Chapter 2616

"I'm afraid few in this world can compare to you, little brother," Lu Fengyao said. Lin Moyu smiled, "I'm still far from it."

"The seniors who set up these arrays are the true masters of array dao," Lu Fengyao said.

"Has my little brother ever heard the saying that excessive modesty is pride?" Lin Moyu smiled.

"Then consider me proud. I want to stay here for a while; some arrays need maintenance."

"Just now, when the arrays were running at full capacity, several of them were overloaded and need maintenance."

"Replenishing some origin crystals and such, and patching up any gaps where the arrays are damaged."

"Although not maintaining the arrays won't affect the normal operation of the hurricane warship, it would be difficult to exert full power when encountering enemies."

This kind of work was not for ordinary people; in Lin Moyu's view, only an array master of the seventh rank or above could fully restore the arrays.

Lu Fengyao said, "For this kind of thing, you can just leave it to the chamber's array masters when we get back."

"Why do you need to do it yourself, little brother?" Lin Moyu replied, "This matter started because of me."

"It's only right that I do these things. Besides, while maintaining the arrays, I can also learn a thing or two."

Lu Fengyao smiled, "Alright then, take your time repairing them."

"Your big sister won't keep you company then!"

Chapter 3329: Severing Ties with the Insect Clan

After this battle,

there was considerable chaos on the hurricane warship, and many people looked panicked until the hurricane warship reached the Buddhist Clan territory.

Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief. The people from the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce did their best to maintain order, and aside from the initial chaos,

no major trouble occurred. Lin Moyu maintained the arrays, and during this maintenance process,

he also took the opportunity to carefully analyze and learn from them. Among the arrays in the hurricane warship,

several retained an ancient aura, being prehistoric arrays. Prehistoric arrays

held great research value for Lin Moyu. Last time, he had only sensed and understood them superficially,

but this time, he was working on them firsthand. Lin Moyu took out origin crystals one by one, replacing those that were more than half-consumed.

Within the complex, nested arrays of varying ranks, the number of origin crystals required was immense.

Some nodes required low-rank origin crystals, while others required high-rank ones, and Lin Moyu happened to have both.

This brief battle had also brought significant gains for Lin Moyu.

The process of controlling the arrays brought him profound insights. Utilizing the arrays

to draw upon the Great Dao, and then borrowing the power of the Great Dao to manifest various forces—

the Dao of Arrays was ever-changing, and every aspect of it inspired Lin Moyu.

Especially the moment he looked down upon heaven and earth, the feeling was incredibly wondrous. What brought about this perspective and sensory experience

was an array called the Universe Array. This array could observe heaven and earth, patrolling the cosmos.

It was extremely useful for controlling the entire battlefield, giving Lin Moyu a sudden sense of enlightenment.

His understanding of the Dao of Arrays advanced another step. Only after finishing the maintenance of the arrays did Lin Moyu leave the second lower deck.

Three days had passed, and the warship had already docked before a Buddhist kingdom. Within the Buddhist Clan territory,

the hurricane warship would dock multiple times, and it would take about ten more days before it truly departed and entered the Boundary Sea.

Upon his return, Lin Moyu continued to teach Xiao Mei while also integrating and mastering his gains from the past few days.

Lu Fengyao had been very busy lately, only coming to find Lin Moyu when they were about to leave the Western Continent.

Lin Moyu was drinking tea in his room, enjoying the scenery outside the ship while listening to the chanting of Buddhist mantras from the Buddhist Clan.

It had to be said that the scenery in the Buddhist Clan territory was extremely beautiful, with green mountains and clear waters everywhere.

The Buddhist sounds carried a sense of peace that could calm one's mind. Lu Fengyao rushed in like a whirlwind.

She sat down casually, downed three cups of tea in a row, and let out a long breath. "This young lady is busy to death!"

Lin Moyu smiled, "Are you really that busy?"

Lu Fengyao snorted softly.

"How could I not be? The Third Ancestor arranged so many extra tasks, I'm incredibly busy."

