In the s.p.a.cious hall, Mo Heng kept his eyes on the special vessel he used to hold the drop of Blood Essence from Nie Tian.
As he slowly narrowed his eyes, wisps of light flew from the tip of his index finger to the transparent vessel.
The drop of Blood Essence in the vessel was instantly lit up, and the flesh aura it unleashed grew even stronger.
At the same time, bits of cyan light could be seen s.h.i.+mmering in the drop of Blood Essence that looked like a crimson crystal.
WHOOs.h.!.+ WHOOs.h.!.+ WHOOs.h.!.+
All of a sudden, many more transparent vessels flew out of Mo Heng’s cuff in an endless stream.
Soon, hundreds of them floated in the air, each containing a drop of Blood Essence.
The drops of Blood Essence were of a variety of colors. Some were emerald green; some were scarlet like red agates; some shone with dazzling silver light, while others were multicolored like the rainbow.
All of them seemed to belong to different races.
Floating amidst the hundreds of Blood-Essence-holding vessels, the drop of Nie Tian’s Blood Essence didn’t seem outstanding at all.
However, as Mo Heng cast a secret spell, some kind of seal that had been suppressing those vessels seemed to be suddenly lifted, and the vessels instantly grew unusually active.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
Like crystals with their own awareness, the drops of Blood Essence hit the insides of their vessels repeatedly, giving rise to crisp clinking sounds.
Pushed by the Blood Essence, the numerous vessels soon converged on the vessel that contained the drop of Blood Essence from Nie Tian.
CLINK! CLINK!
The sounds of vessels clinking together filled the air.
At this moment, all of the other Blood Essence seemed to be yearning for Nie Tian’s Blood Essence.
However, even though Mo Heng had lifted a certain sealing magic, the drops of Blood Essence could only sense other Blood Essence’s auras and fly around, but they still couldn’t shatter their respective vessels and break free.
As the clinking sounds grew increasingly intense, the hundreds of vessels soon engulfed the vessel that held Nie Tian’s Blood Essence.
The Blood Essence from different races seemed to have gone mad.
Without exception, they all showed an irrepressible desire towards Nie Tian’s Blood Essence, as if they couldn’t wait to merge with it.
Inside the hall, Mo Heng, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and Zu Guangyao all gasped with astonishment.
The unusual movement of the numerous drops of Blood Essence astonished them beyond words. They simply didn’t understand why they were acting so strangely.
The hundreds of drops of Blood Essence came from various origins. They carried the bloodlines of many different races that lived in this starry river, including Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Floragrims, Ancientbeasts, and even t.i.tans.
The way experts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace a.s.sessed a hybrid’s bloodline was to obtain a drop of the hybrid’s Blood Essence and try to match it with the Blood Essence of different races.
As soon as a certain seal was lifted, Blood Essence of the same origins would interact.
If Nie Tian’s Blood Essence carried a Demon bloodline, after Mo Heng summoned the vessels that held hundreds of drops of Blood Essence, the drop of Demon Blood Essence would go through evident changes.
Then, Mo Heng would be able to recognize the origin of the tested Blood Essence at first glance, and therefore determine that Nie Tian carried a Demon bloodline.
However, the changes happening before him now flabbergasted him.
Hundreds of drops of Blood Essence that belonged to various races of this boundless starry river were interacting with Nie Tian’s Blood Essence simultaneously.
Furthermore, the way they interacted was also completely different from before.
Before, whenever two drops of Blood Essence found their match, both of them would emanate bright light, therefore showing Mo Heng the result.
However, they wouldn’t interact so intensely, or take it upon themselves to move closer towards one another.
This time, however, each and every drop of Blood Essence madly struck the insides of their vessels, as if they couldn’t wait to break free.
After realizing that they wouldn’t be able to shatter their vessels, they drove their vessels to ram into the vessel that held Nie Tian’s Blood Essence.
All of them behaved very strangely because of the drop of Nie Tian’s Blood Essence, as if they all had an irrepressible need to devour it.
“What... what’s happening, grand elder?!” Yan Zhan asked with a stutter.
Wei Lai took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. “I’ve never seen anything like this during the previous hybrid Blood Essence a.s.sessments!”
“Why in the world can his Blood Essence interact with the Blood Essence of all races, and get them frantically active?” Xin Qing muttered in a low voice, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Mo Heng, however, continued to stare blankly at the hundreds of vessels, which were still ramming into the vessel that contained Nie Tian’s Blood Essence.
“Grand elder?” Wei Lai called softly.
