Chapter 477: Upgrades, Alliances, and Ascension

The reason the Black Hole Evolution Layer component could be strengthened at all was thanks to the large amount of Dense Black-Hole Stone supplied by Divine Realm players. But resources like Sand of Time are even rarer than Dense Black-Hole Stone.

As for fifth- and sixth-tier Angel’s Blood, there’s no need to worry too much. Song Wujian already promised to personally negotiate with the Stark Family on behalf of the clan. Though there was some friction between the families in the past, it never turned into true enmity. With the Song Family’s current momentum, the Stark Family likely won’t pass up a chance to rebuild ties.

If the rumors are true, Stark’s ancestor Hardy was reported to have perished in a starfall last year, right after failing to break through to Star-Annihilator-class ship captain. That means the Stark Family lost not just an Ultimate Fearless Captain but also didn’t inherit the White Phantom itself. Their power has taken a huge hit.

Given all that, they’ll be eager to make peace with the Song Family, and news of any clan negotiations will definitely be spread far and wide. Just being known as a Quasi-Immortal House is an effective deterrent for those eyeing Stark territory.

Aside from that, Song Chi did go back and forth between strengthening the Last Aegis and the Antimatter Evolution Engine components. In the end, he chose Last Aegis mainly because its supply efficiency was boosted by the already-evolved orange-grade Multifunctional Conversion Furnace. The Antimatter Evolution Engine’s power supply was still sufficient for now.

Even so, Song Chi brought the Antimatter Evolution Engine from level 60 up to level 69. Once he extracts a new Dominion Soul from those immortal memory fragments, he plans to immediately use it to further enhance the engine.

A few minutes later, all the upgrades were complete.

Black Hole Evolution Layer: lv60 → lv70

Destiny Compass Plate: lv60 → lv70

Last Aegis: lv60 → lv70

Checking the stats, the Black Hole Evolution Layer now provides a seventh-tier Black Hole Armor, matching the defense of the Neutron-Star Core Armor. The Black Hole Energy pool also increased from 10,000 to 30,000, and each use of the collapse effect can now draw on up to 3,000 Black Hole Energy at once.

As for the Destiny Compass Plate, Song Chi focused on one key trait. Once it reached seventh tier, the “Compass · Trace to Source” feature expanded its tracking radius from 10 million light-years to a whopping 100 million. Hunting down other Timepiece Chess pieces will be much easier. The mysterious bright spot outside the star map perimeter also became even more noticeable.

By now Song Chi was certain that this distant, unknowable light must be another part of the Destiny Compass.

Finally, the Last Aegis warship repair component received a tremendous boost at seventh tier.

Effect: Upon activation, immediately repairs 84% (42% x2) of hull armor, restores 84% (42% x2) of energy shield strength, and repairs 46% (23% x2) of the ship’s core structure.

That said, it’s just about maxed out for now. Upgrading further to level 79 won’t boost the repair effects any more—at best it might shorten the cooldown between uses.

—

After finishing these upgrades, Song Chi got in touch with Shen Youran. Like him, she’d used this recent exploration war to raise her Torch Seed to red grade. The two coordinated to bring the Heart-Linked Pendants from level 50 up to level 60.

With the Heavenly Ruin’s current setup, they barely even need the White Phantom’s auxiliary components anymore. At most, if all the main and super main guns were cooling down, they could borrow an attack trait in a pinch.

But don’t forget—the Yin-Yang Heart-Linked Pendants offer more than just the “Yin-Yang: Synergy” trait. Once both pendants are paired, they boost both ships’ firepower, defense, and speed across the board. At level 50 the boost is 160%, and after reaching level 60 it jumps to 180%.

Don’t underestimate that extra 20%. For the Heavenly Ruin’s current stat lines, it’s a massive leap in all three areas.

Glancing at his resources, Song Chi saw his supply of Titanite Crystal was running dangerously low. He thought over his options, and finally strengthened the Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl from level 60 to level 69 before calling it a day.

Overall, Song Chi was very pleased with the upgrades. His only regret was with the Pusa Zen Seal, one of his most frequently used components. Unfortunately, special resource shortages kept him from raising it to level 70—which was a real pain.

“Sigh, hope the Divine Realm Player Trading Space brings some pleasant surprises soon…”

With millions of Star-Sea aliens scattered across hundreds of thousands of star domains, there’s no doubt about their potential. All it would really take now is a little bit of luck.

With Divine Realm players this widespread, Song Chi refused to believe Sand of Time didn’t exist out there. It was far more likely no one had discovered it yet.

After another brief chat with Shen Youran, Song Chi left the Market. The White Phantom’s foundation still wasn’t quite enough. It would take some time for it to upgrade into a battleship.

—

Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain, Clan Ancestral Temple.

Even though they’d already heard that the Heavenly Ruin had successfully advanced, Song Wujian couldn’t hide his delight when Song Chi delivered the news in person.

He didn’t spot Song Xingru anywhere. Song Chi figured she must be secluded aboard the Violet Moon Longsong, focused on breaking through to sixth-tier Guiding Technique.

The clan was critically short-staffed lately, and an early breakthrough would greatly ease the burden. A single Fearless Captain could free up countless hands for the family.

After his report, Song Chi handed over both Vermilion Divine Birds he’d transferred from the Spirit Beast Sanctuary, along with three newborn Heavenly Demon Phoenixes, placing them all within the Dragon-Spine Secret Domain and briefing the elder on their special traits.

Hearing that the Vermilion Divine Bird could grant the Dual Pupils talent, Song Wujian’s eyes sparkled with keen interest.

Both Vermilion Divine Birds had their limits set at sixth tier due to gaps in their Law comprehension, but even so, they would prove invaluable support at this stage.

