Chapter 499: The Secret War of Blood and Shadows

The second batch of Silver Oddity Essence was quickly tossed into the Refinement Platform. In the next moment, the ‘Enslave Seal: Berserk’ trait was successfully transformed into the fourth new trait of the Celestial Authority Ring.

Looking at the Celestial Authority Ring in his hand, with its completely revamped properties, Song Chi couldn’t help but let a smile creep onto his lips.

Even though this process had cost him twenty Red Oddities, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of regret.

In fact, Song Chi thought it was more than worth it.

Returning to the Heavenly Ruin, he reinforced the Celestial Authority Ring to level 69. Taking another look at the ‘Enslave Seal: Berserk’ trait,

Though the power after Berserk still couldn’t exceed the ring’s enhancement limit, the nature of the trait had undergone a fundamental change.

Where the Enslave Medal once maxed out at the sixth tier, now it reached eighth tier. There’s simply no comparison.

With just a thought, he could let any of the several newly enslaved sixth-tier creatures temporarily gain Dominion-level strength.

Still, Song Chi wasn’t so reckless as to try this out on a whim.

After all, each sixth-tier enslaved creature was immensely valuable. Treating them as disposable fodder? Only the truly extravagant would dare.

Pulling his thoughts away from the Celestial Authority Ring, Song Chi took a fresh look at his current stash of resources.

After several rounds of enhancements his reserves had thinned out, especially of Dominion Souls—he hadn’t a single one left. That always made him uneasy.

Deciding to play it safe, Song Chi strode toward the Market’s storage room and fetched the remaining Memory Shards left behind by the Chasing Fate Immortal.

For the foreseeable future, he resolved to focus all his effort on refining these Memory Shards and hopefully extract another one or two Dominion Souls.

“I’m running low on Memory Shards. On top of that, the Chasing Fate Immortal’s soul was already extremely weak after tens of thousands of years of erosion. At best, these shards will yield three, maybe four Dominion Souls…”

After pondering a moment, something else occurred to Song Chi:

“Here’s hoping that so-called God of the Hunt brings a few surprises. I really can’t have enough Dominion Souls…”

…

Unknown Star Domain. In the heart of a massive galactic cluster—

Harnessing the collective might of the cluster, a continent-sized floating landmass had formed in the center of the cluster, its diameter absolutely staggering.

Had Song Chi been present, he would have realized that this Floating-land was packed with immense magical energy. To the south, an immense forest sprawled. Local natives, for whom this land dwarfed any normal Seventh‑Tier Floating-land, spoke in awe of the endless region called the Great Night Forest.

On the southern edge of the Great Night Forest sat the Crescent Moon Night Elf Tribe.

That night, over twenty shadowy figures as nimble as phantoms shot out from within the tribe, all heading beyond the borders of the Great Night Forest.

Streams of powerful Dark Laws coiled around them. Shrouded by the night’s cover, even the higher-tier magical beasts lurking in the forest failed to notice their passing.

These twenty-some shadows were none other than the elder council of the Crescent Moon Tribe. The one at their head was the Crescent Moon Matriarch; the rest, at minimum, were newly advanced sixth-tier Night Elves—a force to be reckoned with.

“Matriarch, if I may remind you, we’re going to have to make our move inside that one’s Divine Realm. I mean no disrespect toward the Master of the Omniverse Market—we can all sense the power sealed inside the Market Projection Token—but we’re talking about striking across the endless void, and the realm itself will resist us. Do you really think he’ll be able to fight at godly strength?”

As this prime sixth-tier elf elder spoke beside her, the Crescent Moon Matriarch didn’t pause, answering softly:

“I’ve already made arrangements. Even if the Omniverse Market Master loses some combat power, it’ll still be enough for our tribespeople to retreat in one piece.”

…

The twenty-some figures shot through the shadowy forest, racing for over an hour and covering thousands of kilometers.

At one point, the procession halted, every one of them slipping into a cavernous hole at the base of an enormous ancient tree, nearly a hundred meters wide and towering in height.

The treehole’s entrance was shielded with a unique illusionary spell found only among Night Elves. No other creature could sense a thing.