Mo Heng didn’t give any response, as if he was lost in some remote memory.
The sounds of vessels clinking together went on as the vessel that contained Nie Tian’s Blood Essence continued to be impacted by the swarm of vessels.
However, no matter how hard they hit it, not even the finest fissures appeared on the incomparably solid vessels.
Wei Lai and the other elders called out to Mo Heng a few more times, but he still didn’t give any response.
Only after quite a while did Mo Heng come out of his daze. As he flicked his sleeve, the numerous vessels flew back to him and disappeared into his cuff, as if they were attracted by some kind of magnet.
The vessel that contained Nie Tian’s Blood Essence was the only one that remained floating in the air.
Mo Heng then summoned it to his palm, where he took a close look at it, as if it were some precious treasure that he couldn’t afford to lose.
He was fascinated by the drop of Blood Essence within the vessel as he muttered something, as if he was sleep-talking.
Only after a while did he finally put the vessel away.
Wei Lai and the other four elders all fixed him with puzzled gazes.
“a.s.sign the Vast Heaven Pavilion to the seventh Son of the Stars,” Mo Heng suddenly said.
Wei Lai’s expression flickered with astonishment. “The Vast Heaven Pavilion?! Many others have their eyes on that pavilion and want to get it in exchange for their contribution points. But it’s long been stipulated that that pavilion isn’t among the properties that people can obtain with their contribution points. Even the other Sons of the Stars’ requests to obtain it in exchange for their contribution points were refused. That Nie Tian...”
Yan Zhan chimed in, “Grand elder, Nie Tian has just confirmed his status as the seventh Son of the Stars. If we a.s.sign the Vast Heaven Pavilion to him now, will it be appropriate?”
Xin Qing and Zu Guangyao also agreed, saying that the Vast Heaven Pavilion was far too special. The sectmaster had said that no matter how long the Vast Heaven Pavilion stayed empty, it shouldn’t be awarded to anyone, including the elders and the Sons of the Stars.
This had become a stipulation known to everyone.
No one had ever broken it over the past ten thousand years.
“I said: a.s.sign the Vast Heaven Pavilion to Nie Tian,” Mo Heng said with an expressionless face. “I’ll talk to our sectmaster myself when he returns.”
Wei Lai and the others looked confused, but decided not to say another word.
Since Mo Heng demanded that the Vast Heaven Pavilion be a.s.signed to Nie Tian, it meant that he had confirmed Nie Tian’s ident.i.ty as the seventh Son of the Stars.
“Also, there’s no need for you to investigate Nie Tian’s bloodline anymore. It’s fine.” With these words, Mo Heng ordered, “This Star Medallion will be the proof of his status as the seventh Son of the Stars. Give it to him later.”
He handed a star-shaped ident.i.ty medallion to Wei Lai.
“There are a hundred thousand initial contribution points in it,” Mo Heng added.
Yan Zhan and the others couldn’t help but exclaim.
“A hundred thousand?!”
“A hundred thousand as his initial contribution points?!”
Wei Lai was shocked as well. “Grand elder, the other six Sons of the Stars were bestowed initial contribution points of different amounts, but the highest of them all was only fifty thousand. He has just arrived, and hasn’t made any contributions to our sect yet. Isn’t a hundred thousand a bit too much for his initial contribution points? If we do this, I’m afraid the other Sons of the Stars will not be happy about it!”
With a plain tone, Mo Heng said, “I have the final say in a.s.sessing newborn Sons of the Stars and determining the number of their initial contribution points.”
Wei Lai and the other elders smiled bitterly, swallowing the things they wanted to argue.
They wondered what secret that drop of Nie Tian’s Blood Essence held that made the grand elder favor him so much.
“Since the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python have connections to him, and they’re geographically close to the Domain of the Falling Stars, we’ll include them in Nie Tian’s map and make them his subordinate domains.” Mo Heng pondered in silence for a few seconds before adding, “Go talk to the Void Spirit Society and tell them this is my decision.”
Wei Lai and the other elders grew increasingly confused.
Yan Zhan couldn’t help but ask, “What was so special about his Blood Essence that made you willing to do so much for him?”
“It’s not time to tell you about it yet.” Mo Heng waved slightly, signaling them to leave. “I want to be alone now.”
Even though Wei Lai and the other elders were still baffled, they left after he said these words.
After they left the hall, Mo Heng took out the vessel that contained Nie Tian’s Blood Essence and fixed it with an obsessed, deep look.
As he did, tears rolled uncontrollably down his cheeks.