Chapter 415 - 404: The Seagull Sails, Formation Dao Breakthrough
"A pity..."
"Villains are at work." A cold glint flashed in Su Ye’s eyes.
After the incident with the Liangyi Immortal Jade, Su Ye’s vigilance toward the Chu Family had reached its peak.
To avoid any of the Chu Family’s disgusting, underhanded tricks along the way, Su Ye chose to hide his identity and travel to the Sulfur Strait on his own.
The Wanlong Commerce Association could only reluctantly agree to this.
’My whereabouts are unknown to anyone.’
’I even chose this ship, the Seagull, at random from hundreds of spirit vessels... This should reduce external factors to a minimum.’
’The only consequence is that it will take a little longer.’
’But that doesn’t affect me at all!’
The Wanlong Commerce Association’s requirement for Su Ye was simply that he arrive within three months.
It was, one might say, a very generous amount of time!
’Perfect. During this time, I can...’
Su Ye muttered to himself.
Besides nurturing the God Seed,
Su Ye had another project that required time and research.
—The art of Arrays!
Su Ye put away the Token.
He took out an old bronze Array Plate that exuded an ancient aura and closed his eyes to study it.
This bronze Array Plate was a gift from the Wanlong Commerce Association. Sealed within it was the true meaning of the Way of Arrays, left behind by a quasi-Tier Four Array Master!
As he comprehended the true meaning of the Way of Arrays,
a flood of inspiration regarding Arrays poured into Su Ye’s mind.
Su Ye had been engaging in this comprehension for some time and had gained a great deal.
He could feel that his long-stagnant proficiency in the Way of Arrays was about to break through!
Specifically:
—he would become a High-grade Tier Three Array Master!
This was good news for Su Ye.
After all, for this trip to the Narrow Sea, Array proficiency was extremely important.
...
「Over a month later.」
By the window of his guest room,
Su Ye wore a placid expression as he sipped on some fruit juice.
The window was open, and a faint blue membrane of light had appeared, filtering and purifying the strong, acrid, and unbearable stench of sulfur from the sea breeze.
After a month of travel, the Seagull had now entered the Sulfur Strait.
Suddenly,
BOOM!
A tremor shook the ship!
The earth-shattering quake sent a monstrous wave crashing into the Seagull’s protective shield, causing the membrane of light to ripple violently!
The Sulfur Strait was home to numerous underwater volcanoes, its geological structure unstable and frequently active.
Such geothermal activity was nothing out of the ordinary.
In the distance, a strange, crimson-red fluid roiled and flowed across the sea’s surface!
It was lava flowing from an underwater volcano, containing a terrifying, scorching heat that not even Crystallization Realm cultivators would dare to touch carelessly.
But now,
the Seagull was turning and heading straight for this mass of crimson lava!
HISS!
The expected incineration never happened. It was as if the lava didn’t exist at all. Seawater merely splashed!
’The lava is real, but it’s not here!’
Su Ye’s eyes narrowed as he made the judgment in his mind.
The lava’s actual position was in another direction, a spot that looked calm and was supposedly open sea!
An illusionary misdirection!
And an extremely brilliant one at that!
"The Luotian Illusion Array... is it?"
Su Ye muttered to himself.
This kind of illusionary misdirection was, of course, not a natural phenomenon.
It was a super composite Array created by the Flame Alliance at the cost of immense resources and manpower—the Luotian Illusion Array.
"Incredible!" Su Ye exclaimed in admiration.
One shouldn’t underestimate the Luotian Illusion Array just because Su Ye could see through its illusions!
His Divine Sense was at the Tier Four Mid Stage, and it was further assisted by his proficiency as a High-grade Tier Three Array Master—by this point, Su Ye’s Array Master level had already broken through.
How many people in the entire Day Flame Sea Region possessed such a deluxe combination of abilities?
Below the Golden Core Realm, aside from Su Ye, there was likely no one in the Day Flame Sea Region who could see through the Luotian Illusion Array!
With such illusory power in a sea with such treacherous conditions, any number of ordinary cultivators who came here would die!
The Flame Alliance, by relying on the Luotian Illusion Array and the geographical advantages of places like the Sulfur Strait, could fend off an army of a million cultivators with only a small force!
What’s more,
this illusory misdirection was just the tip of the iceberg, a passive ability.
As for its active skills... Su Ye looked up at the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly.
After entering the Sulfur Strait, Su Ye’s keen spiritual perception could faintly sense a heart-pounding sense of crisis from the heavens above!
