In the midst of distress, his expression suddenly shifted, and he swiftly darted in a particular direction.

No other reason but Jiu Yan’s summoning; he wondered what it might be about.

A moment later, within the Spirit Jade Vein, Lu Ye bowed and greeted, "I have seen Senior."

Jiu Yan was still seated in cultivation as she had been last time, but she did not make Lu Ye wait. She directly asked, "Have you given thought to the matter from last time?"

"What?" Lu Ye was momentarily confused. The matter from last time... was it about Zhu Yuan?

Soon, he realized Jiu Yan was referring to the matter of taking him in as a disciple.

This left him unsure of how to respond, as he hadn’t considered it at all. But to refuse directly seemed inappropriate.

"It seems you’re unwilling!" Jiu Yan hummed lightly, already seeing his inner thoughts.

Lu Ye apologized, "Please forgive me, Senior. It’s just that..."

"There’s no need to say more. If you’re unwilling, I won’t force it," Jiu Yan interrupted, seemingly annoyed. "However, your cultivation seems to have made significant progress."

Lu Ye replied quickly, "I’ve gained some insights from recent closed-door cultivation."

Jiu Yan said, "Moon Jade and Sun Blaze are separated by just one step, yet in reality, they are worlds apart. Crossing over leads to a new realm, but failing means a life of stagnation. You are at this critical juncture now, so remember to be humble and avoid impatience. Refrain from conflict and be cautious of injuries."

"Yes," Lu Ye responded, suddenly wondering if he had misunderstood Jiu Yan. She didn’t seem to harbor any aversion toward him, her words clearly showed a senior’s care for a junior.

"I heard you’re searching for treasures to enhance Magic Source quality?" Jiu Yan switched topics abruptly.

On Three Worlds Island, efforts have been relentless to reward such treasures, so Jiu Yan naturally heard of it.

"Indeed," Lu Ye’s expression shifted. "Senior, do you have a lead?"

Jiu Yan did not answer directly, only saying, "While a higher Magic Source quality is better, each person has their limits. So, having an adequate Magic Source quality is sufficient; excessive pursuit is unnecessary."

Lu Ye naturally understood this reasoning.

The main function of Magic Source is to convert spirit force refined into the body into mana during a cultivator’s cultivation, a feature unique to those above Moon Jade.

If a cultivator’s efficiency in refining spirit force is limited, then even a high-quality Magic Source holds no meaning, as there isn’t enough spirit force to be converted.

So, truly, Magic Source quality should just be adequate...

But Lu Ye wanted more than just adequacy; he sought to polish his Magic Source to Perfection, a matter he couldn’t elaborate to Jiu Yan. He could only reply dutifully, "I understand, Senior."

"As long as you understand," Jiu Yan said, snapping her fingers, and a small object flew toward him.

Lu Ye instinctively caught it, and before he could inspect it, Jiu Yan’s voice resounded, "Go now, cultivate diligently, and attain breakthrough soon."

Lu Ye blinked and then bowed out.

Upon exiting the Spirit Jade Vein and returning to his residence, Lu Ye finally had the chance to examine the item Jiu Yan had given him—a storage ring. And when he checked the contents, he was bewildered yet thrilled.

Inside the ring lay no less than eight treasures for enhancing Magic Source quality. If calculated by the Asura Field’s standards, these treasures were worth at least an Asura Seal.

What does Jiu Yan mean by this?

She summoned him to advise restraint, seeming to dissuade him from wasting energy and time on Magic Source quality, yet handed him these treasures...

Lu Ye was somewhat puzzled and couldn’t understand why.

As a Sun Blaze, especially a long-lived old guard, keeping such treasures was normal, but... why give them to him?

What Lu Ye couldn’t understand was this point.

They should be needed by Aunt Yue, not to mention, Chu Shen recently advanced to Moon Jade, he also needed them; why did Jiu Yan give them to him?

Thinking about it, Lu Ye concluded there’s only one explanation: both Aunt Yue and Chu Shen have adequate Magic Source quality, those treasures in Jiu Yan’s possession were surplus, and she knew about his search for such treasures on Three Worlds Island, so she effortlessly gifted them to him.

Regardless, Jiu Yan’s gift was precisely what Lu Ye longed for, and he silently noted this favor.

Currently, the power and status disparity is too vast for talk of reciprocation; it’ll be deferred to the future.

After refining these treasures with delight, Lu Ye keenly sensed an unusual change in his Magic Source, as if it was nearly reaching Perfection!

He carefully perceived and confirmed it wasn’t an illusion; his Magic Source was indeed close to Perfection.

This brought him great joy, indicating some discrepancies between his previous estimation and actual developments.

As per the current situation, we only need two or three more treasures on our side.

Two or three treasures... that’s really not much. If luck is on our side, it might be accomplished in a single stroke, and even if it’s not, it should be hopeful within two or three years.

Now, my cultivation is sufficient, and I have met all the requirements to break through to Sun Blaze. All that’s left is to condense the Qi Flower, and then I can ascend in one move.

Lu Ye was in great spirits and looking forward to it eagerly.

