"There's something else that you need to know, Fellow Daoist," Fang Wanli said with interest, partly due to those few pieces of spirit jade, and he was willing to tell Lu Ye a bit more.

"What is it?"

"Ordinary outer-world cultivators need to pay a fee to enter All Phenomena Island if they don't have a Passage Order. Of course, the fee isn't much, only five pieces. Fellow Daoist, you can surely afford it."

"Five pieces aren't a trivial amount," Lu Ye said flatly. Even though he had just spent ten pieces of spirit jade on the ferryboat without feeling it was too much, that was because he had a decent background. For a typical Constellation new to the stellar space, even one piece of spirit jade is precious, and they would be reluctant to use it for traveling, preferring to fly slowly to All Phenomena Island on their own.

"The main reason is the number of cultivators coming and going to the All Phenomena Ocean is just too large. If we didn't impose some restrictions, the All Phenomena Island would be overcrowded. Charging five pieces of spirit jade as an entrance fee significantly reduces the number of people entering All Phenomena Island."

The reasoning does indeed make sense. People are drawn to bustling places, Constellations are no exception, and if there were no restrictions, most cultivators would gather on All Phenomena Island. With the entrance fee imposed, many who don't necessarily have to go wouldn't bother.

"Additionally, some Spirit Islands open to outsiders also charge varying amounts of spirit jade. Before you go, Fellow Daoist, you should investigate thoroughly. However, most Spirit Islands are not open to outsiders; they are private places of different factions. You must be careful about that, Fellow Daoist. Don't enter rashly and be mistaken for an intruder."

"How to distinguish?" Lu Ye asked humbly for advice.

"You could buy a star map from the commerce guild. These Spirit Islands are marked on it, but the fonts are in different colors. If it's red, it's private and not open to outsiders. If it's white, it's open."

Only then did Lu Ye realize that the color of the fonts on the star map had such significance. Previously, when he examined the star map, he noticed that the names of those Spirit Islands were in either white or red, but he didn't grasp the subtlety.

With so many cultivators traveling, Lu Ye also discovered something interesting: "Your ferryboat flies lower than the cultivators' flights?"

Fang Wanli nodded quickly: "You're observant, Fellow Daoist, indeed so. Although there's no explicit rule, everyone has been willing to comply over the years. Mainly, it's because ferryboats move too fast. If mixed with the crowd, collisions happen easily. As you can see, there are many cultivators in the air over the All Phenomena Ocean. If that happens, it damages property and harms people."

"Ferryboats don't collide with each other? Or with other cultivators' starboats?"

"Both ferryboats and starboats have sensing arrays, which can sense each other, so they can avoid collisions in advance."

Lu Ye understood. It's similar to how starboats navigate through stellar space, using arrays to sense obstacles ahead.

On closer inspection, Lu Ye noticed another thing. Starboats piloted by cultivators generally do not fly directly over any Spirit Island; they tend to go around them to avoid misunderstandings. However, the ferryboats of the All Phenomena Merchants Guild are indifferent to this, flying directly over both big and small islands.

Spirit Islands in the All Phenomena Ocean vary in size, and from the air, they resemble chess pieces scattered over the sea.

This reminded Lu Ye of the Chess Sea, where he and Hua Ci had first cooperated joyfully, vanquishing countless foes. That battle made him realize that his healing cultivator was not simple at all.

In no time, a huge Spirit Island appeared in view. Along the way, Lu Ye had seen many large Spirit Islands, but none could compare to the one before him.

In terms of sheer size, this Spirit Island was undoubtedly the Overlord of the entire All Phenomena Ocean!

This must be All Phenomena Island!

The island's buildings were extremely well-organized. At the center stood a sprawling palace complex, with a massive towering structure at its very center. Streets radiated neatly from this tower as though it were the source point.

Fang Wanli piloted the ferryboat to the edge of the Spirit Island, where it seemed like a pier, and stopped there. Smiling, he said to Lu Ye, "Fellow Daoist, we've arrived. Once you've paid the fee to enter All Phenomena Island, you're free to fly about. However, disputes are not allowed on All Phenomena Island. Please remember that."

Lu Ye nodded slightly and stepped out to the pier.

No strong cultivators were guarding the pier, only an old white-haired elder lounging on a Taishi Chair with eyes closed, seemingly enjoying himself.

Nearby, a small table had spirit jades on its left side, shimmering and dazzling, while black Tokens were placed on the right side.

Several people were in front of Lu Ye, just arriving and preparing to enter All Phenomena Island; they appeared to be a group.

A middle-aged man among them looked at the elder and said, "Veteran Bai, may I help myself?"

From his words, it was clear that he wasn't visiting All Phenomena Island for the first time and thus was well-acquainted with the process.

The elder on the Taishi Chair didn't even lift his eyelids, just waved his hand slightly, as if indifferent.

