Chapter 2085: Another Prime Starry Sky, The Truth Behind the Great Arrival

The Winds of Kyushu

Leopard Five's mission was to collect usable supplies from the nearby remnants of a battlefield. With their warship already deployed to the site, they were naturally busy.

Inside the cabin, Lu Ye and Jiu Yan meticulously examined the star map left by Leopard Five, scrutinizing every detail.

The more they studied it, the graver their expressions grew.

Of the hundreds of star systems depicted on the map, they recognized not a single one; all were completely unfamiliar. Even some of the celestial marvels within these star systems were entirely new to them.

They exchanged glances. Lu Ye's throat felt dry.

Jiu Yan's expression was troubled. "Junior Brother," she said, "this might not be the starry sky we know!"

Although Lu Ye had already harbored such suspicions, he still found it hard to accept.

"There can be... multiple starry skies?" Lu Ye asked, looking at Jiu Yan.

"Although I'm reluctant to admit it, this... this appears to be the truth," Jiu Yan replied. A look of recollection crossed her face. "Someone once told me that our starry sky isn't unique; it's merely one 'plane' among many. There are other starry skies besides our own."

"Who told you that?" Lu Ye asked, surprised.

"A madman! I didn't take him seriously at all. But now, it seems what I dismissed as his ravings might actually have been knowledge."

"Where is this madman now?"

"He died long ago. We were only just entering the Constellation realm when he told me all this."

Lu Ye fell silent. A dead madman's words would ordinarily be insignificant, but now, this very scenario was unfolding before them.

"We were brought here by the Ghost Sedan. I initially thought it would take us to the Star Abyss, but instead, it brought us to this starry sky. Why? Was it a warning?" Lu Ye looked perplexed. The Ghost Sedan clearly had its own will, but why would it do such a thing?

If it truly was a warning, what was its purpose? They were now in this plane of the starry sky, with no idea how to return home.

"Thinking about it now," Jiu Yan suddenly mused, "the violent jolting of the Ghost Sedan earlier must have been the turbulence caused by traversing different planes of the starry sky."

Before Narcissus was brought in, the Ghost Sedan's journeys had always been incredibly smooth because it was always traversing within their original starry sky. Such travel, no matter the distance, never caused any jolting. However, traversing different planes of the starry sky would be different, which explained the Ghost Sedan's intense movements at the end.

Once here, the Ghost Sedan expelled all ten of them, then vanished.

"The cultivation system in this plane of the starry sky seems somewhat different from ours. Senior Sister, did you notice that the spiritual senses of these cultivators are generally more refined?"

Not stronger, but more refined. This likely explains their superior ability to control Mecha.

Furthermore, according to the information Leopard Five previously divulged, Mecha is the prevailing and dominant power in this starry sky; all other schools of cultivation are considered unorthodox.

Lu Ye finally understood why the battlefield was littered with so many Mecha wrecks.

Mecha fall under the scope of artifact crafting, a specialized branch of it. This suggests that the art of artifact crafting in this starry sky must be highly advanced.

"What do we do now?" Jiu Yan asked, looking at Lu Ye. Even with her extensive experience, she was at a loss; this entire ordeal was simply too bizarre.

Lu Ye, too, had no idea what to do. The most crucial task now was finding a way back. However, traversing different planes of the starry sky was beyond their capabilities. To return, there was only one option: find the Ghost Sedan!

But the Ghost Sedan had vanished without a trace. Where would they even begin to look?

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Ye said, "The Ghost Sedan deliberately sought out so many powerful cultivators from our starry sky and brought them here. It's unlikely that it intends for us to save this plane of the starry sky; we don't possess such immense power. This is probably a warning, meant to show us the consequences should a starry sky be invaded by the Star Abyss. A Star Abyss wormhole has already appeared in the Sea of Myriad Forms back home. Perhaps it won't be long before our starry sky faces the same fate as this one..."

At this point, his expression suddenly shifted. "So that's it!" he murmured.

"What is it?" Jiu Yan asked, confused.

Lu Ye turned to her, his expression grim. "The 'Great Arrival' is the Star Abyss invasion!"

All this time, he had been trying to gather specific information about the 'Great Arrival,' but it seemed no one knew anything about it, except for the mysterious Insectoid High Priest.

Only now did he truly understand.

Jiu Yan's face also changed.

Although reluctant to admit it, Lu Ye's conclusion seemed correct: the so-called 'Great Arrival' was indeed the Star Abyss's invasion of the starry sky!

The current state of this plane of the starry sky confirmed it. Under the 'Great Arrival,' the entire starry sky was swept up, and no one could escape. This was a colossal catastrophe. If they failed to withstand it, the entire starry sky would be overrun by Star Abyss creatures, leaving no place for its inhabitants to survive.

"How did that Insectoid High Priest know all this? Logically, even with his power, he shouldn't be able to sense the 'Great Arrival' unless he had experienced it before, but he certainly doesn't possess such a long lifespan."

