To specifically deal with the specter, Lu Ye found it a bit troublesome. If it were truly an enemy, he could just kill it without hesitation, but in the end, the specter wasn't an enemy.

It was a fact that she had caused him some trouble before. If not for leading the enemy to the Merfolk Territory, Lu Ye wouldn't have known how to resolve it.

This matter had to be settled with her.

Letting her go wasn't an option...

As he waited, Lu Ye began dismantling the restriction locks on those storage rings. As expected of storage rings from the Moon Jade Realm, the restriction locks weren't overly complex, but they were difficult to crack. Lu Ye expended great effort and even ruined one storage ring before finally unlocking the rest.

As said before, the storage rings were given to Bai Lu. These were spoils from a battle with the Merfolk Race. No matter how good the treasures inside were, there was no reason for him to accept them.

With nothing to do, he chatted idly with Bai Lu. Bai Lu loved hearing stories about the outside world. Previously, when Lu Ye was at the Constellation Palace, Bai Lu would pester him about these stories every time he visited, listening with keen interest and longing.

Unfortunately, their branch of the race possessed the power of Curse Poison, which prevented them from leaving the All Phenomena Ocean, or else they could see the outside world.

Time passed, nearly half a day had gone by, when Lu Ye, who was recounting a past conflict at the Constellation Palace to Bai Lu, suddenly stopped speaking. He turned to look outside the door: "You won't come in on your own, do you want me to invite you in?"

Bai Lu was startled, turned to look, but saw nothing. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the space at the door twist, and a familiar figure appeared.

Who else could it be but the specter of the Specter Race?

Bai Lu was slightly alarmed. With this level of Concealment ability, no one in the Merfolk Race of the same cultivation level could detect her! Yet she didn't know how Li Taibai noticed.

Previously, Lu Ye indeed couldn't have detected her, but after evolving the new Concealment technique, Lu Ye's mastery in the Path of Concealment was much stronger than before. Moreover, part of his new Concealment was fundamentally rooted in the specter's Spectral Runes, making them akin. Combined with the specter's current weakened state, discovering her wasn't difficult.

The specter had lost her earlier vigor, her face clearly pale, and her eyes somewhat lifeless. It was obvious her recent outburst was a long-prepared move, hoping to escape and find a place to recover. Yet who knew she'd wander in the Royal Conch Palace for half a day without finding an exit.

It wasn't that there were no exits. The Royal Conch Palace had several passages leading to the All Phenomena Ocean, but the specter would try slightly, then retreat.

Revealing her form, one hand clutching her chest, she staggered towards the interior and plopped down not far from Lu Ye, panting heavily as if near death.

Before speaking, she coughed, the blood staining her veiled scarf red…

Bai Lu looked on with concern, fearing she might really die.

Lu Ye remained unmoved, as he couldn't tell if it was genuine. The specter's pitiful demeanor might just be a ploy for sympathy.

After a moment, the specter finally steadied herself and asked, "Fa Wuzun, be honest with me, where is this place?"

There was a branch of the Merfolk Race here, and beyond this peculiar space, similar All Phenomena Ocean waters surrounded it. The specter genuinely couldn't fathom where this place was. She had even tried to use a star map to determine her position, but it was completely useless here.

"Where this is, you have your judgment, so why ask me?" Lu Ye responded casually.

The specter's pupils shrank to needlepoint size, staring at Lu Ye for a good while before slowly shaking her head, "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

She did have a guess, but how could such a thing be true?

"If you say it's impossible, then it's impossible!" Lu Ye had no intention of explaining, "But now that you're here, settle down and stay. Don't think about unnecessary things, and certainly don't try to harm any merfolk, or you'll only make things worse for yourself."

The specter retorted angrily, "Fa Wuzun, do you have a conscience?"

"Oh?" Lu Ye looked at her leisurely, "Use my name to lead trouble to the east, getting me chased by a Moon Jade Mid-Stage, and you dare talk about conscience? How much does your conscience weigh?"

The specter showed no shame, "Believe it or not, I didn't intend to lead trouble to you. I had no choice at the time. You contacted me, and I thought we might stand a chance against him if we joined forces. Who knew you'd run off on your own, and I couldn't stop the pursuer. Besides, if I truly wanted to lead trouble to you, I could've just ignored you. In reality, I've been chasing you both, afraid you'd encounter an accident, so I could lend a hand. Otherwise, why would I have come to this haunted place? Isn't it because I was worried about you?"

"Do you believe that?" Lu Ye eyed her coldly.

The specter patted her chest, "I swear on my conscience!"

Lu Ye scrutinized her for a while, seeing no trace of deceit in her eyes, and couldn't discern whether she spoke truthfully or not.

