It was actually a great gamble for Qi warrior sects to choose Sons of the Stars to follow.
As powerful as Jing Feiyang, the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect was, he would inevitably face all kinds of tricky tasks on his extended path of cultivation, including spiritual incantations, cultivation resources, and external threats.
If he chose to attach his sect to a Son of the Stars, and the Son of the Stars built himself up fast enough, then he would be able to obtain more advanced incantations and cultivation resources from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace. When the Son of the Stars rose to a certain level, he would be able to help him take care of troublesome issues.
Many exquisite incantations and spiritual materials that would benefit Saint domain experts could only be found in ancient human powers like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace.
Only after the strength of the Son of the Stars rose to a certain extent would he be able to protect the Domain of Heaven Python from all external threats.
Of course, all of this was built on the precondition that said Son of the Stars had such abilities.
Even for Sons of the Stars, their talent varied greatly. Only one of them would be able to stand at the peak and become the Lord of the Stars.
It was even possible for Sons of the Stars to die at young ages.
If a sect put their money on a Son of the Stars who eventually became the Lord of the Stars, then all of his subordinate forces would benefit from it.
For example, there had been an Elementary grade domain who had sworn allegiance to the current Lord of the Stars when he had just become a Son of the Stars.
With his help, that Elementary grade domain had already grown into a Premium grade domain. Its area had expanded by more than ten times.
Those who had made this gamble had made rapid advances in their cultivation. Many had entered the Saint domain from the Void domain, and become the most reliable lieutenants of the current Lord of the Stars.
Meanwhile, some domains had put their money on Sons of the Stars who had died prematurely.
After the deaths of those Sons of the Stars, those domains were gobbled up by other Sons of the Stars. Not only did their strength not improve, but they actually entered a decline.
Therefore, it was a great gamble to choose Sons of the Stars.
If they won, they would benefit in all aspects. Their domains would expand. Their sects would rise to prominence. Even their own cultivation bases would soar into the sky.
But if they lost, they would most likely be gobbled up by other Sons of the Stars, lose all attention, and enter a prolonged decline.
When a newborn Son of the Stars like Nie Tian, who hadn’t risen to a certain level, wanted to form and build up his own force, they would have to rely on their personal charisma to convince people of their unlimited potential, and the fact that even if he didn’t get to become the next Lord of the Stars, he would be able to rule over a large area in the starry river.
Nie Tian had a headache over the fact that the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, the Pure Heaven Sect, and the Trisword Sect had chosen to remain independent.
If these four major powers refused to swear allegiance to him, even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace had put the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries under his name, he had nothing but a name as their owner.
Soon, rumors of new discoveries spread in these two domains.
Rumor had it that through assessment, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace had learned that Nie Tian practiced multiple powers simultaneously; not only did he practice star power, but he also practiced wood power and flame power, and had formed their respective cores.
This meant that it wasn’t likely that Nie Tian would be able to give up flame power and wood power.
However, humans had limited lifespans. Practicing multiple powers simultaneously meant that the speed at which he made progress in cultivation would be much slower than the speed of those who only practiced star power.
As the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian had started the latest.
Now that he also practiced flame power and wood power, many came to the conclusion that he would never be able to reach the peak of star power cultivation and enter the God domain.
If this didn’t change, let alone becoming the next Lord of the Stars, he would most likely become the weakest Son of the Stars ever, and reach the end of his lifespan and die shortly.
Such rumors spread like weeds in the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries.
Because of this, even the Divine Seal Sect, who had openly expressed their determination to follow Nie Tian, started to have different voices among them. Some claimed that Nie Tian’s cultivation talent wasn’t high enough for him to rise to prominence, and that there was a good chance that he would die prematurely.
Over in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, the Chu Clan, the Guan Clan, and the Jian Clan, who had originally decided to follow Nie Tian, also started to have second thoughts.
Only the Divine Flame Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Bliss Mountain Sect, who had special connections to Nie Tian, hadn’t changed their minds.
The results of Nie Tian’s assessment in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace should have been a secret, though it wasn’t an important one. Besides, there was a significant distance between the Realm of Fragmentary Star and these two domains. It was surprising that word of it traveled so fast.
Jing Feiyang and many others from the Divine Seal Sect suspected that someone had done this to undermine Nie Tian.
If there were plenty of opposing voices in these two domains after the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace had assigned them to him, then it would prove that he wasn’t a competent Son of the Stars.
Before long, more news came from the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries.
They were from the Divine Flame Sect.
According to them, Fan Kai and his people had run into an ancient starship of the Heavenly Ice Sect on their way to the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries. Fan Kai, Zhao Luofeng, Lei Zhenyu, and the others had all been imprisoned and brought back to the Heavenly Ice Sect’s headquarters in the Domain of Endless Snow.
It was known that Fan Kai and those with him were from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and that they had pledged themselves to Nie Tian before entering the Shatter Battlefield.
Almost everyone knew that Fan Kai was a subordinate of Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars.
By imprisoning them in their headquarters, those Qi warriors from the Domain of Endless Snow were none other than slapping his face.
However, soon after he learned about this unexpected event, word of it soon spread to the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries, as if someone were determined to make him lose face.
“The Heavenly Ice Sect from the Domain of Endless Snow!” Nie Tian said with a cold face.
He still remembered being ambushed by a group of Qi warriors from the Domain of Endless Snow when he had first entered the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.
Those Qi warriors had been catty and ruthless, but since they hadn’t been strong enough, Nie Tian and the girls had killed them all.
He hadn’t expected that he would face more provocation from the Heavenly Ice Sect after returning from the Shatter Battlefield.
“This is very strange...” Jing Feiyang said with furrowed brow. “The Domain of Endless Snow is not far from the Domain of Heaven Python. They must have paid close attention to our domain when we were invaded by outsiders, and things became messy. As word of you spread across the Domain of Heaven Python, people from the Heavenly Ice Sect should have learned about you too.
“So if they knew that Fan Kai and the others were from the Domain of the Falling Stars, which the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace had long since given to you, how come they still dared to imprison your people?
“Like us, the Domain of Endless Snow is independent, without any ancient powers at their back. Normally speaking, they would never have the audacity to offend someone like you.”
Nie Tian’s face grew grim as he remained silent.
Jing Feiyang let out a sigh and added, “I have a strong feeling that someone has been undermining your reputation and spirits the whole time. Everyone knows that Fan Kai and those with him are your people. Now, they’ve been imprisoned by the Heavenly Ice Sect. If you don’t free them soon, the Jian Clan, the Guan Clan, and the Chu Clan, who are currently on the fence, will most likely choose to stay independent.
“Even many in my sect had worries after learning that you practice multiple powers simultaneously, and counseled reconsideration.
“They also heard that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace wouldn’t send powerful experts to help newborn Sons of the Stars straighten things out.
“So they thought that even if we chose to stay independent like the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect did, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace wouldn’t force us.
“Things might get out of control if you don’t free Fan Kai and the others soon.
“Patriarch Snowy Peak from the Heavenly Ice Sect is at the middle Saint domain, which is higher than my cultivation base. Aside from him, there’s another in the Heavenly Ice Sect who’s at the early Saint domain.
“Even if the four Saint domain experts of our domain teamed up against the Heavenly Ice Sect, we might not be able to win, much less when two of us have refused to follow you.”
Jing Feiyang seemed deeply worried, worried for Nie Tian.
Nie Tian also had a feeling that an invisible hand had been creating trouble for him, cracking his morale down, and thwarting him taking over the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python.
“Who might it be? People from the Void Spirit Society, or someone from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace?”