Recalling everything he had heard in the Blood Jade Realm, Lu Ye's eyes gleamed sharply. "The Insectoid High Priest certainly doesn't have such a long lifespan, and it's impossible for him to have experienced this before. But what if... the Insectoids themselves originated from the Star Abyss?"

"Junior Brother, are you saying...?" Jiu Yan's expression changed.

Lu Ye nodded. "Senior Sister, you must have heard of the Blood Ancestor, right?"

"Of course. It's said that the Blood Ancestor's major realms were formed from his remnants after death." She looked somewhat perplexed. They were discussing the Insectoids; why bring up the Blood race?

"Indeed, the Blood Ancestor is the origin of the Blood race; without him, there would be no Blood race as we know it," Lu Ye affirmed. "The realms formed from the Blood Ancestor's remains are immensely vast, and the shattering of the Dwarf Clan's Inch Mountain back then was directly linked to him. This has always made me curious: since the peak of cultivation is the Sun-Illumination realm, how exactly did the Blood Ancestor shatter Inch Mountain, a supreme treasure? How much greater must his power have been than a Sun-Illumination cultivator? Does such power truly exist within our starry sky?"

Jiu Yan's eyes widened in understanding. "Such immense power doesn't exist within our starry sky. But if it originated from the Star Abyss..."

Lu Ye nodded. "Therefore, for our starry sky, the Blood Ancestor is a monster from the Star Abyss, and so are the Insectoids. Now, on the eve of the 'Great Arrival,' the Insectoids must have detected something through special means, which is why they began to ally with the Blood race."

The Insectoid envoy, Shi Long, had indeed once claimed that the 'Great Arrival' presented an opportunity for both the Insectoid and Blood races to potentially dominate the starry sky.

This was because, within the Star Abyss, these two races possessed powerful forces they could harness—their inherent racial power! To thrive and survive in the Star Abyss, the Insectoid and Blood races must be teeming with formidable experts.

Many things that had perplexed Lu Ye for a long time now made perfect sense.

"So, our starry sky has experienced a 'Great Arrival' before?" Jiu Yan's expression shifted.

The fact that both the Insectoid and Blood races are alien to this starry sky undeniably suggests that it was once invaded by the Star Abyss. However, this must have occurred in the distant past, as no one today seems to know anything about it.

Perhaps it wasn't just the Insectoid and Blood races; other species might have originated from the Star Abyss as well, slowly integrating into the starry sky after countless years of survival and evolution. Only the Insectoid and Blood races seemed to retain their inherent malevolence, earning widespread resentment.

"That must be it," Lu Ye confirmed with a nod. "To have experienced an invasion from the Star Abyss and yet turn the tide..." He then recalled some scattered records he had seen long ago in the Haichuan Tower within the Asura Arena. The information in those records now undoubtedly aligned with the concept of a Star Abyss invasion.

Back then, he couldn't make sense of those fragmented records, but now, he understood them almost entirely.

"It appears our starry sky is far more resilient than we imagined."

This was undoubtedly good news. Given their past success in fending off a Star Abyss invasion, there was hope they could succeed again.

"Junior Brother, I'm going to the front lines!" Jiu Yan declared, her expression suddenly resolute.

Lu Ye nodded. "That's what I was thinking too."

Regardless of the Ghost Sedan's true intention in bringing them here, now that they were present, they felt compelled to witness it firsthand. They needed to observe how the powerful cultivators of this plane of the starry sky confronted the invaders from the Star Abyss.

Furthermore, if they were to search for the Ghost Sedan, joining the front lines and gaining recognition would be a viable strategy. Only by doing so could they more easily gather information.

As both were Sun-Illumination cultivators, once they made a decision, they would not hesitate.

However, before they departed, Lu Ye had one more question for Leopard Five.

Lu Ye sent a spiritual message. Soon, Leopard Five, who had been out gathering supplies, returned to the warship. After dismounting his Mecha, he approached Lu Ye. "My Lord, how may I help you?"

"I wanted to ask if there were any notable changes in this starry sky just before the Star Abyss invasion, perhaps the spiritual energy becoming more active or something similar..."

Leopard Five nodded. "Yes, there were. I've read some accounts. Around three hundred years ago, for a period, the starry sky's spiritual energy grew increasingly active, making cultivation and breakthroughs much simpler for us cultivators. Many rare treasures, rarely seen normally, also began to manifest."

Lu Ye knew he was correct. The plane of the starry sky they came from was experiencing the very same precursors to a Star Abyss invasion, as all those events were currently unfolding there.

Leopard Five's expression then darkened. "But since the Star Abyss invasion, things have taken a turn for the worse."

"How so?"

"The spiritual energy of the starry sky is growing increasingly dormant, and cultivation and breakthroughs for cultivators are becoming progressively harder. According to the Divine Realm Lords, the very foundation of the starry sky is being devoured by the Star Abyss. If we cannot resist, the starry sky will eventually become a wasteland for cultivators."

Lu Ye and Jiu Yan were both deeply shocked, never having imagined such drastic changes to the starry sky after a Star Abyss invasion.