In the Governor’s short-stay palace of All Phenomena Island,

A gust of demon wind swept through, and Black Cloud appeared.

Yuan Du sensed it and immediately went out to meet him. Upon seeing the figure Black Cloud was holding, he nodded slightly and said, "Fellow Daoist Black Cloud’s speed is indeed impressive, catching him so quickly."

Black Cloud tossed the figure he was holding onto the ground in front: "It’s just capturing a Moon Jade, what’s the trouble in that?"

Despite the words, this Moon Jade wasn’t caught casually. The figure lying on the ground was tall, with skin exposed in blood-red color, and ears that were pointed, clearly of the Blood Race!

At this moment, this Blood Race Moon Jade seemed to have been placed under Black Cloud’s restriction, unable to move, with a face full of fear and unease.

"So what do we do next?" Black Cloud looked at Yuan Du and asked, with a very grim expression.

Previously, not only did Zixuan suffer heavy losses, he himself went on a wild goose chase to the Nine Provinces, which ended with his magic body of three thousand years being lost over there. Such a great enmity, how could he not avenge?

Moreover, unlike Yuan Du, he recognized the Nine Provinces and still had in mind the stellar space supreme treasure, the Dao Tree.

His magic body didn’t find any clue of the Dao Tree over in the Nine Provinces. Coupled with the intelligence he had gathered on Lu Ye prior, he boldly speculated whether Lu Ye already obtained the Dao Tree legacy; otherwise, how else would his cultivation advance so rapidly?

This was a significant suspicion, and since it was a suspicion, it couldn’t be ignored.

And with such a hypothesis, he naturally aimed to come to the All Phenomena Ocean, solely to capture Lu Ye!

In this matter, he and Yuan Du shared similar interests. The difference was, Yuan Du was simply seeking to assert his own authority and get a nagging frustration off his chest, while he had further designs.

The collaboration with Yuan Du was a matter of necessity.

To capture Lu Ye at the All Phenomena Ocean side, bypassing the All Phenomena Star System was not feasible; thus, he had no choice but to cooperate and join forces with Yuan Du. With Yuan Du’s involvement, the resistance would be significantly reduced.

He had no other demands, only that Lu Ye be handed over for him to deal with at that time. His explanation to Yuan Du was that he wanted to avenge the fallen Zixuan demon cultivator and take him back to Zixuan Demon Planet to sacrifice to the Demon God.

Yuan Du suspected nothing and agreed to this matter since, to him, as long as he could capture Three Worlds Island and open the passage to the Merfolk Race’s territory, it didn’t matter if Lu Ye was handed over to Black Cloud. He believed Black Cloud wouldn’t let Lu Ye survive.

Furthermore, Zixuan did suffer significant losses because of him, and Yuan Du knew if he wanted to maintain his relationship with Zixuan, he couldn’t refuse even this minor request from Black Cloud.

Both had their own agendas, naturally coming to a seamless agreement.

And judging from their standpoint, with two Sun Blaze cultivators joining forces to conspire against a Moon Jade and the top-class Spirit Island behind him, it was as easy as snapping a finger—no unexpected occurrences could happen.

Six months ago, Black Cloud had already visited once, reaching some verbal agreements with Yuan Du, then Yuan Du asked him to capture a Blood Race member. Black Cloud didn’t know his intention, but since it was cooperation, he didn’t refuse.

He painstakingly captured a Moon Jade from a Blood Race domain, despite being chased for a month by several Sun Blaze cultivators.

"Next, we just need to wait," Yuan Du smiled slightly, with an expression of confidence.

Once Jiu Yan leaves Three Worlds Island, he can proceed with peace of mind because Jiu Yan still made him cautious over there.

As for how to make Jiu Yan leave Three Worlds Island, he had been devising a plan for a long time, confident that the news should reach Jiu Yan’s ears in no time.

Day by day passed.

On this day, at the local island cultivator’s garrison area on Three Worlds Island, a group of people sat cross-legged around Lu Ye’s bamboo house, surrounding him in the central position.

He was unable to advance his cultivation, found no suitable treasure to refine the quality of his Magic Source, and seemed to have nothing to do. Disinclined to get involved in the operation of Three Worlds Island, he casually spread the word that anyone with questions about cultivation could come to him at any time.

He intended to help local island cultivators resolve some cultivation puzzles to aid in their growth, but after spreading the word, many people sought him for clarifications daily.

Gradually, more people gathered, eventually building up to the current scale.

People seeking him weren’t solely from the Qingli Dao World and Jade Conch World; a significant number of seniors from the Nine Provinces also came, including the sect master, who asked him several questions.

Lu Ye answered each one carefully, allowing many cultivators to gain substantial insights.

While it was lively at this side, Lu Ye suddenly noticed something, turning his head in a certain direction with a puzzled expression.

Half a day later, when the crowd dispersed, Lu Ye sought out Chu Shen: "Why did Senior Jiu Yan suddenly leave?"

He clearly sensed Jiu Yan’s aura flicker then disappear earlier, suggesting he had left Three Worlds Island.