Lu Ye swallowed back the reprimanding words that were about to escape his lips. Holding the warm, soft Yiyi in his arms, he felt her lingering fear and horror, and quickly patted her shoulder gently: "Donât be afraid, donât be afraid, itâs okay now."
"Wuwuwu, that was so scary." Yiyiâs voice was tinged with more sobs, her body trembling even more, yet, not a single tear was shed.
After comforting her for quite a while, Yiyiâs mood gradually calmed down. Nearby, Amber was licking its paws, its tiger-like eyes full of speechlessness.
Still nestled in Lu Yeâs embrace, Yiyi was pulled forward by her shoulders and placed in front of him with a serious expression on his face: "Now you see how dangerous it is out there, right!"
Yiyi wiped away nonexistent tears from the corners of her eyes, nodding like a little chick pecking at rice, feeling wronged: "I know!"
Lu Ye was just about to say, since you know, then obediently go back! After all, they hadnât been away from the All Phenomena Ocean for long, and it wouldnât take more than a few days to send Yiyi back.
But before he could open his mouth, Yiyi interjected: "Donât worry, Lu Ye, Iâll definitely stay close to you!"
Saying this, she happily wrapped herself around Lu Yeâs arm, showing no signs of leaving his side.
Lu Yeâs eyelid twitched... something felt a little off!
He had long known Yiyi was following him, otherwise, he wouldnât be moving so slowly. If he really wanted to shake her off, he could simply speed up a little, and Amber wouldnât be able to keep up with him.
He thought that after experiencing this danger, Yiyi would change her mind, but unexpectedly, that wasnât the case at all.
However... Lu Ye gave her a surprised look and extracted his arm from her grasp: "Youâve grown up, donât act like a child!"
"I like it!" Yiyi huffed and grabbed Lu Yeâs arm again.
Lu Ye felt helpless.
Feeling his mood, Yiyiâs eyes turned into crescent moons.
In this situation, trying to send Yiyi back seemed impossible. Even if he did successfully leave her behind, it would only expose her to unnecessary risk. If they encountered a situation like before again, who could guarantee Yiyi would come through it safely?
With no other choice, Lu Ye once again summoned his starboat and took Yiyi aboard.
Yiyi cheered exuberantly, unable to contain herself as she leaped up, cupping Lu Yeâs face and planting a big kiss on his cheek: "I knew Lu Ye is the best!"
Lu Ye touched the spot where she kissed and was momentarily stunned before his face turned serious: "Donât be too happy too soon. Youâre coming along on this journey, but whether you can enter the Soul Race ancestral land will be decided later!"
If possible, he wanted to visit the Soul Race ancestral land himself, but according to Lih Shang, the place was quite special, allowing only Soul Race members to enter. Beings like Lu Ye, with a flesh and blood body, could not enter at all.
Thatâs one of the reasons why the Soul Race ancestral land had remained unscathed throughout the ages.
No flesh and blood could enter, making the Soul Race ancestral land nearly impregnable. Moreover, the Soul Race had no shortage of strong warriors, their foundation was strong enough to rival any top-level domain.
Currently, the only option was to keep Yiyi by his side and reassess the situation later.
Yiyi seemed indifferent, having already detected the contradiction in Lu Yeâs words. By the time they reached the Soul Race ancestral land, if she snuck inside, how could Lu Ye possibly pull her out?
On the starboat, Lu Ye sat cross-legged, with Yiyi leaning against him.
Once they reached the Soul Race ancestral land and parted ways, who knew when theyâd meet again, so Yiyi cherished these rare moments immensely.
Half a month later, the entrance to an Insect Path appeared in the distance, adjacent to it was a floating land with several palace-like structures built on it.
This seemed to be the post crafted by the cultivators of the Cangyue Galaxy.
A Moon Jade cultivator must be stationed here, and cultivators entering and exiting this Insect Path had to undergo inspections, on both sides.
So to enter the Cangyue Galaxy, one needed the approval of the stationed Moon Jade cultivators here. Usually, it wasnât a problem as Cangyue Galaxyâs cultivators would use other peopleâs Insect Paths to enter other star systems. If everyone blocked outsiders from entering through their paths, interactions between star systems would be impossible.
This wasnât like when Lu Ye led the fleet from the Three Worlds and four galaxies, that was an enormous scale; passing through with just a few Constellation cultivators was generally no issue.
Arriving at the floating land, Lu Ye retracted the spirit ark.
Instantly, a mid-stage Constellation cultivator, a man from the Cangyue Galaxy, sensed the disturbance and came out from one of the palaces to greet them.
The stationed Moon Jade experts likely werenât many, but there needed to be others around to handle minor tasks. Usually, Constellation cultivators assigned to assist the home galaxyâs Moon Jade in such locations had a bit of a background, because working in this kind of place not only offered generous monthly pay but also opportunities to earn some perks.
This mid-stage Constellation cultivator was portly, with big ears, and looked incredibly endearing.
Lu Ye immediately thought of Pang Dahai from Bingzhou. Generally speaking, people like this are not hard to approach, as long as the benefits are in place!
