The scene when Number Nine showed Lu Ye the shocking image of the Nine Provinces being besieged by various powerful figures was vividly etched in his mind—it had been a dazzling constellation of starships gathered near the Nine Provinces.

Even though Lu Ye hadn't been in the All Phenomena Galaxy for long, he had already witnessed several starships gliding through the stellar space.

If it was just a simple interception by a starboat, Lu Ye could ignore it. After all, both were starboats—even though his was the cheapest and most basic, the other party had no capability to forcibly intercept him.

But being intercepted by a starship was a different matter. Insisting on resisting could mean that a single attack could destroy his starboat.

Stopping his starboat, Lu Ye immediately sensed a spread of mental consciousness. Three figures emerged from the starboat opposite him. Two flanked its sides to block possible escape routes, and the other headed straight towards his starboat.

Lu Ye wasn't flustered because, in the All Phenomena Galaxy, starships, these strategic killing weapons, generally belonged to the major powers of the home galaxy. They wouldn't trouble outsiders like him, lest they ruin their reputation. The most likely scenario was a routine inspection.

Indeed, after the Constellation Late Stage cultivator landed on his starboat, he clasped his fist in a courteous gesture towards Lu Ye: "Fellow Daoist, my apologies for the disturbance!"

The tone was rather polite.

"What's the matter?" Lu Ye asked.

The man seemed a bit embarrassed: "The young master of the Wanxia Sect from the Cheling World has run away from home again. We've been ordered to assist in the search, so we need to inspect Fellow Daoist's starboat for any stowaways."

Lu Ye waved a hand: "My starboat is only this big, you guys can check it yourselves."

The starboat he purchased was only worth thirty thousand spirit jade, capable of holding two or three people at most. It was transparent and unlikely to conceal anything.

The Constellation Late Stage cultivator nodded: "Apologies for the disturbance, and please understand. Also, I must inform Fellow Daoist that if you can provide any valuable clues, the Wanxia Sect is offering a reward of twenty thousand spirit jade. If you can bring back the young master, the reward is one hundred thousand spirit jade!"

It's really feast or famine. People run away from home, and this Wanxia Sect offers such a generous bounty, which clearly indicates their wealth; it's evidently a sect that doesn't lack spirit jade.

When you think about it, the local forces of the All Phenomena Galaxy live off the mountains and the sea, with such a vast All Phenomena Ocean here, receiving visitors from all directions, surely never short of funds.

"This is the young master's image message along with some physical characteristic data." As he spoke, the Constellation Late Stage cultivator handed Lu Ye a jade slip.

Lu Ye took it and, after a brief examination, nodded slightly: "I understand."

He suddenly realized that those hurried cultivators he met on the way back had likely received this message and were searching for the young master of the Wanxia Sect.

For any Constellation, the bounty from the Wanxia Sect was extremely attractive. Just providing valuable clues was worth twenty thousand spirit jade, and bringing the young master back meant a reward of one hundred thousand spirit jade.

Compared to looking for jobs on Zhaolai Island, this was undoubtedly more appealing.

"Excuse me!" The Constellation Late Stage cultivator apologized once more, intending to leave.

Lu Ye pondered slightly and called out to him: "Fellow Daoist, please wait!"

The man turned his head: "Is there anything else?"

Lu Ye said: "Since the young master ran away from home, he probably won't willingly return with someone, right? If we really find him, won't we have to confront him in combat, subdue him by force? And if he gets injured..."

The Constellation Late Stage cultivator smiled slightly: "Please rest assured about this. Senior Jiu Yan has spoken. As long as he isn't killed or left with untreatable injuries, any amount of discipline is fine. Oh, Senior Jiu Yan is the young master's mother and a Sun Blaze level expert, so Fellow Daoist need not feel any psychological burden." He paused, then continued, "However, if you truly engage the young master, be cautious, as he carries many treasures, including a red talisman given by Senior Jiu Yan. If the red talisman is activated and kills you, it'd be a pointless death!"

Lu Ye nodded slightly: "Different fates for different people. Having a Sun Blaze expert as a mother certainly allows one to act with impunity."

The Constellation Late Stage cultivator smiled without saying more, flashed away, and soon left with his companions, piloting the starship away.

Lu Ye stood in place pondering for a moment, then turned back along the path he had come.

The image message recorded in the jade slip of the young master, though different from the person he had seen on the desolate planet earlier, shared some similar features.

Especially the cultivation level; the jade slip recorded that the young master was at the Constellation Early Stage, and the young man he saw was also at the Constellation Early Stage.

Initially, he just suspected that the other might be the runaway individual, not daring to confirm it. But when the Constellation Late Stage cultivator mentioned the red talisman, Lu Ye was almost certain that the person he saw was indeed the young master of the Wanxia Sect.

As for appearance, treasure items that can alter one's appearance are quite common. When Lu Ye was active in the Nine Provinces, he even purchased some face masks.

The young master, with such a powerful backer like the Sun Blaze, what treasures couldn't he acquire?

