Chapter Thirty: Set Out

Those outside, listen up. Since the situation has changed, I, your captain, have temporarily decided to alter the plan. After you have packed up the materials, I will have Jett send you back into the ship.

In an empty storage room in Section D of the starship:

"In view of your performance just now, I have decided that Shaojie and Dongfang will receive twenty percent of the materials obtained this time, ten percent each. As for everyone else, each of you may only receive two percent, which is a fifth of ten percent. Any objections?"

Tang Yi swept his gaze across the ten people before him.

No one spoke.

"Since there are no objections, that means you all agree. Very well, we will begin distributing the spoils now. Jett, start."

When Tang Yi finished speaking, Jett divided the loot in the room into eleven portions. Apart from the largest share, the rest were distributed according to Tang Yi's instructions and placed before each person.

"How is it? I was right, wasn't I?" Hua Shaojie sent a private message to Bai Dongfang.

"Fine, this time you win. We'll compete again next time. I won't lose to you again!" Bai Dongfang replied.

"All right, enough whispering. I can hear everything. You all should go back and rest for a while first. In half an hour, the clearing operation will begin. That is all, go on then."

At Tang Yi's words, everyone went off to rest.

"Brother Tang, I never expected that damned creature would have so many rare materials inside it," Hua Ruoxue said after looking over the materials in the hold.

"Of course. You have to understand that nearly everything from the Fairy Maiden Galaxy was swallowed up in that beast's belly. How could it not be rare?" As Tang Yi spoke, he sorted the materials and stored them into his own dimensional ring. After finishing that work, he turned to Jett and asked, "Jett, how is the clearing around the ancient teleportation array going?"

"Report to Captain: the area within five hundred meters centered on the ancient teleportation array has been cleared, but those beast-like creatures continue moving toward the array," Jett reported truthfully.

"Good, that is enough. Keep holding the line, Jett. Leave the rest to me. Ruoxue, go to the control room. I will need your cooperation shortly."

"Brother Tang, don't worry. I definitely won't let you down."

Joy shone on Hua Ruoxue's face. At last, she thought, I can share some of Brother Tang's burden too.

But Tang Yi was not thinking about all that. Right now, he was using his psychic powers to precisely locate the area around the ancient teleportation array on the planet. He intended to construct an entirely new kind of protective formation around it.

Tang Yi took out a fist-sized spherical object. This was a newly forged formation core he had created during this recent period, though more accurately it should be called a formation component. Unlike traditional formation discs, which require a central anchor to suppress and stabilize the array, the quality of that central point directly affects the formation's effectiveness.

The formation Tang Yi had designed now, however, could be called a composite formation. Take the one he was about to deploy: it was assembled from eight formation components. It required no central anchor. Each component could function independently while also combining with the others. In a traditional formation, if the central anchor were destroyed, the entire array would immediately fail. This formation had no such weakness. Even if one or two components were damaged, the array would not collapse at once; the remaining components would still operate and maintain the formation's function. Naturally, the formation's power would diminish as the number of components decreased.

Tang Yi held the component in his hand, closed his eyes, and activated his space-time traversal ability. The next second, the component vanished from his palm.

By now, his space-time traversal ability had already advanced once more. He could transfer objects weighing under ten tons over short distances, with precision down to the millimeter. Of course, "short distance" here referred to any range within a planet's orbital sphere. Simply put, the distance between Earth and the Moon counted as short. The distance from Earth to Mars would be considered medium-short, and the distance from Earth to the Sun or Pluto would be medium. The distance between the Solar System and the Pegasus Galaxy, on the other hand, would count as long distance.

Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

Eight sounds rang out around the eight directions surrounding the ancient teleportation array. Following the positions of the eight trigrams, Tang Yi implanted the eight formation components around the array.

With a long hum, the formation was activated.

Centered on the ancient teleportation array, an area of five hundred meters in every direction, above and below, was now protected by the formation. No beast-like creature, whether capable of flight or not, could enter.

"Haha, done." Tang Yi laughed. "Ruoxue, notify Shaojie and the others to come to the warehouse we just used immediately and assemble there at once. Also contact Elder Lu and Ling Ren; tell them the ancient teleportation array can now be safely opened. Have them hurry and send people over to take over. That way, we can travel in peace."

He called toward the control room.

"Understood, Captain. I will carry it out immediately," Hua Ruoxue replied cheerfully.

"Put on this watch. It is the key item for entering the formation. Without it, you will be unable to enter when you wish, and unable to leave when you wish. Understood? Then depart now."

Tang Yi handed the phase watches for entering and leaving the formation to Hua Shaojie and the others.

"Understood!"

After everyone answered, a flash of white light passed, and Jett teleported them directly to the side of the planet's ancient teleportation array.

"Ruoxue, inform the others. We will head down to the planet as well. Jett, prepare the light transfer." Tang Yi told Jett again.

At the side of the planet's ancient teleportation array:

"Fellow Daoist Tang, we are truly grateful to you. The portion of the reward you require will be kept safely for you by us, and once you return, we will certainly give it back to you in full, not a single piece missing. As for the Feiyun Peak you left behind, we will certainly tend it well. When you come back, it will be even better than it is now. Please believe me!"

Lu Changsheng gripped Tang Yi's hand and spoke with deep emotion.

"All right, all right, Elder Lu, no need to be so excited. If I did not trust you, I would not have handed Feiyun Peak over to you. We are going traveling. As for the weapons workshop on Feiyun Peak, just consider it my contribution. I hope that when I return, you will already have wiped those damned creatures out completely. Also, these are the phase watches for entering and leaving this formation. With them, one can come and go freely. However, there are not many of them, only fifty. You will have to handle that yourselves."

Tang Yi handed Lu Changsheng a box containing the phase watches.

"Hmm. To be honest, that number is truly too small. Could you help forge a few more? The matter of compensation is easy to discuss..."

"Wait, wait. First listen to me. This jade slip contains the relevant instructions for activating and deactivating the formation. If you need a large number of people to enter and exit, it also includes the operating procedures for the entrances and exits."

Tang Yi interrupted Lu Changsheng and handed him another jade slip.

"Oh, in that case there is no problem. Then I shall not disturb you any further, Fellow Daoist Tang. I will first go and make arrangements with Alliance Leader Ling. Farewell, farewell!"

After taking the jade slip, Lu Changsheng left in high spirits.

Three days later, Jett carried Tang Yi and the others aboard, and under the watchful farewells of Lu Changsheng, Ling Ren, and many other cultivators, they set out on their voyage through the Milky Way.