Inside, a small magical teleportation array had been etched. Once all twenty-something Night Elves stepped into the array, the interior flickered with intense light and spatial distortion.

But all this was masked by the concealing spell at the entrance. Not a hint leaked to the outside world.

As the teleportation activated, somewhere billions of kilometers away—south of the continent, on the Bleakbone Wasteland—

Under cover of darkness, the Matriarch and her elven retinue quietly emerged from a hillside cave.

“We’ve arrived at the heart of the Bleakbone Wasteland. There’s a sacrificial altar to the God of the Hunt about a hundred kilometers ahead. Bring me the blood sacrifices we’ve prepared…”

Once handed a blood-red storage ring, the Matriarch continued:

“Head to the prearranged defense posts. They’ll cut the altar off from the outside world. I’ll make my move in an hour—the commotion will be huge. Do whatever you can to fend off the aberrant beasts and evil god cultists…”

“Understood!”

…

With her orders given, a wisp of Dominion Power flowed from the Matriarch. Under her command, perfect Dark Laws manifested across her tall frame. She vanished in the next second, disappearing entirely into the night.

“Hunter in the Darkness, Scarlet Sovereign of the Wasteland, supreme god ruling blood and shadows, please heed your believer’s call. Accept this most exquisite offering…”

Deep within the desolate Bleakbone Wasteland, a chilling voice echoed atop a white bone altar. As heaps of high-tier beast flesh were piled onto the altar, a bloody red glow began to flicker faintly from its surface.

Above in the night sky, the once bright silver moon turned red as if dyed in blood. A vast, blood-colored Divine Realm hovered overhead, anchored by the crimson-boned altar. It devoured the heaps of beast flesh and poured down blood-red divine power, ready to bless the devotee presenting this premium sacrifice.

And in that instant, with all her aura concealed by a golden Oddity-Class artifact—a true Divine Weapon—the Crescent Moon Matriarch unleashed her Dominion, letting a storm of energy and Dark Law explode outward. It surged madly into the blood-red Divine Realm overhead.

Such a drastic shift instantly triggered a response from the bloody Divine Realm. The descending divine power rapidly withdrew.

The Matriarch’s eyes flashed with a hint of mockery.

Had this happened back before the God of the Hunt slipped into slumber, no amount of concealment could have fooled Him; He simply wouldn’t have responded.

Now, though, the thing responding to His followers was just a vestige of His Divine Realm’s instincts. And that domain, already battered and broken, had no chance to block her.

With the Dominion and Dark Law now binding the bloody Divine Realm, the Matriarch waved her hand and drew another item from her ornate storage necklace.

It was the very Spirit Language Book she’d once bartered from Song Chi.

The moment the Spirit Language Book appeared, the Matriarch began chanting numerous ancient verses. As her intonation completed, the book snapped open. A bronze runic chain burst forth from one of its pages, shooting straight for the blood-red Divine Realm above.

There was no telling what the bronze runic chain truly was, but it utterly ignored the realm’s defenses of endless obscure blood power. It pierced the void and drove straight into the heart of the Divine Realm.

“Crack!”

A faint shattering echoed, but the Matriarch paid it no mind. She resumed her incantation, and with the Spirit Language Book in tow, she hurtled toward the shattered Divine Realm overhead.

“Omnipresent Master of the Omniverse Market, mysterious ruler of the Shadow Side of the Void Sea, I beg you: lend me your power!”

In the Free Stall Area of the Market, Song Chi, deep in the refinement of the Chasing Fate Immortal’s Memory Shards, suddenly snapped open his eyes. He sensed a summons from the farthest starry reaches.

“The Crescent Moon Matriarch has already activated the Market Projection Token…”

He rose at once. Instead of answering immediately, he summoned the Heavenly Ruin first.

Once aboard, the battleship’s engines roared to life. The screech of metal rang out as the Heavenly Ruin soared up into the Market Heavens, where it transformed into a titan of legendary mechanized might, over ten thousand meters tall.

Only after all this did Song Chi turn his focus to the distant summoning, reaching out in response.

Space warped and shifted. Suddenly, the world before Song Chi’s Dual Pupils turned bloody red.