"Unlike the stewards of the other warships, who are so idle they're practically bored to tears."

Lin Moyu smiled, "The Third Ancestor must know about what happened this time, right?"

Lu Fengyao hummed in agreement, "Of course, the news was sent back immediately."

"Two days ago, the Third Ancestor sent a reply. From now on, we will completely sever all ties with the Insect Clan and no longer do business with them."

Lin Moyu said, "It seems I have affected the chamber's business." Lu Fengyao acted completely indifferent.

"There wasn't much profit to be made from the Insect Clan anyway. It's fine not to do this business; it's no loss to the chamber."

"The ones who truly suffer a loss should be the Insect Clan. Some of their materials will be hard to get now. But if we don't do it,"

"other chambers of commerce naturally will, though they might not necessarily be able to obtain those materials. The materials the Insect Clan wants are extremely rare."

"Ordinary small chambers of commerce will find it very hard to get them." Lin Moyu said, "Then you can tell those small chambers of commerce,"

"to buy the materials from the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce and let them earn the price difference." Lu Fengyao lowered her voice.

"The Third Ancestor was quite angry this time, so he has decided to sever all ties with the Insect Clan, and we probably won't cooperate again in the future."

It was clear that the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce truly looked down on the Insect Clan's meager profits. The key was that this incident

gave no face to the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce, which was essentially slapping the Third Ancestor's face. A Great Dao Realm expert like the Third Ancestor

valued reputation immensely. Having his face slapped by the Insect Clan like this, he definitely wouldn't swallow his anger easily.

Because of the Insect Clan's special status, the Third Ancestor wouldn't personally make a move to wipe them out, so he could only sever ties with them.

It could be considered a lesson for them. If the Insect Clan lacked those rare materials, whether for evolution or reproduction,

they would become much slower. Lin Moyu asked, "Regarding the Insect Clan evolving their fourth form this time,"

"did the Third Ancestor have anything to say?"

Lu Fengyao giggled, "You actually hit the nail on the head."

"The Third Ancestor really did say something. He said that evolving a fourth form is inevitable."

"It's an ability within their bloodline, but there won't be too many insects capable of evolving a fourth form—at most two."

"And it will take a very long time. After reaching the Ninth Realm of Dao Venerable, if the Insect Clan evolves a fourth form,"

"it is equivalent to the Pseudo-Great Dao Realm. Having two Pseudo-Great Dao Realm entities is already formidable."

"The Dragon Clan currently only has one Pseudo-Great Dao Realm expert. If the Insect Clan has two, then the Dragon Clan will be in trouble."

But this matter didn't seem to be something he needed to worry about. "Oh, right."

"The Third Ancestor seemed to say another sentence, but it was too quiet, and I couldn't hear it clearly."

Lin Moyu asked, "What did he say?"

Lu Fengyao said,

"The Third Ancestor must have been talking to himself at the time, mentioning something about time, change,"

"and preparation. Brother Lin, do you know what that means?"

Lin Moyu shook his head, "I don't know." Lu Fengyao didn't press further.

"Thanks to Brother Lin this time, your big sister will toast you with tea instead of wine to thank you."

Lin Moyu was a bit unaccustomed to Lu Fengyao's sudden politeness. "Sister Feng Yao, there's no need for such talk between us."

"Besides, the cause of this incident was also me." Lu Fengyao said, "You can't say that."

"No matter the reason, as long as you board the ship, you are a guest of our Lufeng Chamber of Commerce."

"We would never hand over our own guests, regardless of your identity." The two chatted for a while longer.

Lu Fengyao went back to her busy schedule while Lin Moyu slowly sipped his tea, murmuring to himself,

"'Time, change, preparation.' What the Third Ancestor spoke of should be the great change of heaven and earth."

"Could the Insect Clan's evolution of a fourth form be related to the great change of heaven and earth?"

"Or is it because heaven and earth have undergone changes that the Insect Clan can now manifest a fourth form?"