The plump cultivator stepped forward and clasped his hands in salute: "Greetings Fellow Daoist. I wonder why youâve come here today?"
Lu Ye returned the salute and said, "I wish to borrow your Star Systemâs Insect Path. Please grant me passage!"
The plump cultivator narrowed his eyes, "Borrowing the path... itâs quite common, but I must ask for Fellow Daoistâs understanding. We need to do some registration here, so I must inquire about a few matters!"
As he said this, he directly took out a jade slip, ready to register.
"Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist!" Lu Ye knew this was standard procedure. Even if Cangyue didnât care about a Constellation stage cultivator entering, some things still needed to be checked.
The plump cultivator immediately asked Lu Ye some questions, such as his origin, where he currently resided in the All Phenomena Ocean, and his purpose for entering the Cangyue Galaxy.
Lu Ye answered each question. His origin was hard to verify, so he announced himself as Lu Yiye of Unparalleled, and the plump cultivator could only record it. As for his purpose, Lu Ye stated it was simply to borrow the path and pass through the Cangyue Galaxy to reach another star system.
These matters also couldnât be thoroughly investigated, as Cangyue wouldnât assign someone to follow Lu Ye until he left.
So the registration here was merely a formality, which was also due to Lu Yeâs cultivation level not being high. If it were Moon Jade or Sun Blaze, the treatment would be different.
The real main issue came next. The plump cultivator smiled at Lu Ye, "Fellow Daoist should know the rules, two people and one beast, so..." he said, rubbing his fingers.
Lu Ye asked, "How much is the fee?"
The plump cultivator replied, "Itâs calculated per head, one thousand spirit jade per person!"
A bit expensive!
But itâs understandable because when a cultivator enters anotherâs star system, they can gather spirit jade there. If the home galaxyâs spirit jade is being taken away, itâs natural to charge a fee.
Although Lu Ye didnât have much spirit jade on hand, he still had one or two million, so spending three thousand spirit jade was an easy decision.
Indeed, such chubby fellows are generally quite greedy. As long as the spirit jade is in place, anything can be discussed. But if itâs not, who knows what kind of trouble youâd face.
After collecting the spirit jade, the plump cultivator promptly took out a Token: "Fellow Daoist, just take this in. However, I must remind you of the rules: within the Cangyue Galaxy, you must not gather spirit jade!"
Though thatâs what was said, if Lu Ye really did gather it without being caught, no one would know. So most cultivators entering anotherâs star system wouldnât take these reminders too seriously.
"Is that all?" Lu Ye took the Token, initially thinking he might have to meet with the stationed Moon Jade, but unexpectedly, a single Constellation stage cultivator handled it, and he didnât even enter their main hall.
"It wasnât a troublesome matter anyway." The plump cultivator chuckled and saluted again, "I wish Fellow Daoist a smooth journey!"
"Thank you!" Lu Ye expressed his gratitude and proceeded towards the Insect Path with Amber and Yiyi.
Watching Lu Ye depart, the plump cultivatorâs grin widened. He was truly pleased to have pocketed three thousand spirit jade! Even if he had to share some with a few other brothers, each would still receive several hundred. Such good fortune of having spirit jade sent to your door can only happen here; it doesnât exist elsewhere.
Soon, Lu Ye and his companions arrived at the Insect Path. Sensing it, this path was quite stable, meaning traveling through it wouldnât have any aftereffects.
This reminded Lu Ye of the Insect Path by Jade Conch. It could be confirmed that path connected to the All Phenomena Galaxy, but because it had only recently emerged, it hadnât yet stabilized. Back then, without the help of the Void Beastâs core, he and Tang Jun would never have made it through.
Who knows how long it would take for that path to stabilize? Once it does, cultivators from Jade Conch would find it much easier to travel to the All Phenomena Galaxy, no longer needing to struggle for years.
Even the four galaxies could benefit. Taking the Insect Path from Jade Conch into the All Phenomena Galaxy would be much preferable compared to traveling through Mist Dragon and borrowing Changyunâs path, saving a lot of time alone.
However, not every Insect Path stabilizes. Some remain chaotic and unusable, some even collapse again. So whether Jade Conchâs path can be used, or when it can be used, depends entirely on fate, beyond human control.
Passing through the Insect Path, they reached the Cangyue Galaxy, where there was also a piece of floating land.
Upon their appearance, cultivators came to greet them and checked the Token Lu Ye had spent three thousand spirit jade on. Once confirmed, they were directly allowed through.
Deploying the starboat and guided by Lih Shang, Lu Ye headed in a certain direction.
How to reach the Soul Race ancestral land remained a mystery to Lu Ye since Lih Shang hadnât explained in detail, only telling him he would know when the time came.
Moreover, the route given by Lih Shang only led to the Cangyue Galaxy, prompting Lu Ye to wonder if the Soul Race ancestral land was actually in the Cangyue Galaxy?
But if that were the case, why hadnât the Cangyue Galaxy discovered it?
Despite pondering it over and over, he couldnât figure it out and decided to confirm the specifics when the time came.