In the cave, Lu Ye took out a storage ring and handed it to Chu Shen.

Chu Shen solemnly accepted it, probing it with his Mental Consciousness, and was overjoyed: "Senior Brother, isn't this a bit too much?"

He initially thought of borrowing a few hundred thousand spirit jades from Leader Fa, but unexpectedly, Leader Fa casually tossed over five million spirit jades.

A difference of ten times his expectation.

Lu Ye said calmly, "If we're setting up an array, then let's set up the best Formation. Don't stress about the early costs."

Currently, Lu Ye could freely travel between the All Phenomena Ocean and the Merfolk Territory, having completely opened a financial road solely for himself. Although he hadn't yet gained any benefits from the merfolk, he thought that if he ever needed spirit jades, the merfolk wouldn't hesitate to provide them.

Moreover, with the abundant resources underwater, once he found a method, all those star beasts and seaweeds could be converted into spirit jades.

Five million spirit jades were really nothing to him.

"Then I'll make an IOU with you, Senior Brother. Consider this a loan, and I'll repay it with interest later," Chu Shen said.

Lu Ye shook his head: "No need for that. Consider this my investment."

Chu Shen naturally had no objections and happily said, "That works." There's no need to be formal with Leader Fa. Although Unparalleled Island is outwardly under his command, it was actually Leader Fa who occupied it first. Without Leader Fa's permission, he wouldn't have stayed, so Unparalleled Island should indeed have a share for Leader Fa.

"By the way, Senior Brother, there's another matter I'd like to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

Chu Shen said, "In the past few days, representatives from certain forces have contacted me, wanting to bring our Unparalleled Island under their jurisdiction. If we agree, they would provide us with some resources and personnel support. What do you think, Senior Brother?"

Lu Ye replied, "You are the Island Master of Unparalleled Island, so make the decision yourself. You don't need to ask me."

Chu Shen nodded: "Got it. I know what to do."

Moments later, Chu Shen left.

Although he didn't explicitly say what he would do, since he came to borrow spirit jades, Lu Ye knew Chu Shen would never agree to those forces' demands.

After all, he was from Cheling World. Even if he wanted to cooperate with any force, he would only choose the local forces in the All Phenomena Galaxy. How could he collude with other forces?

Furthermore, being fresh on the scene with ambitions to achieve something significant, he would certainly be restrained and controlled if he agreed to cooperate with other forces. Given his character, he would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix and wouldn't tolerate such things.

The development of Unparalleled Island was ongoing, and the prototype of the protective array had already been established. With the protective array in place, the stellar space energy produced by reversing seawater from the Small Constellation Palace dissipated even less, which made the concentration of stellar space energy on Unparalleled Island increase faster than before.

This change was clearly felt by every cultivator on Unparalleled Island, filling everyone with enthusiasm.

Lu Ye was waiting for the moment when the green sea conch could be used.

Although he could enter the Constellation Palace through the Small Constellation Palace's portal, he still had to travel from the main hall of the Constellation Palace to the Merfolk Territory. In such a place underwater, traveling without a seahorse mount would be very slow.

So, it was better to use the green sea conch to directly arrive in front of the Divine Conch Hall for convenience.

A few more days passed, and finally, it was time to use the green sea conch.

Lu Ye did not immediately activate the power of the green sea conch but first went down to the sea to check if the portal of the Small Constellation Palace was still maintained.

After confirming that there were no problems with the portal and no sign of it closing, Lu Ye quietly returned to the cave. Under the cover of numerous restrictions and Formations, he blew the green sea conch.

With the portal open, he stepped into it.

Upon returning to the front of the Divine Conch Hall, Lu Ye immediately sensed several scrutinizing gazes around him, one being particularly sharp, though those gazes soon softened.

Lu Ye looked around and noticed many merfolk, both in the open and hidden. The sharp gaze came from a particularly robust male merfolk, who exuded the aura of a Moon Jade Realm.

This was evidently arranged by the Merfolk Race after the last incident, to prevent Lu Ye from bringing any powerful being again, catching them off guard.

"Li Taibai!" a familiar voice called out, and Lu Ye turned to see Bai Lu approaching.

She was undoubtedly waiting there on purpose because Lu Ye had previously told her he'd return in a few days, and she knew the properties of the green sea conch.

"How did it go?" Lu Ye asked. Last time, he had to leave before the battle ended, so he didn't know the outcome. However, before leaving, he saw that the Moon Jade Mid-Stage was being suppressed by the elders of the Merfolk Race, so likely, the enemy had been captured.

"That Moon Jade is dead," Bai Lu explained, handing over several storage rings. "These were his belongings. The elders asked me to give them to you."

