In a grand hall in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.
The vast, arched ceiling was dotted with stars that emanated brilliant starlight.
The moment Nie Tian and Fang Yuan walked into the grand hall, many laid their eyes on Nie Tian.
Several well-dressed Sons of the Stars, who had arrived before him, smiled at him and said, “Seventh martial brother.”
Nie Tian bowed slightly towards them and said in a soft voice, “Greetings, elders and senior martial brothers.”
Aside from Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong, there were three others in the hall who Nie Tian had never met before.
Vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang hadn’t arrived yet, and neither had grand elder Mo Heng.
In the center of the spacious meeting hall stood the seats of the seven Son of the Stars, twelve elders, two vice sectmasters, and the sectmaster.
However, most of them were still empty at this moment.
Some of the seats had a crystal mirror that was as tall as a grown man on them, reflecting what was happening inside the hall.
Fang Yuan turned to Nie Tian and introduced the three strange figures to him, “This is our eldest martial brother. This is our second martial brother. And this is our fourth martial sister.”
The first Son of the Stars, Dou Tianchen, was at the late Saint domain. His jade-like face was filled with a warm smile.
The second Son of the Stars, Fang Zhe, who was at the middle Saint domain, seemed to be a reserved person. His face was completely expressionless.
The fourth Son of the Stars, Wang Meijia, was the only female among all seven Sons of the Stars. She was at the middle Void domain. Her average looks gave her the look of an elder sister that lived next door.
All three of them nodded briefly towards Nie Tian.
Mysterious starlight could be seen circulating in the depths of their eyes. As they fixed their gazes on Nie Tian, he sensed subtle changes in his inner star power and star souls.
This was the first time Nie Tian had met the three of them. He had only heard their names and cultivation bases from Fang Yuan, but had never met them in person before.
“Where’s grand elder Mo Heng?” Nie Tian asked in a soft voice.
Wei Lai pointed at the seat where Mo Heng should be seated, and said, “He can’t come in person, but he’ll attend this meeting with his soul shadow. When the meeting starts, the grand elder’s soul shadow will appear in that mirror. A few elders will also attend this meeting with this method.”
Many major human domains were currently in turmoil. The situation in the Dead Star Sea was also critical.
Under such circumstances, the powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace had to hold their posts, lest anything go wrong.
Under comparison, the seven Sons of the Stars’ battle prowess was fairly limited. Only Dou Tianchen had entered the late Saint domain, and could be considered a stronger fighter. All the others still had yet to grow. They had only arranged for their powerful subordinates to fight in different battlefields.
“I’ll send word to vice sectmaster Luo now,” Wei Lai muttered to himself.
“It seems that you’ve entered the Soul realm, junior martial brother. Congratulations.” The first Son of the Stars, Dou Tianchen, said with a warm smile. “You’ve only joined our sect recently, and yet you’ve already won yourself a high reputation. Both the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect speak highly of you. I’m impressed.”
With a humble smile, Nie Tian said, “Compared to my senior martial brothers’ great achievements, what I’ve done isn’t worth mentioning.”
Dou Tianchen shook his head. “You’re being humble. I received word that both the Fiends and the Phantasms are running thorough investigations of you. They seem to be very interested in your background. What on earth did you do to them in the Domain of Heaven’s Origin?”
The eyes of Wei Lai and the other elders lit up as they heard these words.
Hou Chulan had sent a handsome compensation to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace after everything had been taken care of in the Domain of Heaven’s Origin. However, she had been vague about what Nie Tian had done exactly.
She had only mentioned that he was the reason why they had been able to discover Qiu Hanshan’s secret collusion with the Phantasms, but that was it.
Even so, word of He Lianxiong suffering a heavy blow, losing multiple Saint domain subordinates, and Hou Chulan losing two early Saint domain subordinates had still spread.
However, both Hou Chulan and He Lianxiong had kept their mouths closed about the details of their trip.
Therefore, most people didn’t know what Nie Tian had done other than exposing Qiu Hanshan’s identity as a traitor.
With an expressionless face, Fang Zhe, the second Son of the Stars, said, “What he did to them…? The battle in the Domain of Heaven’s Origin was still a sound defeat for us. We lost multiple Saint domain members, and the Phantasms only lost a ninth grade grand patriarch. And the Phantasms took that grand patriarch’s corpse away when they retreated, and may very well bring him back to life in the future.”
