Chapter 446: Ripples of War and the Silver Apple’s Awakening

After all, it was a mission completed right before Song Chi’s eyes. So as Luke went to hand over the Fifth-Tier Stellar Plant Core—the Starflower Core—the entire process went off without a hitch. Under the watchful gaze of tens of thousands of Starsea aliens in the trading chamber, a reply came up on the central projected screen.

“Fifth-Tier Stellar Plant: Starflower Core — task requirements met. Player may now choose one of the following two rewards.”

“Option One: Four red epic items from the Market Exchange Shop.”

“Option Two: One Player Team Voucher and one Squad Upgrade Scroll.”

“You have 60 seconds to make your selection!”

With the message displayed, Luke and Deguen shared a glance, then immediately selected the first option, not even hesitating.

Over the past thirty years, hardly any player squads had formed, but there were at least a dozen or so.

Among them, goblin Luke had teamed up with Deguen and the night elves; together, they’d turned in items like the Dense Black-Hole Stone, Sand of Time, and Void-Escape Stone. This let them establish the first squad on the Divine Realm Task Platform over twenty years ago—the Omniverse Squad.

But even now, the Omniverse Squad was still just a low-level squad, capping out at ten members.

Still, having squad membership came with perks, and that made the second option less tempting.

Of course, Squad Upgrade Scrolls were definitely coveted, but the allure of red epic items was even greater.

Once Luke made his choice, the image on the floating screen shifted. Descriptions of various red epic items appeared one after another.

Displayed were nearly three hundred red oddities currently available in the Market’s shop.

Luke didn’t hesitate. Deguen and the others had already told him their picks, so choosing was quick.

In less than thirty seconds and beneath a sea of burning gazes, Luke and his teammates each walked away with a red epic Oddity they’d had their eye on.

Luke’s was a unique piece of mechanical tech—once installed in his personal Wargod Mech, it would give him a massive boost in combat.

Deguen’s pick was a water-type oddity, perfect for enhancing his power in the endless seas.

The night elf received a red epic longbow.

As for Zhou Ping, he got a tiny sword oddity. According to him, once he refined it later, it’d act as his future life-bound flying sword.

Beyond these four, Song Chi—the man behind it all—couldn’t help but feel pleased. Counting this Starflower Core, he’d finally gathered three Fifth-Tier stellar plant cores.

That meant he could now push the Silver Apple Mother Tree to the sixth rank. If he succeeded, soon he’d be able to harvest Sixth-Tier Silver Apples in bulk.

A single Sixth-Tier Silver Apple could evolve an orange oddity into a red one. The value of each was enormous—never mind getting them in quantity.

Just that thought sent a thrill through Song Chi.

An orange Advancement Fire Source was priceless, right? Even in a Family like the Songs, a new Sixth-Tier power, they never dared keep more than a few around.

But if Sixth-Tier Silver Apples could be used on them, every orange Advancement Fire Source could be upgraded to red.

The difference between ranks might look small, but the actual value was worlds apart.

There are even grades among orange Advancement Fire Sources—regular and supreme—but there’s no such thing for red. Once promoted, it always evolves the orange Torch Seed into a red one. Plenty of Fifth-Tier Battleship Captains are desperate for something like that.

Besides that, Song Chi could finally trade for the Timepiece Chess part he’d been longing for. His family could also upgrade the borrowed Origin Core Siphon they had from him to red. The Heavenly Ruin’s many orange-quality components could finally be enhanced too.

Thinking it through, Song Chi calmed himself, summoned the Heavenly Ruin in the Market, and began fusing the three stellar plant cores into the Silver Apple Mother Tree.

Market. Free Stall Area.

The Heavenly Ruin sat quietly, its hull aglow with shimmering silver light.

Song Chi hadn’t isolated the ship’s interior from the outside. As the Silver Apple Mother Tree finished absorbing all three stellar plant cores, the whole tree began to grow madly inside the Cultivation Sanctuary. The No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang blazed with silver light, which spread through to the outer hull of the Heavenly Ruin.