The middle-aged man then took out twenty pieces of spirit jade, placed them on the table, took four Tokens, distributed them among his companions, bowed to Veteran Bai, and led his companions into All Phenomena Island, soaring into the sky, disappearing in no time.

Seeing this, Lu Ye imitated him, taking out five pieces of spirit jade to exchange for a Token.

Just as he was about to proceed inside, Veteran Bai suddenly opened his eyes a sliver and glanced at him, saying flatly, "The Token must be worn on you, not stored in a storage ring or any other storage space. Once you leave the island, it's voided. Upon departure, you can leave from any location, but entry must be through the pier!"

It was clear that this visitor saw it was Lu Ye's first time here and explained the rules to him. Lu Ye had already clarified these things while chatting with Fang Wanli, so he naturally understood.

With a slight bow, he expressed his thanks for the advice and stepped onto All Phenomena Island.

He didn't rush to leave but turned to look back.

Behind him, people were arriving one after the other, each taking a token. Veteran Bai continued to sit with his eyes closed, resting, without asking or being asked. No one dared to skimp on the five spirit jade passage fee.

Lu Ye eyed the scene eagerly; five spirit jade might not seem like much on its own. A Constellation could find a suitable spot in the stellar space and easily locate five spirit jade.

But one person entering costs five spirit jade, so what about ten people, a hundred, or ten thousand?

This small port is practically a place where spirit jade flows!

Judging by the frequency of cultivators coming and going, this single ferry port could bring tens of thousands of spirit jade or even more to All Phenomena Island every day, and there must be more than one such port! Perhaps there are a dozen or even twenty.

Yet, no matter how attractive it appeared, this was their way of making money.

Lu Ye suddenly had the idea that if he could seize a Spirit Island here and find ways to attract cultivators, turning his Spirit Island into a bustling place, and then charge a passage fee, wouldn't he be able to generate wealth while seated?

But this idea dissipated from his mind quickly. Not to mention the difficulty of capturing a Spirit Island, even if he did manage to seize one, he might not be able to keep it. And even if he could keep it, what would attract cultivators to it?

All those top domains having their own Spirit Islands here must have considered this idea.

A moment later, Lu Ye headed into the island.

Soon after, he found himself standing in an extremely broad street, observing the marketplace shops lining both sides, and suddenly felt as though he had returned to the Nine Provinces.

The cities within the Cloud River battlefield were just as bustling.

However, in terms of scale, Heaven's Augury City couldn't compare to this place. The value of goods sold in the shops within the Cloud River battlefield was no match for those here.

The forces behind these shops included domains from countless Star Systems. Any cultivator could find items from the entire stellar region here; lacking in supply was only a concern if one lacked sufficient spirit jade.

Being new, Lu Ye wanted to broaden his horizons and therefore leisurely entered a shop named Wonder Pill Workshop.

This was clearly a place selling elixir pills.

The Nine Provinces, because of limitations in its world foundation, was currently unable to produce elixir pills that could aid Constellations in their cultivation. This situation would gradually improve—once the Nine Provinces began to nurture higher-quality spirit flowers and rare herbs, it would naturally qualify to manufacture corresponding elixir pills. Of course, the Pill Masters of Nine Provinces first needed to solve their elixir pill formula issues.

The interior of Wonder Pill Workshop was exceedingly spacious and impressively tidy and neat. As Lu Ye entered, a young and beautiful woman was in charge of reception.

What surprised him was that this woman only had cultivation within the Divine Sea!

He assumed that the cultivators frequenting this place would invariably be above Constellations since the survival environment in All Phenomena Ocean was not suitable for those below Constellations.

This place was just like stellar space, where stellar space energy was everywhere. The Divine Sea Realm was insufficient to withstand such energy physically.

Yet here she was with a Divine Sea cultivation!

After sensing slightly, Lu Ye realized belatedly that no stellar space energy existed here.

He understood in his heart that All Phenomena Island was surely shielded by an extremely intricate big array, which, through its isolation, prevented stellar space energy from invading All Phenomena Island, allowing beings below Constellations to survive here.

It made sense too. A woman was merely tasked with ushering guests and assisting with the sale of goods from her store. To arrange for a Constellation to perform such duties would be an overuse of talents.

Using True Lake for this seemed too lacking in significance; the Divine Sea was just right.

One had to admit, the force behind this shop had considered everything thoroughly, neither wasting human and financial resources nor making guests feel slighted or uncomfortable.

The woman's attitude was very enthusiastic, introducing various elixir pills and miracle cures to Lu Ye...

After about one incense stick's time, Lu Ye walked out of Wonder Pill Workshop, with the woman courteously seeing him off. Although Lu Ye didn't buy a single elixir pill, such welcoming and parting was their norm; they wouldn't easily underestimate any guest.