He didn't expect that the seemingly ordinary young man he encountered was actually worth a walking one hundred thousand spirit jade! With the assurance from the young master's mother that as long as he isn't killed or left with untreatable injuries, there's no hesitation necessary.

Moreover, Lu Ye noticed that the person previously mentioned that the young master of the Wanxia Sect had run away from home... again.

This suggests that he had done this more than once.

Likely, he had previously been roughed up and brought back on other occasions.

A day later, Lu Ye returned to that desolate planet.

At a glance, he saw traces of cultivators entering and exiting from the desolate planet, evidently all searching for signs of the young master, but judging by their appearances, they had obviously found nothing.

Did he run away?

Lu Ye frowned slightly.

Since they ran away from home, it's clear they don't want to be found again. Earlier, they accidentally encountered me and feared their movements would be exposed, so leaving quickly was a normal choice.

But at that time, Lu Ye didn't know about this at all, so he wouldn't have thought to capture him on the spot.

It was a missed windfall.

But since he was already here, Lu Ye still decided to search a bit.

He skimmed low across the surface of the desolate planet, spreading out his Mental Consciousness, carefully searching, but found nothing.

That Wanxia Sect young master named Chu Shen might have truly escaped.

The desolate planet wasn't big, and with Lu Ye's current Constellation Mid-Stage cultivation, exploring the entire place would at most take four hours.

He had thought there was no hope.

Who knew that when passing by a certain area, he would notice something amiss at a glance.

This was the place where he had previously chatted with Ma Bin. There was originally a cave, but when passing by now, Lu Ye found that the cave was gone.

Such a big cave couldn't have disappeared without any reason. Even if someone destroyed it, there should be some trace left behind.

But in fact, no traces were left here.

Lu Ye hovered where the cave used to be, understanding in his heart that an Array had probably been set up here for concealment.

Moreover, the method of array setup was quite clever; otherwise, it's unreasonable for the previously investigating Constellation cultivator to have no awareness.

This meant that Chu Shen was hiding here.

A smart guy, unfortunately, outsmarted himself. He assumed Lu Ye wouldn't return after leaving, but didn't know that when Lu Ye saw him, he didn't know about the reward the Wanxia Sect had offered.

Looking down, Insight Spirit Runes constructed in his eyes, Lu Ye carefully observed and quickly saw the flaw.

Lu Ye spoke softly: "Are you coming out, or should I drag you out?"

No response.

Lu Ye didn't waste words, directly drawing out his Boulder Mountain Saber, swooping down fiercely, slashing down with a single strike!

Though there was nothing visible in front of him, when the long blade fell, it suddenly rippled out a layer of protection, a protective light screen blocking Lu Ye's strike.

An exasperated voice sounded: "You agreed so well before, and now you've come back again. Don't you have any decency?"

Clearly, they had seen Lu Ye's face.

Lu Ye ignored him, just focused on cutting through. For him, breaking this Formation wasn't difficult. The array setup was quite skillful but still inferior to him. Under the scrutiny of Insight Spirit Runes, the nodes of the big array were fully visible.

With three slashes, accompanied by an exclamation, the array collapsed.

The other party apparently never expected their carefully set Formation to be so easily broken.

The original cave was revealed, and Lu Ye landed directly at the entrance.

The exasperated voice grew more agitated, yet slightly menacing with a guilty conscience: "I warn you, don't come in, or else I won't be polite!"

Saying so, a mystic light suddenly shot out from the cave. Lu Ye, caught off guard, was hit directly, his body stiffening all of a sudden, as if an unknown restraint had bound him.

"Hahaha!" Laughter sounded as the voice's owner gradually came into view, the young man they met before, holding a treasure mirror from which the mystic light emitted.

This treasure clearly had the power to delay a person's movements. He first used words to fool Lu Ye into lowering his guard, then suddenly struck, successfully. From this alone, he was a crafty fellow.

Not surprising; someone truly dull wouldn't run away from home.

He walked up to Lu Ye, gloating: "Why come back for trouble after leaving? Just for a measly reward? Tell me, should I kill you? After all, you've found me, and if I let you go, you'll surely go to my mother to claim the reward."

"Do you want to kill me?" Lu Ye looked at him calmly.

Chu Shen showed a troubled expression: "We have no feud, I don't really want to kill you, but releasing you is not right either. How about this, become my subordinate, and follow my orders from now on!"

Saying this, he took out a long needle-like treasure, aiming it at Lu Ye's forehead: "Endure it, it'll hurt a bit, but it will be over soon."

It's unclear what this long needle was, but from his words, it seemed this thing could make Lu Ye obey.

Just when the long needle was about to stab into Lu Ye's forehead, Lu Ye suddenly raised his hand and seized Chu Shen's wrist.

Chu Shen's expression turned to surprise: "How did you..."

It didn't make sense; hit by his treasure mirror's mystic light, a Constellation Mid-Stage, at least ten breaths would be needed to regain mobility, so how could he recover so quickly?