The sky shifted from bright to dark in an instant, and the Seven Star Valley was abruptly plunged into night.
But the Tian family clansmen within the valley did not step forward to restore order, for there was no time for anyone to panic. The moment the darkness fell, light bloomed.
The light sources came from the massive circular arena at the center of the valley — ring after ring of luminous circles, igniting one after another.
One, two, three... Dense rings of light rapidly blanketed the enormous circular ground.
Each ring could hold one adult standing within it, and there was sufficient distance between every ring.
One hundred and eight rings in total.
Jiang Wang understood. The spots for entering the secret realm of the Seven Star Pavilion numbered exactly one hundred and eight, also known as the one hundred and eight Star Positions. They were divided into thirty-six Heavenly Spirit Star Position and seventy-two Earth Fiend Position.
And the rings of light before their eyes were the Star Positions.
Those who had obtained the qualification to enter the Secret Realm of the Seven Star Pavilion need only step into their Star Position and wait for the starlight of the Seven Star Pavilion to guide them.
Where there are people, there is jianghu. Where there are rankings, there is conflict.
Among the thirty-six Heavenly Spirit positions and seventy-two Earthly Fiend positions, who stood ahead and who stood behind — naturally, that was something worth fighting over.
The earlier competition for the Seven Star Pavilion qualification was essentially a preliminary establishment of this order.
By now, most people should already know their positions.
In the pitch-black valley, mysterious rings of light appeared one after another, illuminating the Seven Star Valley as though it were a dream, while simultaneously drawing everyone's gaze.
The Star Positions suddenly opened. Before many could react, they saw a figure stride forward.
The man wore his long hair loose, without a moment's hesitation. In just a few steps, he stepped into the largest and brightest ring of light, claiming the Celestial Chief Star Position.
He turned to face everyone, his expression blank.
It was Lei Zhanqian.
Among the cultivators gathered in the Seven Star Valley, there was Fang Chong — a seasoned Inner Palace Realm powerhouse from the Four Seas Merchant Alliance — and Li Fengyao, the legitimate daughter of the prestigious Li Clan of Stone Gate. Even the ninth prince of the Great Qi Imperial Family, Jiang Wuxie, had appeared. Yet Lei Zhanqian still stepped forward without deference, calmly and naturally entering the Celestial Chief Star Position. He truly carried an aura of dominance over heaven and earth.
The most discussed position among the Heavenly Spirit Star Position ranks of the Seven Star Pavilion was always the Celestial Chief Star Position.
Generally speaking, when leaving the secret realm of the Seven Star Pavilion, the person standing at the Celestial Chief Star Position would be the one who had gained the most from the secret realm, and was regarded as the leader of this expedition.
Of course, the person who stood at the Celestial Chief Star Position upon entering the Seven Star Pavilion was also tacitly understood to possess a greater advantage once inside.
By this point, each person had a certain understanding of where they ought to stand. For the more cautious, the general principle was to take a later position rather than an earlier one.
When the order of rankings was implicitly set, a wrong positioning could mean being targeted for battle upon entering the Seven Star Pavilion. It was even quite possible to be immediately singled out and stopped before even entering the secret realm.
Lei Zhanqian led the way, striding into the Celestial Chief Star Position without a care for anyone else's gaze.
Jiang Wuxie's upturned lips flattened, clearly in an unhappy mood, but he said nothing.
As a prodigy of the Lei family — the maternal clan of the eleventh prince Jiang Wuqi — Lei Zhanqian was naturally Jiang Wuqi's most powerful ally, and naturally stood on the opposite side of Jiang Wuxie.
In the struggle for succession, no one could yield. No matter how harmonious the princes and princesses of Great Qi appeared to the outside world, the fundamental contradiction could not be eliminated. It was actually those princes and princesses with no hope of the throne who could maintain better relations.
Since arriving, Jiang Wuxie had not exchanged a single word with Lei Zhanqian. The two had not even made eye contact — a clear manifestation of this opposition.
Fang Chong of the Four Seas Merchant Alliance waited a few breaths before smiling: "If no one is taking this Heavenly Spirit Star Position, then I shall go?"
Though he addressed the crowd, his eyes were on Jiang Wuxie. He clearly intended to yield and ingratiate himself, unwilling to steal the ninth prince's thunder.
