Outside of the Constellation Well, Anwen was quietly looking down at the stars from high ground. The large stars of the daybreak attribute were naturally brighter and even more dazzling when they were being absorbed.
It wasn’t just Anwen, but all of the Evernight experts were present to witness Qianye activate two large stars. Basil sighed. “Who would’ve thought he’d reach this stage? Anwen, he’s already comparable to you, isn’t he?”
Anwen said indifferently, “In terms of quality, my demonic energy is slightly inferior. That is Venus Dawn, after all.”
“That’s not that big of a difference. Speaking of which, Edward, doesn’t that b.a.s.t.a.r.d have a vampire bloodline?”
“That is indeed the case.” Edward’s expression was gloomy. He had fought Qianye before and knew that the latter’s bloodline power was even more powerful than his. If the man were a pureblooded vampire, there was no telling whether or not the t.i.tle of holy son would be his to claim.
Basil was baffled. “How can he cultivate Venus Dawn with a vampire bloodline?”
No one had an answer to this question as it went against all common knowledge. It was at this time that Twilight gasped. “A third!”
At the bottom of the well, three radiant stars had formed a triangle with Qianye at the center, and torrents of surging star power were flowing steadily into the Storm Pearl.
At this point, the pearl had turned into a small sun, and the outline of a crystal was forming at the center of the bright light.
For a moment, everyone was drawn to the center of the well, silent as they gazed at the three radiant stars.
Moments later, Anwen said, “Great planning!”
Twilight said, “Clearing the small stars first, and then laying down a trap, allowing Qianye to condense an origin crystal without restrictions...”
Song Zining’s trapping of Anwen seemed, at least at the moment, a victory for the Empire.
“What grade will this origin crystal be?” Basil was curious.
The vampires understood humans the most. Edward said, “It might be at the peak of high-grade. Li Xu, explain things a bit.”
A hooded marquis stood out and removed his hood, revealing the face of a middle-aged man. He bowed to the peak characters of the Evernight faction. “Your Excellencies, you must be wondering why I have a human name. It’s simple, I was a human from the Jingtang Li Clan until a couple of years ago.”
Anwen nodded all of a sudden. “So that’s how it is. I was wondering why the vampires suddenly got their hands on something like the hexagonal blood rod. As for the arachne …” He turned toward Basil. “That must be a secret deal between your races.”
Edward and Basil were expressionless, pretending they didn’t hear anything. Such a thing couldn’t be announced—they wouldn’t admit it even if someone were to guess the matter.
Eden snorted as he said to Li Xu, “You’re already a marquis now. It seems the vampire race has made deep investments. Which duke granted you the embrace? Or is it a prince?”
Li Xu replied, “This, I don’t dare reply.”
“Continue. It’s the same whoever it is.”
Li Xu bowed. “My authority in the Li family was high enough to come into contact with certain secret doc.u.ments. According to their cla.s.sification, there are a total of thirteen large stars beneficial to humans, one luminous star, and seven polar stars.”
Anwen shook his head. “There are more than thirteen large stars on the daybreak side. There are at least twenty-four such stars or even more. Who knows?”
Li Xu’s expression changed slightly, unable to hide his astonishment. He had already witnessed Anwen’s ability during this period. Being able to state an exact number meant that he had perhaps surpa.s.sed the Li family’s ancestor.
Li Xu cleared his throat, saying, “The luminous and polar stars are easier to recognize due to their brightness. Comparatively, the large stars are much vaguer… the Li family records might be wrong as well.”
Edward b.u.t.ted in, “Continue.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The humans have separated the origin crystal into four grades: ordinary, medium, high, and top-quality. Being able to absorb one big star will make it a high-grade crystal, and absorbing three and above will make it top-grade. According to this cla.s.sification, a high-grade crystal corresponds to our marquis-grade origin blood, and the top-grade compares to our duke-grade.”
Everyone became serious after hearing this. Anwen saw this and said, “The other faction gaining a glorious marquis isn’t a big issue.”
Basil laughed wryly. “What I fear is that it won’t be just one.”
If they had numerous blood rods and white spider eggs, the empire had to have more than just one storm pearl. With all the obstructions cleared away, Qianye might be able to produce more than just one high-grade origin crystal. This would mean that the empire would gain not just one but a bunch of divine champions.
Anwen said decisively, “That’s fine as well! Don’t forget that her highness hasn’t taken to the field yet.”
Everyone felt spirited.
It was at this time that everyone felt the scene brighten up a bit and were startled upon looking down. “A fourth star!?”
At this point, there were four large stars around Qianye, and the rolling waves of star power were like streams of raging flames. The Storm Pearl in front of Qianye had long since melted away, and a crystal was currently growing rapidly inside the blaze.
