Chapter 246: The Crimson Seven Stars

At this moment, Qian Ye had already leaped into the Well of Stars, slowly descending and stopping at the position from his previous visit. He gazed downward, feeling the profound sea of star power, with the seven great stars appearing and disappearing in the waves. If he went a bit deeper, he would naturally find it easier to sense the star power. But Qian Ye knew that his primordial force was not fully recovered; if he ventured deeper, too much primordial force would be consumed in maintaining levitation, making it counterproductive.

He released the Heavenly Cloud Smoke Pearl, carefully observing it in a calm state. This oddity appeared chaotic under the True Vision, neither leaning towards Dawn nor Evernight, hovering roughly in the middle.

Qian Ye recalled the process of condensing the primordial crystal. The more star power drawn from the minor stars, the different the resulting primordial crystal. The grade of the input primordial force also affected the outcome. However, his Dawn’s Enlightenment primordial force was not yet at its peak, and he had already extracted most of the star power from several major Dawn stars. Activating new major stars would clearly be more difficult.

It was clear that the primordial crystal being condensed this time would not match the previous one.

Just then, Qian Ye’s heart stirred, and a wisp of dark golden blood energy shot out. To his surprise, the Heavenly Cloud Smoke Pearl accepted it entirely!

In Qian Ye’s perception, a different world emerged.

The world was not just Dawn; it was mostly Evernight, and the Well of Stars was no exception.

As a human who used Dawn primordial force, it made sense to focus more on the stars aligned with Dawn. But wherever there is Dawn, there is also Evernight.

During the process of condensing the primordial crystal, Qian Ye had always focused on the Dawn-aligned primordial force, and under the influence of Dawn’s Enlightenment, the dim became even dimmer. However, as the dark golden blood energy entered the Heavenly Cloud Smoke Pearl, the entire Well of Stars seemed to unveil itself, revealing a different appearance.

Dark stars appeared from the void, entering Qian Ye’s vision. The originally clear Evernight stars became even more prominent and began to exhibit their unique traits. Several stars appeared a deep, cinnabar-like red, with the redness slowly flowing like spilling blood.

Qian Ye counted, noting that there were seven blood-colored stars. They were clearly visible in his perception, and with a little attention, they could be activated.

He did not know that the number of blood-colored stars he sensed was two more than Anwen had calculated.

Qian Ye hesitated slightly, unsure of the effect of using dark golden blood energy to draw star power and condense the primordial crystal. This had never happened before.

But the Heavenly Cloud Smoke Pearl still had some capacity left, and once started, there was no reason to stop. Qian Ye ceased his hesitation, continuously injecting dark golden blood energy and activating the blood-colored stars.

The activation of the stars proceeded much smoother than expected, with all seven major stars starting up in succession, none left behind.

Qian Ye quickly realized why. His strength in the vampire realm was actually much higher than in the Dawn realm. If not for deliberate suppression, his blood energy would have long reached the standard of a Marquis, not inferior to Edward. Because of the dark golden blood energy, Qian Ye’s true combat power far exceeded that of vampires at the same level.

As the star power surged like a tide, Qian Ye no longer thought about it and began to concentrate, focusing solely on condensing the primordial crystal.

But above the Well of Stars, chaos erupted.

“What is that? I must be seeing things! He’s drawing all the vampire stars? Wow, there are seven! Two more than what you said, Anwen!” While shouting, Luo Lei turned to Edward, “This is a total sweep! Edward, what will you eat next?”

Edward snorted, turning away and ignoring Luo Lei, his face grim.

Including Dusk, the expressions of the other vampires were volatile. As fellow vampires, most of them felt the faint aura inadvertently emitted by Qian Ye during the initial condensation. The depth and grandeur were unprecedented.

The vampires brought by Edward were all elites, many of whom had seen the King of Darkness, Metatron. Perhaps Qian Ye’s aura was not as domineering and unbridled, but the profound and concentrated nature was something Metatron lacked.

A few vampires exchanged glances, reading each other’s thoughts: Could the rumors be true? Does Qian Ye’s bloodline truly come from a Prince? Among the vampires, the number of active Princes was not large, and each was a significant figure. Even among the twelve ancient clans, only a few had a single Prince.

But Edward’s thoughts were different. Gazing at Qian Ye, he could hardly resist the urge to act. If this continued, Qian Ye would surely sweep all the vampire stars clean, leaving no high-quality source blood to be found.

Edward had experienced the Well of Stars before, and after clearing numerous minor stars, he was preparing to inject blood energy with the aura of a Great Lord, at least activating one major star. But unexpectedly, Qian Ye ignored the numerous Dawn major stars and turned to the vampire major stars!

He turned sharply to Anwen, “This can’t go on! We must stop him!”

Anwen did not respond, while Aiden sneered, “With what, and why?”