The fourth Son of the Stars, Wang Meijia, joined the conversation. “All they lost were their subordinates. At least Hou Chulan and He Lianxiong are still alive. That way, the Five Elements Sect and the Heaven Span Pavilion didn’t have their foundation hurt. But we…”
Everyone grew silent and grim upon hearing her words.
The deaths of Hou Chulan and He Lianxiong’s subordinates weren’t of much significance to these lofty Sons of the Stars.
Only the deaths of those who enjoyed the same status as them would shake their hearts.
The fact that Hou Chulan and He Lianxiong had survived while Mou Luo, who was one of them, had been killed by the Demons had brought shame to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.
As fellow Sons of the Stars, they all found this news hard to accept.
At this moment, vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang and the sixth Son of the Stars, Sikong Cuo, walked into the grand hall, almost shoulder to shoulder.
Nie Tian instantly laid his eyes on Luo Wanxiang.
As one of the Sons of the Stars from the previous generation, Luo Wanxiang was a small, scrawny man. He hunched his back, as if he had been born that way.
Walking abreast of Sikong Cuo, he seemed much smaller and poor-figured. However, he somehow gave those who saw him a feeling of power.
Nie Tian had witnessed his dharma idol in the Domain of Nether Heaven, but this was the first time he was seeing him in person.
Like a majestic ancient god, Luo Wanxiang’s dharma idol had shone with dazzling starlight from every acupoint, and gave people a feeling that it dominated heaven and earth. Who would have thought that his true form looked so unimpressive, small and hunched?
The fact that he walked into the grand hall with Sikong Cuo seemed to send everyone present a message: he had a close relationship with Sikong Cuo.
Under everyone’s gaze, he walked to his designated seat, glanced around at everyone, and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, “You must have heard. Mou Luo, the third Son of the Stars, died at the hands of Demon grand patriarchs. One of his subordinates betrayed him and schemed with the Demons to set him up.”
Everyone present nodded slightly, elders and Sons of the Stars alike.
“Please call the others in,” Luo Wanxiang said.
Upon hearing this, Wei Lai held out a crystal ball and sent his soul awareness into it in an attempt to summon the other elders and Chu Rui, the other vice sectmaster.
As he did, wisps of soul auras started to circulate in the mirrors that stood on the empty seats.
One wisp of soul aura after another seemed to come from remote areas in the starry river to gather in this great hall, gradually morphing into clear-cut soul shadows.
Vice sectmaster Chu Rui, who was leading their battle force in the Dead Star Sea, was the first to appear completely. The mirror in his seat showed a chubby old man.
Gazing curiously at Nie Tian from within the mirror, he laughed softly and said, “You’re Nie Tian, right? I heard that you managed to bring three domains to heel, and performed outstandingly in the missions the sect gave you. Very impressive.”
It wasn’t a soul voice that came out of the mirror.
Nie Tian felt as if Chu Rui was standing in front of him, watching every move he made and listening to everything he said, even though he was actually separated from them by the boundless starry river.
Nie Tian clasped his hands towards him. “You flatter me.”
At that moment, Grand elder Mo Heng’s soul shadow appeared in the mirror in his seat.
After a glance at Nie Tian, he remained silent with his eyes narrowed.
The soul shadows of the other elders who couldn’t attend the meeting in person appeared successively. They all fixed Nie Tian with curious, measuring gazes.
Since this was the first time they were seeing Nie Tian as well, they wanted to get a measure of the seventh Son of the Stars, who had been a popular topic lately.
After everyone’s soul shadows showed up, Luo Wanxiang cleared his throat and said, “With Mou Luo dead, all of his subordinates now have the right to choose a new master. And his domains and realms are open for purchase to the other Sons of the Stars.”
“Gentlemen!” Sikong Cuo suddenly said in a loud voice to attract everyone’s attention. Then, with a smile, he continued with a casual tone, “Our third martial brother’s subordinates came to find me and expressed their desire to join my forces and take me as their new master. Vice sectmaster Luo bore witness. I didn’t force them, but they actually wanted to follow me.”
“I did,” Luo Wanxiang said with certainty.
Everyone’s expressions flickered as they heard this.