The Heavenly Spirit Star was the second among the thirty-six Heavenly Spirit Star Position, right after the Celestial Chief Star.
Jiang Wuxie curled his lip and turned to Li Fengyao: "Sister Li, please go first."
Li Fengyao showed no hesitation either. She merely said to Jiang Wang: "I'm going ahead. Watch yourself."
Then she descended to the Heavenly Spirit Star Position.
She took her place without apology.
This time, Jiang Wuxie deliberately glanced at Jiang Wang again, but still said nothing, following close behind Li Fengyao with a single step into the Celestial Secret Star Position.
Fang Chong showed no urgency, neither competing nor rushing. Only after these three had settled did he cup his hands in a circle, bow to everyone, and step into the Celestial Leisure Star Position.
The cultivators in the Seven Star Valley selected their Star Positions one after another. Quite a few were watching Jiang Wang's choice because of the special attention Li Fengyao had shown him.
Several people were even harboring thoughts of squeezing him out of his position and making a fool of him.
But then a young man walked out from the Tian family clansmen and waved at Jiang Wang: "Young Master Jiang, over here!"
Jiang Wang's spot had been directly allocated to him within the Tian family's internal pool, part of their reserved twenty spots. Powerhouses like Li Fengyao at the Inner Palace Realm could bypass the competition entirely and lock down a spot. Lei Zhanqian and Fang Chong were the same.
Of course, if the time ever came when all the participants in the Seven Star Pavilion were Inner Palace Realm cultivators, or if Inner Palace Realm cultivators numbered more than half, they would no longer enjoy such treatment.
Overall, the competition for spots in the secret realm of the Seven Star Pavilion was still relatively fair, without major controversy.
The young man who called out to Jiang Wang was named Tian Chang, the leader of the Tian family's team for this secret realm expedition.
The Tian family's reserved twenty spots ranged from the last-ranked Earth Dog Star in the Earth Fiend Position all the way up to the Earth Complete Star. In short, they occupied the final twenty Star Positions.
The one given to Jiang Wang was the Earth Punishment Star Position — second to last among the remaining spots. It could not be called harsh, but of course it was not particularly accommodating either.
After all, for someone who had used connections to squeeze into the secret realm of the Seven Star Pavilion, there was no need for excessive investment.
And when people saw Jiang Wang calmly blending into the Tian family's team, their gazes changed.
Some no longer considered him a noteworthy opponent, and even more looked upon him with disdain.
How could such a freeloader possibly deserve the special attention of Li Fengyao?
The cultivators took their Star Positions one by one, with occasional friction, but before the powerful figure of the Tian family stationed here, they maintained their restraint.
In the end, eight of the one hundred and eight Star Positions remained vacant. These eight people had failed to reach the Seven Star Valley in time for various reasons and had withdrawn from the competition early.
The Tian family's twenty positions were not adjusted due to the vacancies. The eight empty Star Positions stretched from the Earth Lone Star — the twenty-first from last in the Earth Fiend Position rankings — all the way to the Earth Scrutiny Star Position.
The one stationed at the Seven Star Valley this time was Tian Huanzhang, the current Tian family patriarch's uncle. His seniority was high, and his strength was beyond question.
Once everyone had settled into their Star Positions, he raised his fingers and pointed at the sky seven times in succession.
Keen observers would notice that each of his seven points corresponded to the position of one of the seven stars of the Big Dipper.
The seven stars of the Big Dipper were known as Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, and Yaoguang.
And in the ink-black night sky above the valley, seven points of light ignited in succession.
Right there within the valley, pointing directly to correspond with the seven stars of the Big Dipper, channeling the power of the seven stars to suppress all other starlight — this was something only an Outer Tower Realm cultivator could achieve!
The seven points of light grew brighter and brighter, more and more dazzling.
They formed the shape of a jade ladle, hanging in the sky.
Then the jade ladle tilted slightly, and infinite streams of starlight poured down like water.
As though from the highest heavens, someone had scooped up a ladle of the waters of the star river and poured them down upon the mortal world.
The people of the earth raised their heads to look skyward, and saw nothing but starlight streaming down from the heavens, falling like a curtain of stars.