It felt like there was a bottomless black hole in front of Qianye, an ent.i.ty that would devour everything. As vast amounts of origin power were poured in under the empowerment of the four large stars, the embryonic origin crystal began to emit a scorching aura, something even the roaring fire couldn’t hide.
According to Song Zining’s original plan, this was when Qianye should stop, and then use what was left of his origin power to lay down a trap for the dark races. No matter where the snare was placed, it would still be a threat to them.
However, Qianye could sense even more large stars stirring. After some thought, he decided to give up on the original plan and went all out into instilling the crystal with origin power.
By the time the fifth, sixth and seventh stars lit up, the experts of Evernight were already shocked speechless.
Finally, after absorbing and condensing star power from the seven large stars, Qianye jumped out of the Constellation Well and returned to the surface. Seeing that the process had stopped at seven stars, everyone from Evernight heaved a sigh of relief. But soon, they realized that there was really nothing to be relieved about—this was seven stars they were talking about!
Qianye staggered somewhat after landing on the ground, and Wei Potian had to support him back to camp.
Watching Qianye’s receding figure, Anwen said, “Is he really just rank-fifteen?”
Be it Edward, Basil, or Eden, all of them had exchanged blows with Qianye before. Basil smiled wryly. “Wasn’t it clear when you fought him? He only has six origin vortices.”
“Are the daybreak stars easier to sense?” Twilight asked.
“No!” Anwen was certain.
He remained silent for a good while before saying, “Eden will go down tomorrow and clear away all the small stars for Her Highness.”
Anwen didn’t continue the sentence, but everyone was clear about the implications. They were currently in a corner. Evernight would’ve lost this round if the Demoness couldn’t take the dark star.
At this moment, everyone in the Imperial camp was watching Qianye’s origin crystal with bated breaths. The faint red crystal was surrounded by a halo on the outside and with golden fluids flowing about on the inside. A layer of scarlet gold flames would enshroud the crystal when barely activated with origin power, and it looked fairly similar to Venus Dawn.
Ji Tianqing sighed after a period of observation. “This crystal can produce origin flames close to Venus Dawn, which will add great power to both bullets and blades. From the looks of it, this one is probably at the top-grade!”
“We’re rich!” Song Zining patted Qianye’s shoulder.
Qianye had never imagined that he would produce a top-grade origin crystal in just one try. An item of this grade was priceless in the Empire, not to mention one that could directly improve attack power. Many people would be willing to spend a fortune on this, but only the major clans would be able to afford it.
Next, Eden and Zhao Yuying took to the field from either side. Their objectives were to clear away the small stars—they did produce results in the end, but the products were of the lowest grade.
The next day, Anwen descended once more. Without Song Zining’s interference, he activated four large stars in quick succession and condensed a duke-grade origin blood.
There was no joy on Anwen’s face because Qianye’s seven-star accomplishment had completely overshadowed him.
“This doesn’t look good!” Song Zining’s expression s.h.i.+fted drastically. “Anwen is clearing obstructions for the Demoness!”
Wei Potian was puzzled. “Large stars are also obstructions?”
Song Zining said in a serious tone, “They may be resources for us, but to the Demoness, even the large stars are just hindrances. Her target is the dark star!”
Ji Tianqing also looked worried. “That dark star is enough to condense two drops of origin blood! And no one knows how powerful they will be. How about going down again to set up a trap?”
Song Zining shook his head. “You need to be powerful enough to lay down traps. Locking down two large stars is my limit. I can’t do anything against the dark star.”
Ji Tianqing sighed softly. “There’s no other way then. If the Demoness can really activate the dark star, we can only let her do as she pleases. Whatever the outcome is, that’ll be a problem for several years later.”
“What should we do now?” Everyone glanced at Song Zining.
The seventh young master gave it some thought. “A trap won’t work a second time because all they need is to wait for a short while and it’ll disappear. So there’s only one path ahead—they work on their product, and we work on ours. We might gain less profit than the other side, but it won’t be too bad with Qianye around. In a comparison of strength, we will even get an upgrade.”
Everyone nodded. Qianye said, “Let me go this time.”
After a day of rest, Qianye was not far off from his peak state and could try again.
Song Zining pointed at Ji Tianqing. “Miss Tianqing, you must have things you haven’t used, stop hiding them.”
Ji Tianqing was startled. “I’m not hiding anything!”
Song Zining said, “I’ve been observing the well and realized that instilling special origin power will grant the origin crystal special abilities. Our origin powers can’t match up to the Venus Dawn, but we can try out certain special abilities. Who knows, maybe we’ll find some delightful surprises.”
Ji Tianqing nodded. This plan was indeed feasible.