aside, chatting and laughing, but as they continued, her expression turned wistful, and she looked as if she was about to cry...

Inside the Spirit Jade Vein, Lu Ye visited Mabin. His injuries had not yet healed, and he was still recuperating, so they only chatted briefly.

Leaving the Spirit Jade Vein, Lu Ye headed straight for Wanxiang Island.

A little over half a day later, he arrived at Wanxiang Island. Releasing his spiritual sense, Lu Ye quietly marveled. It was indeed Wanxiang Island; even after such a major upheaval, its popularity remained undiminished. Countless cultivators moved in and out, especially around the Wanxiang Chamber of Commerce, which was the most bustling and prosperous area.

However, remembering that he would receive half of Wanxiang Island's future profits, his mood immediately brightened. The more prosperous the island was, the greater Sanjie Island's revenue would be.

Jiuyan had done well! In such a short time, she had restored Wanxiang Island to its former state. Lu Ye was increasingly convinced that his decision at the time had been correct; if Wanxiang Island had not been entrusted to Jiuyan, a cultivator from this star system, but to anyone else, it would not have recovered so quickly.

A wave of spiritual sense extended from a certain direction on Wanxiang Island. Lu Ye immediately understood that Jiuyan had detected his arrival and was guiding him towards her.

His figure flickered as he flew in that direction.

A short while later, in the Spirit Jade Vein of Wanxiang Island, Lu Ye once again saw Jiuyan's familiar figure.

"Senior Sister!" Lu Ye greeted with a bow.

"No need for formalities," Jiuyan said. Beneath her veiled, indistinct face, her gaze fixed on Lu Ye. After only a brief glance, she was slightly surprised, for she noticed a change in Lu Ye's aura.

It wasn't that he had become significantly stronger; rather, it was a profound self-confidence in his own strength. She couldn't help but feel surprised, wondering what had happened to Lu Ye recently.

"Sit," Jiuyan said.

Not far in front of her was a meditation cushion. Lu Ye did not stand on ceremony, crossing his legs and sitting down. He looked around for a moment, then sighed with admiration, "As expected of Wanxiang Island, the scale of this Spirit Jade Vein is much larger than Sanjie Island's."

A larger Spirit Jade Vein meant a greater output of spirit jade, and for Sun-Glow realm cultivators like Jiuyan, the more benefits they could gain from cultivating within it.

Previously, only the five Sun-Glow realm guardians were qualified to enter here, but now, only Jiuyan could.

"Legend has it that Wanxiang Island is the first spirit island in Wanxiang Sea, so it naturally has some extraordinary aspects," Jiuyan said slowly. "If Junior Brother regrets it, I can return Wanxiang Island to you."

Lu Ye smiled, "Senior Sister, what are you saying? Since there was an agreement, we should naturally act according to it. Besides, Sanjie Island now possesses more than one top-tier spirit island; why would we need so many?"

Jiuyan was left speechless by his words. For any realm, a top-tier spirit island was an extremely important resource; who would ever complain about having too many? Yet Sanjie Island seemed to disdain them.

Not wishing to discuss the matter further, Jiuyan changed the subject. "I heard that your forces launched an attack on a certain star system this time?"

Indeed, such rumors existed on Wanxiang Sea. It wasn't that Jiuyan was speaking idly; many people had personally witnessed Sanjie Island mobilizing troops and warships departing that day.

"Pure fabrication!" Lu Ye denied flatly. "We merely returned to defend our homeland. How could we be attacking others? Our Sanjie Island cultivators are peaceful people, always gentle, kind, respectful, and frugal, never actively causing trouble!"

Jiuyan's eyelid twitched. Ignoring his boasting, she asked in confusion, "Defending your homeland? Are you saying that the wormhole you used leads to your home realm, and you encountered trouble there?"

"Yes!" Lu Ye did not hide it. "The star system we come from is called Yuluo Star System. Previously, the Ten Great Demon Venerables of Zixuan led tens of thousands of troops to invade our star system, so we went back and fought them."

Jiuyan was stunned. "How did this get linked to Zixuan again?"

"It was all Black Cloud and Yuandu!" Lu Ye said with indignation. "Years ago, Yuandu captured several Star-Constellation realm cultivators from Sanjie Island and used a Soul-Searching Secret Art to discover the location of our star system. He then led Black Cloud there for revenge. However, Black Cloud suffered a great defeat in our star system and, feeling resentful, invited the Zixuan army to invade. When I learned this news earlier, I immediately led people back to reinforce."

Jiuyan was dazed for a long moment before recovering. "And the result?"

Even with her Sun-Glow realm composure, her curiosity was piqued, and she eagerly wanted to know the outcome of this battle. However, since Lu Ye had returned safely, she presumed Zixuan had been repelled.

"From Sun-Glow realm cultivators down to Star-Constellation realm, all of Zixuan's forces were annihilated without exception!" Lu Ye said casually.

Jiuyan's heart trembled at his words. She stared fixedly at Lu Ye, for a moment unsure whether to believe him!

With the strength Sanjie Island had sent back, facing such a Zixuan army, there was ostensibly no room for resistance. Jiuyan had originally thought it would be sheer luck if Sanjie Island could repel Zixuan. Who knew Lu Ye would claim to have annihilated the entire Zixuan army? Tens of thousands of demon cultivators were one thing, but the key was the Ten Great Demon Venerables!

