Chapter 2132: My Old Friend!

Normally, a cultivator from a Heavenly Field could easily discern whether another cultivator came from the same world or a different one, especially when standing within their territory and facing an outsider.

The distinction mainly came from the incompatibility between a foreign cultivator’s aura and the Will of the Heavenly Field they entered.

However, when cultivators from different Star Regions met for the first time, it was often difficult to tell whether the other was from a neighboring Heavenly Field or merely a different Star Region.

The same principle applied when individuals from beyond the Chaotic Sea of Stars entered. Their presence would always carry an aura subtly out of harmony with everyone else’s.

Still, the Chaotic Sea of Stars was not governed by a unified Will and thus could not impose any innate suppression on invaders.

Even so, the discrepancy was already enough for native cultivators to detect intruders.

Therefore, when foreign experts from other Star Fields invaded the Chaotic Sea of Stars, if they failed to conceal their traces carefully, they were usually discovered and hunted down with ease.

For the same reason, even though the Chaotic Sea of Stars had long been infiltrated by other Star Fields, those outsiders would still habitually keep a low profile, hiding their presence whenever possible.

Now, Shang Xia had discovered that the experts of the Nightmare Sea of Stars had adopted an entirely new method of invasion, seizing the bodies of cultivators of the Chaotic Sea of Stars!

Even though Shang Xia was currently within the Lightning Prison of the Flood Star Region, he was a native of the Chaotic Sea of Stars. Thus, the moment he examined the body he had retrieved, he immediately knew it belonged to someone of their Star Field.

Though the body’s soul had already been extinguished, the vitality it retained clearly indicated that its former master was a high-level True Immortal.

That, however, was not what interested him most. What fascinated him was how the Nightmare Sea of Stars’ cultivators had managed to use such a body! How were they able to make the body of a high-level True Immortal burst forth with the might of a Sage!

Moreover, during his earlier battle, Shang Xia was certain that the opponent’s cultivation and aura had both belonged to an outsider from beyond their Star Field. There was no mistake about it.

What, then, was the true nature of those lightning spheres?

Though he had once taken great risks to come into contact with those spheres, and had benefited from them immensely, it was now clear from his recent fight that they varied in quality.

In truth, Shang Xia had already formed a vague conclusion in his mind for what it was... It was a type of possession!

At that moment, the lightning storm deep within the Lightning Prison had begun to weaken. The once-churning, dark violet sea of clouds was fading and thinning.

After only a moment’s thought, Shang Xia decided to turn back and investigate the area where the passage had once existed.

However, when he returned to the same location, he was startled to find that the passage had completely vanished. Even the surrounding void and clouds showed no trace of spatial fluctuation, as if everything he had just experienced had been nothing more than an illusion.

“No... That’s not right,” Shang Xia quickly realized. “The sea of clouds here is shifting. The once-dense clouds are thinning, and the lightning within them is fading. In other words, this is no longer the heart of the Lightning Prison!”

Following the flow of his divine soul toward where the clouds grew denser and the lightning more violent, Shang Xia finally understood. The heart of the Lightning Prison was not fixed. Likewise, the passage linking the Chaotic Sea of Stars and the Nightmare Sea of Stars shifted locations at random.

The realization reminded him of what he had encountered earlier in the Towering Star Region, where the origin of the void currents constantly changed because of the repeated collisions between the Star Fields.

He briefly considered tracking the new heart of the Thunder Prison to see whether another passage would appear, and whether it was linked to the storm itself. But since his purpose for coming to the Flood Star Region’s Lightning Prison had already been largely fulfilled, he decided there was no need to linger and flew toward the area where the clouds grew thin.

Although the clouds of the Lightning Prison were dense and imposed restrictions on divine soul, leaving was not particularly difficult. Before long, Shang Xia had escaped from the stormy sea of lightning and thunder.

Yet the very instant he exited the Lightning Prison, he sensed three powerful auras, each belonging to a Sage, closing in on him from different directions.

Shang Xia sighed helplessly. He had no intention of forcing his way out. Instead, he remained where he was, waiting for the three to appear. What he didn’t know was whether those approaching figures were native experts of the Flood Star Region, or beings whose bodies had been seized by the invaders of the Nightmare Sea of Stars like He Jiubin.

Soon enough, perhaps realizing that Shang Xia had detected them and chosen not to flee, the three ceased to conceal themselves and approached openly. One of them asked cautiously, "May I ask who you are, and why you have emerged from the Lightning Prison?"

But Shang Xia did not answer immediately. Instead, his gaze turned toward another figure, a cultivator who had just become a high-level Sage, and he said in mild surprise, "Master Lightning, it’s been years! You’ve already advanced to a high-level Sage. It’s truly a cause for celebration!"

The Sage he addressed blinked in surprise, as did the two companions beside him, who exchanged curious glances.

Staring at Shang Xia with hesitation, he eventually muttered, “Are you... Are you Sage Seven Stars?”

Shang Xia smiled and nodded in confirmation.

For some reason, once he recognized Shang Xia, Master Lightning’s initial wariness vanished entirely. He turned to his companions and said, "This is an old friend of mine from an expedition into the Great Spatial Vortex more than ten years ago."

After he spoke, the other Sages of the Flood Star Region relaxed visibly, and the tension in the air dissolved at once.

Sensing the disappearance of their hostility, Shang Xia smiled and asked, "Might I ask what brought the three of you here in such haste?"

Master Lightning took a step forward and said, "This isn’t the place to talk. Please, let us move elsewhere."

Dozens of thousands of miles away from the Thunder Prison, in an open stretch of void, Shang Xia and the three Flood Star Region masters stood upon the deck of a massive starship.

Master Lightning, whose full name was Ting Lei, a Sage of the Essence Lei Heavenly Field, invited Shang Xia over and introduced his companions. They were Sage Ji Yukun of the Essence Abyss Heavenly Field, a fifth star Sage, and Sage Shi Xin of the Essence Heng Heavenly Field, a fourth star Sage.

Naturally, Shang Xia revealed his true identity to the three of them after he was done. Right after that, he voiced his suspicion. “For the three of you to rush over the second you sensed me... Did something big happen?”