“He’s drawing the star power of the vampire stars!”

Aiden shrugged, “There is no agreement saying he cannot. Of course, if you can’t stand it, you can try drawing the star power of the human major stars.”

“This is not a laughing matter,” Edward said grimly.

Aiden became serious, “I am not joking, Your Highness Edward. If you cannot accept this, and you must stop him, then please wait until our agreement is completed. If you must act now, sorry, we the Demonic descendants will not participate.”

Edward’s expression was naturally ugly, his lips twitching, but he remained silent. Without the support of the Demonic descendants, he might not even defeat Qian Ye. His vampires, though numerous, were no match for the elite young warriors of the Empire. Moreover, Zhao Ruoxi and her Mandala Flower were present. Without the witch holding back, Zhao Ruoxi alone could wipe out all the vampires.

But to give up like this was hard to swallow. The Blood Pillar was obtained at great cost, and for this mission, the clan’s elite were all mobilized. In the younger generation, the vampires lagged far behind the Demonic descendants. Even Aiden, whom Edward had previously disregarded, had undergone a transformation, his strength surging, posing a threat even in battle.

Edward glanced at Luo Lei and fell silent. On the surface, the relationship between the vampires and the spider demons might be worse than with the Demonic descendants, but in truth, the highest echelons of the vampires always maintained the greatest vigilance and hostility towards the Demonic descendants. This was something Edward learned after surviving the Burning Blood Punishment and being considered a reserve of the upper class.

Given Luo Lei’s current rank, he probably didn’t know these things, or if he did, he could do nothing. Even with Luo Lei, they couldn’t fight the Empire.

Left with no choice, Edward endured, his gaze darkly fixed on the well. Perhaps, to get more source blood, he would have to wait for the next opening of the Great Vortex, which was uncertain when. Watching the increasingly dimming vampire stars, Edward’s mood grew heavier.

Deep in the Well of Stars, Qian Ye’s primordial crystal had already taken shape. He hadn’t expected it to form, but could the crystal, condensed with dark golden blood energy and vampire stars, be useful? Regardless, he had already formed a super-grade primordial crystal, so it was worth it.

Qian Ye continued to inject dark golden blood energy, continuously drawing star power. His blood energy was still abundant, and with the Black Book providing a steady supply of essence blood for the Blood Core, he persisted for an exceptionally long time. In contrast, the star power of the seven blood-colored stars seemed insufficient, unlikely to last until the end.

Realizing this, to avoid regret, Qian Ye turned to other Evernight stars.

But as he looked around, although there were many major stars, some felt impure, mixed with various foreign star powers. These were the spider demon stars, known for their adaptability and robust life force, effortlessly absorbing foreign primordial forces.

Other major stars were too dark, incompatible with the vibrant blood energy of the vampires. These were naturally the Demonic descendant stars. Some might belong to the werewolves, but with only William present, and he was firmly suppressed by Zhao Ruoxi, daring not to reveal his true form, Qian Ye naturally overlooked him.

Qian Ye’s gaze suddenly swept over a star, his heart stirring. This star was initially inconspicuous, even after using dark golden blood energy to condense the primordial crystal. But when Qian Ye noticed it, he understood why.

Its star power was filled with dark energy, pure and direct, approaching the peak of dark primordial force, opposite his Dawn’s Enlightenment. Such pure dark primordial force was difficult to utilize, even with Qian Ye’s cultivation of the Mysterious Chapter, the dark primordial force was first absorbed by the Blood Core, gradually transforming into dark golden blood energy.

But in the current situation where the vampire star power was insufficient, drawing dark primordial force was not without benefit.

With this thought, Qian Ye focused his attention on this star and, after a moment, successfully established a connection, beginning to draw the star power.

In an instant, Anwen’s face was filled with astonishment, while Aiden was as grim as Edward had been a moment ago.

“Dark Star! He actually drew the Dark Star!” No one said it aloud, but all were astounded in their hearts.

The Dark Star was almost the exclusive domain of the witch, with only Anwen having the ambition to attempt it. The star power of the entire Dark Star could only convert two drops of source blood, which was fine. Two drops of Duke-level source blood were a great achievement, worthy of a Great Lord’s reward.

But now, Qian Ye was starting to plunder the star power of the Dark Star. This was a severe blow to everyone.

But with their status and pride, Anwen and the others did not wish to break their promise, which was equivalent to admitting defeat. Besides, with Zhao Ruoxi present, even if they humbled themselves, they might not fare well.

Their only hope now was that Qian Ye would leave some star power behind.

Qian Ye’s endurance and the depth of his blood energy continually exceeded everyone’s expectations. It was only after plundering a considerable portion of the Dark Star’s star power that he finally stopped, slowly flying out of the Well of Stars.

“Now, what should we do?” All the eyes of the Evernight strongmen fell on Anwen.