This spectacle lasted hours. Only after the light faded did Song Chi head straight into the sanctuary from the main control room.

Compared to before, the Silver Apple Mother Tree now towered over hundreds of thousands of meters. The immense vitality streaming from its leaves told Song Chi it had truly become Sixth-Tier—or to be precise, regained its sixth rank.

“Finally…”

He let out a breath, but his focus soon shifted to the distant Flame Parasol Tree.

Somehow, those three Demonic Phoenix Eggs, previously completely dormant, now all bore faint cracks on their shells.

“Is this the result of the Silver Apple Mother Tree’s breakthrough releasing so much life energy?”

Song Chi was puzzled, then brushed it aside. Either way, three Demonic Phoenix Eggs hatching was good news.

Inside the battleship, Song Chi walked up to the massive Imperial Ruin Source Stone.

If used right, a Sixth-Tier Abyssal Devil could be a huge asset to the Heavenly Ruin.

Like buying a batch of mid-to-high-rank Celestial-Star warriors and subjugating them, or venturing into the Beast Sanctuary to enslave powerful fifth- and Sixth-Tier monsters.

But for now, the dilemma was whether to break the stone open right away or keep waiting.

After a long silence, Song Chi shook his head and gave up on immediate action.

He had only one reason.

He wasn’t sure whether just the Enslave Medal or Parent-Child Spirit Control Rings would truly control that Abyssal Devil.

Sure, that Sixth-Tier Abyssal Devil had been sealed for ten thousand years, leaving its strength all but drained. But make no mistake: the Abyssal Devil Civilization is a top-tier powerhouse. Though their bloodlines don’t quite match the very peak of the Sea of Stars, they’re unmatched in mind control and psychic arts—far superior to other Starsea species.

For that kind of creature, you have to plan for the worst.

Take the Torch Human Civilization—it’s hard enough to enslave them thanks to the Torch Seed’s protection. The Abyssal Devil Race is even stronger, so there’s no room for carelessness.

Song Chi’s plan was to wait for the Silver Apple Mother Tree to produce Sixth-Tier Silver Apples and use them to upgrade the Master–Servant Pact to red. Only then would he open the Imperial Ruin Source Stone.

If ordinary enslavement components failed to subdue the Abyssal Devil, the Master–Servant Pact could be the last resort.

Song Chi was hopeful about the Master–Servant Pact. It could already control Torch Captains and had worked on a Fifth-Tier Celestial-Star before. Conveniently, that Celestial-Star had just perished in the Void Sea, so replacing it with a Sixth-Tier Abyssal Devil was perfect.

Over the next few years, Song Chi spent his time shuttling between his Family’s base and the Market. He awaited the coming decisive battle and eagerly hoped the Silver Apple Mother Tree’s fruit would ripen soon.

That peace didn’t last, though. Two years later, the Eastern Fleet of the kingdom stationed on the Doomsea Floating-land began a massive mobilization.

And not just that—the royal fleets on two other Sixth-Tier floaters near the Calamity Star Floating-land also mobilized at the exact same time.

War was breaking out all over again.

Eastern Fleet Group. Stark–Morningstar Principality Joint Fleet. Command group chat channel.

“Song Tianhao: What’s going on? Is this the start of the final battle?”

“Angel Star: Not yet. The kingdom’s high command is just running a small test after deliberating together. The main goal’s to count the high-level fighters on the Calamity Star Floating-land—check the strength of its Floating-land shield, and see how much support from the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons outside the Tianpan Galaxy has arrived.”

“Slim Eagle: Eight-Armed Serpent Demons? Seriously? If they’re really sending reinforcements, what are we waiting for—let’s run while we can!”

Crude as Eagle Family’s acting patriarch sounded, a lot in the chat agreed with him.

What were the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons? They ruled entire galaxy clusters. Their might rivaled the entire Torch Human Civilization. For them, even dozens of Yaohan Kingdoms combined would only be big bugs at most.

“Hardy Stark: Relax. There are four empires ahead of us as shields. Even if the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons send support, at most it’ll be one or two ordinary Heavenly Serpent Mother Ships with a few fifth- or Sixth-Tier Serpent Demons. The higher-ups won’t let a huge force come through!”