At the Law Mastery realm, making new insights is exceptionally difficult. Every method of boosting enlightenment counts as a priceless asset.

As for the Heavenly Demon Phoenix marrow, it was too soon to use. Song Wujian’s plan was to multiply their numbers first. That way, the clan would have another exclusive, strategic resource down the line.

With those arrangements done, Song Chi didn’t linger. The Heavenly Ruin may have ascended, but his own Guiding Technique was yet to break through. Advancing to fifth-tier was now his top priority.

Just before he left, Song Wujian produced a Storage Capsule with a wave of his hand. The moment Song Chi peeked inside, he couldn’t help but smile.

There were only three items inside, but each was exactly what he needed most right now.

Fifth- and sixth-tier Angel’s Blood.

Ten vials of Superior Body-Tempering Elixir.

A silver-grade Legendary Main Cannon.

Once his excitement faded, Song Chi looked a little sheepish. Under Song Wujian’s gaze, he admitted his Titanite Crystal reserves had run dry.

Song Wujian didn’t say a word—he just called forth another five thousand Titanite Crystals with a sweep of his hand.

All Song Chi could feel was gratitude, and more gratitude.

The family had recently acquired a mid-grade titanite crystal vein with a mineral core at Storm Calamity Floating-Land, raising their annual output from 150,000 to 240,000 crystals. But with the clan’s strength rapidly growing in recent years, demand for Titanite Crystals as a strategic resource only kept rising, especially with captains across the branches leveling up at a furious pace.

So in the end, even with the increase in annual yield, the supply was still tight. Five thousand Titanite Crystals was no small sum under these conditions.

—

Back in the Omniverse Market, Song Chi returned straight to the Free Stall Area.

He summoned the Heavenly Ruin and went right back to upgrading its systems.

This time, his target was clear—the clan-supplied silver main cannon.

Celestial Godslayer Cannon lv0

Grade: Silver

Trait 1: Power output +110%

Trait 2: Every shot has a 50% chance to trigger a double strike.

Trait 3: Against targets with Faith, Divine Power, or Divinity traits, damage is doubled.

Trait 4: Celestial Godslayer.

Ammo cost: 50 per shot (psionic energy)

Attack: 193

Charge: 10s; Cooldown: 20s

Upgrade cost: 30 threads of Floating-Land Origin (zero tier), 3,000 psionic energy, 30 threads of Faith (zero tier).

{Celestial Godslayer: Consumes 50,000 psionic energy to gather godslayer power. The next shot against any target with Faith, Divine Power, Divinity, or Divine Core traits deals 29x main cannon damage. Cooldown: 720 hours.}

For any other Torch Captain, upgrading this cannon would be tough. But Song Chi had his Totem Spirit Pillar, so Faith was never an issue.

It didn’t take long before he’d strengthened the cannon to level 69, boosting its firepower to the limit.

As for the Angel King’s Authority Wings component, he only brought it up to level 69. To reach level 70, he’d need both a Dominion Soul and a drop of seventh-tier Angel’s Blood.

Song Chi could probably salvage a few Dominion Souls from those memory fragments later, but Dominion-class Angel’s Blood was another story. Chances were slim to none that anywhere in the Tianpan Galaxy possessed something so rare.

Still not willing to give up, Song Chi informed Shen Youran to watch for any leads.

He also dropped by Dragon‑Spine Continent and sent the request out in the Yaoguang Star Order group chat.

“Order 32, Jingzhe: Tagging all members—looking for seventh-tier angel blood. Please keep an eye out. Thanks!”

“Order 26, Xuanhu: ??? Twelve-winged Seraph’s source blood? Bro, you really think too highly of me! Boohoo!”

“Order 32, Jingzhe: Just regular blood is fine—not the source or life blood. The more, the better. Dozens of drops would be great.”

“Order 26, Xuanhu: Now you’re talking. Leave it to me!”

“Order 19, Scorching Sun: Got it!”

—

Once everything was handled, Song Chi returned to the Market.

With no more distractions, he headed straight for the Full-Attribute Cultivation Chamber.

But just as he approached the chamber, a long and piercing screech echoed from above.

Looking up, he saw Chongyu hovering overhead, now at the absolute peak of fourth tier.

The little guy’s wings radiated a dense mix of light and spatial laws, both having clearly reached intermediate mastery.

A heart-to-heart connection told Song Chi exactly what Chongyu wanted.

“You want to absorb that Doomstar Dominion’s blood and flesh?”

Back then, the Toxic Flame Black-scaled Python fought for Song Chi’s sake and grabbed both a drop of Dominion Soul-bearing Sovereign Blood and a few hundred kilos of Dominion flesh. Song Chi had already extracted much of the regular Sovereign Blood, but there was still a bit of energy left in the remaining flesh.

Song Chi considered it for a moment, then nodded.

The Doomstar Race walked the path of the Law of Light, so Dominion-grade flesh would absolutely benefit Chongyu.

With that, Song Chi handed the flesh over to Chongyu and sent him to the Dragon-Spine Floating-land.

Now that Chongyu had hit the fourth-tier peak, if he devoured this flesh, there was a good chance he’d make a breakthrough to fifth tier. The high-level Dragon-Spine Continent would also give a small boost to the odds.

—

Omniverse Market, Full-Attribute Cultivation Chamber. Song Chi held a vial of Superior Body-Tempering Elixir, then took out a Deepwater Pearl about the size of a ping-pong ball from his Storage Capsule.

This was the oldest Deepwater Pearl produced by the Azure Spirit Spring lately—nine thousand years old.

Carefully, he used psionic energy to grind it into powder and mixed it with the superior elixir.

After that, Song Chi took a deep breath and swallowed the entire vial.

A wave of heat surged through his belly, and he immediately assumed the posture of the Guiding Technique, diving into his closed-door cultivation.