Normally, after the Moon Jade was diverted, the specter indeed could've easily escaped, with no reason to chase all the way here. Yet, she still came, just as she claimed?

Unwilling to dwell on it, Lu Ye said, "Anyway, since you're here, don't leave. From now on, this place is your home. Live here peacefully."

The specter almost cried, moved closer, and gripped Lu Ye's arm with her little hands, gently shaking it: "Senior Brother Fa, you can't do this to me. I know you can leave here. There is that kind of portal. You open it, take me out, and I'll be grateful for life!"

Bai Lu watched her acting spoiled on the side, her eyes nearly blazing with fire!

The specter was still shaking Lu Ye's arm, earnestly promising, "Rest assured, about the matters here, including the portal, I, the specter, won't reveal a word to anyone. I'm a woman who keeps secrets!"

Lu Ye didn't respond, just looked at her with a half-smile.

The specter put on a pained face, "Then tell me what you want, you can't truly keep me locked up here for a lifetime, we don't have deep-seated hatred, draw a line, and I'll agree to whatever I can!"

"I have no lines to draw!" Lu Ye extracted his arm and stood up, looking down at her, "You're in bad shape, recover first." Saying this, he tossed a few bottles of healing elixir pills to her and led Bai Lu out.

The specter wanted to follow but was too powerless, collapsed on the ground, watching Lu Ye's departing figure, calling out with open hands, "Fa Wuzun, you can't do this to me."

No response came.

After exiting the prison area, Bai Lu said angrily, "I'll go and ask the Great Elder to plant more restrictions on her, let's see how she breaks them this time!"

Lu Ye stopped her, "No need, let her recover first." The specter looked pitiful, and Lu Ye could tell she was indeed exhausted, if she didn't recover, she might suffer some hidden damage.

"Then do we keep her locked up there?" Bai Lu asked.

"No need to lock her up, let her be. She has no way to leave the Royal Conch Palace anyway."

"She's not weak, if she harms our clan members..."

"She's a smart person, a smart person does smart things. Rest assured, she won't do it. But there's one thing to be cautious of, don't let her near Bai Shuang!"

Bai Shuang is the queen of the Merfolk Race, not very powerful. If the specter really got hold of Bai Shuang, the Merfolk side would be in a passive position. As long as the specter is kept from contacting Bai Shuang, everything's fine.

Later, led by Bai Lu, Lu Ye went to see Great Elder Yan Miao, apologized, and expressed gratitude to the Merfolk Race for what happened last time.

The Great Elder's response was the same as Bai Lu's, saying that Lu Ye's help to the Merfolk Race was greatly valued, and they were more than willing to have an opportunity to repay. There was no resentment at all!

The Great Elder also mentioned that if Lu Ye encountered similar situations in the future, he could bring the enemies over for them to handle. With this experience, the next time they would manage even better.

Lu Ye naturally agreed wholeheartedly.

After some more idle chatter, Lu Ye took his leave.

Lu Ye didn't linger long with the Merfolk Race, borrowing a seahorse star beast to travel alone towards the Constellation Palace.

Bai Lu intended to accompany him, but Lu Ye refused.

Although the journey wasn't long, there could be dangers. There were many Moon Jade star beasts underwater, and he was unwilling to let Bai Lu take such a risk.

Fortunately, the trip was relatively uneventful, and by half a day later, he arrived at the Constellation Palace. Lu Ye let the seahorse leave on its own while he approached and pushed open the grand door of the palace.

He met no significant resistance, and the door opened slowly.

After Lu Ye entered, the door closed automatically.

From his previous attempt, Lu Ye knew that except during the time the Constellation Palace was open for a challenge, no one but himself could push open the palace doors.

So this vast Constellation Palace was essentially a private treasure house for him.

He had many storage rings filled with various items, which weren't convenient to carry around, so he placed them here. As long as there was a Small Constellation Palace, he could come anytime without hindrance.

Leaving most of the storage rings, Lu Ye only took three with him: one for spirit jade and spirit crystals, one for elixir pills and spirit treasures, and one for miscellaneous items.

Plus the storage space on the back of his hand, it was more than sufficient.

In front of the black stone monument representing the Cumulated Points Ranking inside the hall, a portal was always open. Lu Ye used this portal to return below Unparalleled Island, swam some distance, and then quietly emerged, returning to Unparalleled Island.

Silently returning to the cave, Lu Ye began deducing other spirit runes while continuing to study the short sword legacy. The duel with the Moon Jade Mid-Stage made Lu Ye realize that the legacy bestowed by the Constellation Palace was quite practical, particularly suitable for battles between Constellations and Moon Jade.

For now, he wasn't planning to elevate his cultivation, so he focused more energy here to avoid being at a disadvantage against Moon Jade in the future.