Lu Ye said, "These are your spoils of war, so you don't need to give them to me. I should thank your race for helping me a great deal."

Bai Lu grabbed his hand and placed the storage ring in his palm: "These storage rings all have restrictions. The elders aren't skilled at cracking them and don't dare to tamper with them. It's better if you handle them."

Lu Ye thought so too, and nodded, "I'll unlock the restriction locks and then give them to you."

Bai Lu continued, "Also, the elders said that if you encounter any troublemakers you can't deal with in the future, just lure them here, and we'll help you take care of them. Furthermore, you don't have to thank us or be polite. You've helped us a lot, so we should naturally help you too."

What else could Lu Ye say? He could only nod, but this time it was luck; that Moon Jade Mid-Stage cultivator was lured over by him. If it were someone cautious, maybe they couldn't be brought in. Besides, the entrance was there; people would notice something was wrong after entering and would surely exit immediately.

So this kind of thing was fine once, but it's best not to have a second time, as there are too many uncontrollable factors.

"What about the ghost cultivator?" Lu Ye asked. Although he had instructed Bai Lu before leaving, if the Merfolk Race had killed the specter along with it, it would have been an unjust death for her.

"Come with me!" Bai Lu said, leading Lu Ye in a direction.

On the way, Lu Ye activated the Thousand Faces Spirit Runes, changing his appearance to that of Fa Wuzun.

Bai Lu was amazed, clicking her tongue in wonder. The last time Lu Ye came, it was also in Fa Wuzun's guise. Although his appearance was different, his demeanor and figure couldn't be changed, and only Lu Ye could enter this place through the green sea conch, so Bai Lu still recognized him at a glance.

"You don't want her to know your true appearance?" Bai Lu asked.

Lu Ye nodded, "She's seen what I truly look like, so I need to use a different appearance to meet her."

Bai Lu understood.

The specter was currently detained in a prison-like place in the Royal Conch Palace, originally used to imprison errant merfolk. It didn't have strong protective power, but when Lu Ye saw the specter, he found her lying like a puddle of mud, unmoving.

Her aura was very weak, as if she had lost all spirit force.

A few days ago, she used some unknown means to directly repel a strike from that Moon Jade, and even though her opponent hadn't used full force, achieving this with the strength of a Constellation Cultivator wasn't easy. For this, the specter paid a great price and was dispirited back then.

Seeing her today, her condition seemed even worse than before.

But it was certain that the specter wasn't dead.

The main problem was that the merfolk didn't know how to deal with the specter. Lu Ye had told Bai Lu that she wasn't an enemy nor a friend, leaving the Merfolk Race unsure how to handle her.

"Is she seriously injured?" Lu Ye asked.

Bai Lu replied, "After checking, there aren't any severe injuries, but she seems weak because she used power not her own. Moreover, the Fourth Elder placed restrictions on her, so she can't recover or use her spirit force."

Lu Ye understood, staring at the specter lying motionless as if she were asleep, with a gleam in his eye.

"Open the door," Lu Ye said.

Bai Lu turned around and gestured to a male merfolk guarding the place, who immediately stepped forward, unlocked the restrictions, and opened the cell door.

Lu Ye didn't enter, and even pulled Bai Lu aside when she was about to enter.

Just as Bai Lu was confused, a change occurred abruptly.

The specter, whose aura had been weak and spirit force depleted, suddenly sprang up as if energized, darting out of the cell in a flash, disappearing in an instant.

Only a triumphant voice echoed from all directions, "Want to trap me? Maybe in the next life! Fa Wuzun, I will settle this account with you sooner or later!"

"She..." Bai Lu was stunned, not expecting the Fourth Elder's restriction on her to fail, nor for her to have regained her strength at some point.

She wanted to pursue but was stopped by Lu Ye.

Turning to Lu Ye with a puzzled look, Lu Ye shook his head and then softly said in the direction the specter had left, "I'll wait for you here. Come back on your own when you've thought it through!"

In any other place, the specter might have really escaped. Regardless of other abilities, her skills in concealment and escape were top-notch, and the Merfolk Territory might not be able to hold her.

But here was the All Phenomena Ocean, and aside from the Royal Conch Palace, where else could she go? To delve deeper into the All Phenomena Ocean? That's a death wish.

Currently, for the specter to escape her predicament, only Lu Ye's consent would be effective.

"Did you see through she was pretending?" Bai Lu asked, wondering why Lu Ye would pull them aside when the cell door was opened, apparently making way for the specter.

Lu Ye shook his head, "I didn't see through it, but someone like her, with a thousand schemes, shouldn't be this weak even with restrictions. Thinking a bit more doesn't hurt when dealing with her."

Bai Lu half-understood, "Your human race is so complex..."

"She's not of the human race; she's of the Specter Race."