"As far as I know... your Sanjie Island's spatial supreme treasure has always remained on Wanxiang Sea," Jiuyan said slowly. The implication was clear: without the aid of a spatial supreme treasure, how could Yuluo have annihilated such an army from Zixuan?

"Little Gourd indeed remained on Wanxiang Sea," Lu Ye said with a slight, enigmatic smile. "But our Yuluo Star System is not a soft persimmon that can be easily bullied."

Jiuyan gazed at him, completely unable to discern if he was telling the truth. If it were true, it would be too exaggerated and defy reality. But if it were false, there was no reason for Lu Ye to lie to her about such a matter; it would be meaningless. Moreover, with Zixuan's losses being so immense, one could easily find out the truth with a little inquiry.

"It seems your Yuluo has deep waters," Jiuyan said meaningfully.

Lu Ye smiled without replying, then changed the subject. "By the way, Senior Sister, what important matter did you summon me for?"

"Yitian Island!" Jiuyan said. "Someone from Yitian Star contacted me, wanting to pay a price to redeem Yitian Island."

Any top-tier spirit island was a strategic resource for the top-tier realm that occupied it, not to be easily lost. During the previous battle on Wanxiang Sea, Yitian Island was originally uninvolved. However, Shenyun, relying on his Heavenly Net Umbrella for protection, disdained Sanjie Island and tried to snatch chestnuts from the fire, only to have his Heavenly Net Umbrella shattered by a golden beam from Little Gourd, resulting in his instant death.

This directly led to the loss of Yitian Island.

Yitian Star naturally wanted to redeem it from Sanjie Island, and there was a precedent for this: years ago, after Sanjie Island captured Zixuan, Zixuan later paid a price to redeem it.

The reason they sought out Jiuyan was clearly because they saw that her relationship with Sanjie Island was extraordinary; otherwise, Wanxiang Island would not have been entrusted to her management.

"Oh?" Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. "What price can they offer?"

Jiuyan replied, "They are willing to pay the same price that Zixuan paid back then!"

"They must be dreaming!" Lu Ye scoffed.

Back then, they were willing to let Zixuan redeem it, firstly because Lu Ye wanted to kill Lionheart, which was a condition of the deal. Secondly, at that time, Sanjie Island did not yet have the confidence to fully offend a top-tier realm. Moreover, a hundred billion spirit jade was a huge fortune for Sanjie Island back then.

But times had changed; what was a hundred billion spirit jade worth now? Yitian Star wanted to redeem a top-tier spirit island for such a small price, and Lu Ye naturally wouldn't agree.

Furthermore, Shenyun had died by Lu Ye's hand, and his Heavenly Net Umbrella had been destroyed, establishing a deep-seated enmity. Allowing them to redeem Yitian Island, even if it meant paying a huge price, would be aiding the enemy.

There was no way that letting them redeem Yitian Island would make the previous grievances disappear.

"What is Senior Sister's relationship with Yitian Star?" Lu Ye asked again.

Jiuyan replied indifferently, "Someone merely found me and entrusted me to convey a message, nothing more."

"Then I understand," Lu Ye nodded. If Jiuyan had come forward to intercede, he would have found it difficult, but merely conveying a message was not something to be overly concerned about.

Putting that matter aside, Lu Ye spoke again. "Senior Sister, I intend to establish interconnected teleportation arrays among the four top-tier spirit islands: Sanjie Island, Wanxiang Island, Zixuan Island, and Yitian Island. What are your thoughts?"

Wanxiang Sea was vast. With his current Sun-Glow realm cultivation, traveling between major spirit islands was, of course, convenient, but he hadn't forgotten the arduous journey during his Star-Constellation realm days, often taking ten, twenty, or even more days to travel from one spirit island to another.

However, with teleportation arrays, it would be much more convenient.

These four top-tier spirit islands were now all considered Sanjie Island's property. With teleportation arrays connecting them, not only would travel be convenient in the future, but if anything happened to one island, the other three could quickly provide support.

Teleportation arrays were not absent on Wanxiang Sea, but they were generally only connected between closely related spirit islands and were not widespread.

Because teleportation arrays had both advantages and disadvantages. If they were exploited by those with ill intentions, they could be used to directly strike at the heart of a realm. Therefore, if relationships were not close enough, the construction of teleportation arrays would not be allowed.

"You can make the decision; I have no objections to this matter," Jiuyan replied. Nominally, she was now the master of Wanxiang Island, but she clearly understood the actual situation. Lu Ye had asked her to manage Wanxiang Island primarily because he valued her identity as a Sun-Glow realm cultivator of Wanxiang.

Moreover, the benefits of managing Wanxiang Island were too great for her to refuse, so their relationship was one of cooperation.

Now that Lu Ye intended to construct teleportation arrays, how could she have any objections?

"Then many thanks, Senior Sister," Lu Ye said, expressing his gratitude. "I will arrange this matter later."

After speaking with Jiuyan for a while longer, Lu Ye then took his leave.

Returning to Sanjie Island, Lu Ye found Old Tang and informed him about the plan to build teleportation arrays, assigning him responsibility for the task. Old Tang immediately pulled a long face: "This old man should have stayed in Yuluo to retire!" Building teleportation arrays was no easy feat.

"The capable ones do more work," Lu Ye said, reassuring him. He then added, "Oh, and find some people to spread the word about our battle between Yuluo and Zixuan. Be careful with the details and don't make it too obvious!"