"That must be it. The Third Ancestor views this as a sign, which is why he needs to make preparations."

"The fourth form is an ability within the Insect Clan's bloodline. Just because it didn't appear before doesn't mean they lacked the ability."

"It was merely due to certain restrictions that they couldn't manifest the fourth form. However, the Third Ancestor was so certain that at most two fourth-form insect mothers would appear,"

"and that it would take a very long time. Does this also indirectly show that he has some judgment"

"regarding the great change of heaven and earth? The Third Ancestor definitely knows more than the Demon Emperor, but given his tight lips,"

"it's impossible for him to speak of it." Lin Moyu speculated secretly, like an experienced hunter

deducing the outcome from clues. Finally, before the warship left the Western Continent, Xiao Mei mastered the first-rank arrays.

Xiao Mei was already able to fuse first-rank Artifact Arrays and first-rank Rune Arrays together, though the success rate of the fusion was not yet very high.

It was only about fifty percent, and she would still need a lot of practice to improve the success rate in the future.

Chapter 3330: Four Crazy Girls, Perfect for a Game of Mahjong

Lin Moyu was quite satisfied with this result and began teaching Xiao Mei second-rank arrays. Lin Moyu could clearly feel that

as his relationship with Xiao Mei grew closer, the providence he shared from her also gradually increased.

The Great Dao was fair; however much one invested, that was how much one would harvest.

The warship flew across the Boundary Sea. From the Western Continent to the Southern Continent, the hurricane warship would fly over the Boundary Sea for about thirty days.

In fact, at the hurricane warship's full speed, it wouldn't even take ten days to reach the Southern Continent.

They would pass by a small island midway, named Beixian Island, where they needed to collect some special shells to bring back.

These shells were cultivated by the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce on Beixian Island, usually looked after by the Sea Clan, for which the Lufeng Chamber of Commerce paid a price.

The shells were highly unique and could only survive on Beixian Island, so every time the hurricane warship returned from the Western Continent,

they would pay a visit. The Boundary Sea looked no different anywhere, whether in terms of environment

or scenery; it was almost exactly the same. Yet, Lin Moyu could still sense some differences.

He felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this sea area. Once, his Battle of the Boundary Sea had taken place in this very region.

The Battle of the Boundary Sea only occurred in the sea between the Western Continent and the Southern Continent. Whether they were cultivators from the Eastern, Northern, or Southern Continents, as long as they wished to participate in the Battle of the Boundary Sea,

they had to come here. The Sea Clan had designated a massive sea area for the Battle of the Boundary Sea, dividing it into one hundred smaller sea regions.

Each small sea region was governed by a Heavenly Venerate who maintained basic fairness. The specific area for this Battle of the Boundary Sea

was relatively close to the Southern Continent. It was said that Buddhist Clan members had also participated in the Battle of the Boundary Sea in the past, but the Buddhist Clan later offended the Sea Clan

and were banned from entering the Boundary Sea. From then on, they no longer had a place in the Battle of the Boundary Sea. This time, the hurricane warship

would also pass through the area of the Battle of the Boundary Sea. Lin Moyu looked at the Boundary Sea beyond the ship's railing, his gaze filled with reminiscence.

Once, he had set off from this very sea, led by Heavenly Venerate Zhishui, heading toward the Southern Continent.

He wondered if Heavenly Venerate Zhishui was still around now; he presumably was.

A few hundred or a thousand years seemed like a long time, but to Heavenly Venerate Zhishui, it was perhaps just a single nap.

Heavenly Venerate Zhishui was very special; he had lived for far too long. He had once said

that he had lived even longer than the King of the Boundary Sea. At that time, Lin Moyu did not understand the concept of those words, but now he understood their meaning.

Although Heavenly Venerate Zhishui was only a Heavenly Venerate, he had lived from prehistoric times until now. Returning this time,

if there was an opportunity, he could go find Heavenly Venerate Zhishui to chat and bring him some wine.