Near the purple mist projection, the Matriarch was cloaked in not-too-strong Dominion Power, surrounded by Dark Law flowing about her.

Only when the Omniverse Market’s purple mist projection had fully solidified did the worry in her gaze finally vanish.

Even the Matriarch herself hadn’t noticed: at the instant that Master-level purple fog projection from the Omniverse Market took form, a hint of solemnity flitted through her eyes, though joy was the dominant emotion.

After all, with another Dominion-level ally, odds of success shot up for this operation.

Song Chi gazed up above the blood-soaked Divine Realm, where a gigantic red figure lay in slumber.

The blood giant had four vertical eyes, but its mouth and nose weren’t below its eyes—they sat atop its head. If that weren’t enough, a second mouth gaped wide upon its chest. Its entire presence radiated sheer savagery.

“That’s the God of the Hunt you spoke of?”

Through the purple haze, the legendary mecha’s silhouette spoke. The Crescent Moon Matriarch quickly nodded:

“That’s right. He’s asleep now, with nearly seventy percent of his divine power locked away. If he wakes up, he’ll be even harder to deal with.”

Hearing this, Song Chi inside the projection nodded in agreement.

According to the Matriarch, this ancient evil god had kept his divine fire burning for over a hundred millennia. He stood a hair short of eighth-tier Main God.

One look from a distance told as much—even Song Chi, with the distance and the Heavenly Ruin’s many shields, felt profoundly uncomfortable gazing at him from the Market.

Had he not been reinforced by the Market’s Dominion Power, Song Chi suspected his current self would have mutated just from a single glance.

“In that case, let’s not delay. As planned, hit him with our strongest attack!”

“Understood!”

With their decision made, both channeled Dominion Power at once, readying their deadliest strikes.

The Matriarch acted swiftly. She’d already pulled out another item from her necklace—a longbow radiating golden light.

The moment this Golden Sanctum Oddity bow materialized, the Matriarch began singing a beautiful phrase. At the same time, the Spirit Language Book flipped to a new page.

Slowly, an arrow made entirely from bronze runes condensed. She raised it and gripped it in her hand.

Bow bent, arrow nocked.

Perfect Dark Law gathered rapidly around the runic arrow. Even catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, Song Chi could feel the dreadful might it harbored.

He pulled his gaze away and let out a soft sigh.

If he wasn’t mistaken, that golden longbow was of the same lineage as the Myriad‑Spirit Annihilation Bow, and could probably transform into a super main cannon, too.

But apparently, this longbow was a hereditary weapon of the Crescent Moon Matriarch. No way she was looking to trade it.

Besides the golden longbow and the Spirit Language Book he’d bartered over, she still had at least two more Golden Sanctum Oddities on her person.

“No wonder the force has had Dominion-level fighters for generations. They’ve got resources to burn…”

But then he remembered—the price of that Dominion Power was only a ten-thousand-year lifespan. The appeal vanished on the spot.

What was the point of amassing all this strength if not to chase after a longer life?

For elves, even regular sixth-tiers had lifespans in the tens of thousands, and normal seventh-tiers probably outlived the Torch Human Civilization itself. But generation after generation, the Matriarch of the Crescent Moon Tribe only had ten thousand years at most—the tradeoff was just too steep.

He stopped dwelling on it. Under his command, the mythic mecha giant cloaked in purple haze lifted its right arm. Boundless thunder gathered at the palm’s fearsome cannon port.

Under the cover of celestial thunder, the Ninefold Violet Heaven World-Ending Calamity Thunder was charging up at blinding speed.

The Divine Thunder Cannon’s Ninefold Violet Heaven World-Ending Calamity Thunder wasn’t its only feature—it also encompassed the Black Hole Evolution Layer’s Black Hole Singular Burst.

In fact, all thirty thousand units of Black Hole Energy stored were dumped completely into the singularity.

Since they’d agreed to go all out, Song Chi wasn’t holding back.

They were facing a deity near the peak of seventh-tier. If this didn’t finish the job, and the god awoke empowered by his Divine Realm, a rampaging, peak seventh-tier evil god would be no laughing matter.