Presumably, this was the true power of the Luotian Illusion Array!
A power sufficient to kill even him!
Clearly, the target of this power was the Golden Core Perfected Masters of the opposing faction.
Once a Golden Core cultivator capable of seeing through the illusions invaded the sea region, the Golden Core cultivators of the Flame Alliance would activate the Luotian Illusion Array’s might to suppress and kill them!
’No wonder they use this Array as their foundation.’
’Even if the Candle Python Cave and the Dragonmen achieved a great victory, the Flame Alliance can still maintain a stalemate...’
Understanding flashed through Su Ye’s mind.
...
In addition to that,
the Luotian Illusion Array could also lock down the void and prohibit teleportation.
This was precisely why one couldn’t use a Teleportation Array to travel to the Sulfur Strait.
One could only rely on spirit vessels, following special routes provided by the Flame Alliance... and these routes changed periodically, so they couldn’t be memorized!
After a single voyage, the previous route would become completely useless!
Of course, Su Ye could see through the Illusionary Array and travel quickly.
However,
doing so would be quite draining on his Divine Sense.
With so much time to spare, why would Su Ye bother?
Wasn’t it better to ride the Seagull, saving himself the trouble and effort?
As for the Ghostly Flood Dragon,
it could simply switch to its submarine form and follow along beneath the waves.
...
After his promotion to High-grade Tier Three Array Master,
Su Ye had originally wanted to continue his studies.
However,
before long,
the bronze Array Plate that carried the true meaning of the Way of Arrays completely disintegrated.
It turned into a pile of corroded bronze fragments on the floor.
The true meaning within had been completely exhausted.
This precious dose of the true meaning of the Way of Arrays had only raised his proficiency by a single minor grade.
This conversion rate was clearly a bit problematic.
’That makes sense. If one could ignore aptitude and improve just by having the corresponding ’true meaning,’ then there would be no advantage to being a genius in cultivation arts.’
At this,
Su Ye shrugged and accepted reality.
...
His progress on the Way of Arrays had temporarily stalled.
Nurturing the God Seed only required an hour or two each day.
Suddenly, Su Ye found himself with a lot of free time.
「One day.」
He was on the deck, enjoying desserts and Spirit Tea to pass the time.
"Fellow Daoist, are you also headed to the front lines in the Narrow Sea?"
A young master wearing a feathered head-scarf and a blue robe approached Su Ye to strike up a conversation, a friendly smile on his face.
Beside him stood a beautiful young woman in practical, tight-fitting clothes. She had long, slender legs wrapped in snug pants and a pair of black, high-top boots.
On her back, she carried a greatbow of profound iron that was nearly as tall as she was!
Her attire gave off a sharp and efficient aura, like that of a huntress from the jungle.
"Yes."
Su Ye replied nonchalantly.
The young master, however, was naturally familiar and said enthusiastically,
"I am Xv Xiuping, and this is my sister, Xv Yiyi."
The pair of siblings were at the same cultivation level: Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.
"My sister and I have also answered the call to the front lines in the Narrow Sea."
"And may I ask for your name, Fellow Daoist?"
"Su Han."
Su Ye said casually.
He had fabricated a fake name.
"Fellow Daoist Su Han..."
Xv Xiuping was quite talkative, and he brought his sister, Xv Yiyi, into the conversation with Su Ye.
After a bit of small talk, Su Ye learned that the siblings were from the direct line of the Xv Family on Celestial Star Island.
Su Ye had never heard of this family.
He did, however, have a slight impression of Celestial Star Island. It was a Tier Three island within the sea regions governed by the Wanlong Commerce Association, so named because of its numerous Celestial Star Stone Veins.
’I remember that this island doesn’t seem to have even a single Crystallization Realm family. It’s garrisoned by a Crystallization Realm Perfected Master sent from the Wanlong Commerce Association headquarters.’
In other words,
the Xv Family of Celestial Star Island was merely a Foundation Establishment family.
At this thought, the trace of curiosity that had sparked in Su Ye quickly faded.
However,
Xv Xiuping was an interesting person to talk to—he was witty and humorous.
Since Su Ye had nothing better to do, he didn’t mind chatting for a while to pass the time.
"Fellow Daoist Su Han,"
"We are both conscripted cultivators traveling on the same spirit vessel. You could say it’s fate."
"I wonder, would you be interested in an exchange gathering?"
After they had been talking for a while,
Xv Xiuping revealed his purpose and asked his question.