With Hardy Stark—the strongest in the fleet—giving that assurance, the Torch Captains in the chat finally felt at ease.

The Stark Family might have been in decline for a long time, but they’d once fielded a planet-killing warship. They had secret info channels no one else in the Morningstar Principality could match. So if Hardy said it, he definitely had reliable intel.

Time ticked by. Two days later, the Eastern Fleet Group finished regrouping and—led by the Royal Palace Fleet—set course for the Calamity Star Floating-land.

Still, since this was just a test, not every ship was deployed. Over a hundred million warships remained at the Doomsea Floating-land, including Song Chi.

With only a test coming and the Silver Apple Mother Tree’s Sixth-Tier apples about to ripen, Song Chi had no urge to risk anything outside.

He then applied to stay behind. So, the Heavenly Ruin and several family Zhulu-class Cruisers—plus a fleet of over a hundred thousand Song Family ships—were assigned to guard the rear.

Song Chi put his worries aside and just waited for the Sixth-Tier Silver Apples to ripen, conducting a Market trade every month—living life at his own pace.

After another Market session, Song Chi lingered, tallying this round’s earnings. Then he brought up the Market’s info panel.

“Name: Omniverse Market”

“Market Owner: Song Chi”

“Level: 49”

“Size: 190km x 190km”

…

“To upgrade: 1,000 batches of Fourth-Tier Floating-Land Origin; Market transaction volume of 2.17 million (1,945,000/2,170,000) Fourth-Tier Floating-Land Origin; 1 Star Universe Origin Stone”

“Almost there. Only a bit more to hit 2.17 million in transactions. Too bad I still haven’t found any info on the Star Universe Origin Stone.”

As he saw the transaction figure climbing close to two million, a smile broke across Song Chi’s face. The Market had advanced to level 49 years ago, but that massive transaction requirement was just brutal. Thankfully, years of effort meant he almost had it in the bag.

The only headache was the Star Universe Origin Stone. Maybe that’s what ancient Immortal Realm civilizations called it? He’d searched his Family’s archives, asked Shen Youran, Ansevi, and the Yaoguang Star Tower members, but no one had even heard the name before.

Song Chi shook his head, refusing to dwell on it.

“If it comes down to it, I’ll use my last bit of Hunyuan Copper. Upgrading the Market is too important.”

Song Chi figured a higher-ranked Market might further upgrade the Dominion Power it granted. Maybe it wouldn’t jump straight to eighth rank, but it should at least make the Market Projection Token’s projection even stronger, taking it out of the weakest dominator class.

That mattered a lot.

…

Time flowed on. Another two and a half years passed. In that time, the kingdom’s three fleet groups had repeatedly tested the Calamity Star Floating-land, bombarding with more than a hundred million warships every time—but had never made a real breakthrough.

No one minded the slow pace. After all, this battle would decide the entire war’s outcome.

With just three planet-killer ships, the Yaohan Kingdom had no hope of cracking such a powerful Floating-land shield, especially when two Doomstar dominators were still inside.

Song Chi didn’t mind the delay at all. The later the final showdown happened, the more time he had to prepare.

And today—finally—there was fantastic news. Ever since it reached Sixth-Tier, the Silver Apple Mother Tree had finally borne three fully ripened Silver Apples.

Three wasn’t many, but Song Chi couldn’t hold back his joy.

A flicker of spatial energy swept through the Heavenly Ruin. Song Chi left the Cultivation Sanctuary and took in his hand all three Sixth-Tier Silver Apples.

He already knew exactly how he’d distribute them, so he wasted no time.

Family base. The courtyard where the elders lived.

“Kid Chi, what’s gotten into you today? You actually stopped by on your own?”

Of course, it was Song Xingru who spoke. Song Chi had been a recluse lately, so his sudden visit was enough to make anyone curious.

But Song Chi didn’t say a word. He tossed a Sixth-Tier Silver Apple to Song Xingru, turned on his heel, and left without looking back.