Chapter 507: The Rite of Primordial Fire

As purple lightning began to gather at the bow of the Heavenly Ruin, the twelve Tuoba Clan warships surrounding it quickly responded.

Each of the twelve warships fired their main cannons one after another, attempting to interrupt the Heavenly Ruin’s energy build-up.

Though Song Chi’s series of moves so far was a blatant show of disdain, no one dared to underestimate the Heavenly Ruin’s firepower, despite their anger.

Everyone understood what a battleship over fourteen thousand meters long meant, so all twelve captains fought with everything they had.

Some ships seemed outfitted with modules to reduce their charging time. In less than five seconds, the super main cannons of two Tuoba Royal Clan battleships roared to life.

Powerful particle beams lanced out and slammed into the Heavenly Ruin’s energy shield, but the shield didn’t overload as they’d hoped.

“How is this possible? What kind of quality energy shield is that? Two super main cannon blasts only dimmed it a bit!”

Seeing the sacred radiant shield over the Heavenly Ruin only lose a third of its brilliance, every Tuoba clansman’s expression shifted.

No one believed Song Chi’s flagship lacked repair components. Accounting for that, breaking the energy build-up at long range was out of the question.

With that in mind, two of the four battleships suddenly surged forward. These two battleship captains acted fast: since long-range firepower was useless, they switched to close-quarters collision.

Clang, clang, clang!

A sharp metallic friction echoed as the bows of the two battleships transformed into cold alloy rams.

Driven by the immense thrust from their active engine modules, both ships lunged straight at the Heavenly Ruin like blurs.

But they were in for a rude awakening. The Heavenly Ruin wasn’t just protected by a powerful shield—its hull was equally formidable.

Just as the two battleships were about to strike the Heavenly Ruin, Song Chi activated the ‘Bimon Dominator Body’ trait of the Behemoth Heart.

With immunity to control effects granted by the Dominator trait, and double-layer solid armor from both the Neutron-Star Core Armor and Black Hole Evolution Layer, the ramming attack from the two battleships didn’t even make the Heavenly Ruin tremble.

While the two battleship captains felt a chill in their hearts, the charging process for the Heavenly Ruin’s Divine Thunder Cannon was finally complete.

“Sorry to say, but the game’s over!”

The moment Song Chi’s calm voice rang in the ears of all twelve Tuoba captains, countless purple lightning sigils appeared throughout the sealed space.

These sigils appeared in every corner, and in the next second, they all erupted at once.

In an instant, endless torrents of lightning engulfed the entire sealed space. The twelve Tuoba Clan warships were bombarded relentlessly—eight of the Zhulu-class Cruisers’ shields only lasted a few seconds before overloading, forcing them to activate their hull armor’s defensive modes.

Even so, the prolonged thunderous blasts left their ships battered and scarred.

Honestly, Song Chi could have finished them off if he’d pressed the attack. None of those cruisers would’ve survived.

The four battleships fared a bit better. Though their shields also overloaded, their hulls still remained at over 50% integrity.

At the center of the sealed space, Song Chi stood calmly in the heart of the lightning prison, having unleashed the full might of the Ten-Thousand Sigil Violet Lightning Prison—and did nothing else, just watching the Tuoba fleet’s sorry state.

The thunderous bombardment lasted a full ten minutes. When the last hint of lightning faded, Song Chi withdrew the Voidlock Skyseal Sigil’s seal. All eyes—thousands upon thousands of Tuoba fleet officers—watched as he piloted the Heavenly Ruin slowly downward.

Not a single person tried to stop him this time.

One Zhulu-class Cruiser Captain, whose ship was still in decent shape, looked ready to speak but was stopped by a nearby battleship captain.

“Let’s leave it at that. Can’t you see his flagship’s strength isn’t even on the same level as ours?”

“If he’d really gone all out just now, all twelve of our ships would’ve been dead in the water!”

“Honestly, I doubt even that first-sequence elder from two generations ago, the one who became a battleship captain, could stand against him!”

…

This whole clash didn’t make much of a stir. After all, only the thirteen captains inside the sealed zone had witnessed the full fight. As long as Song Chi kept quiet, the twelve Tuoba captains who’d been crushed weren’t about to spread the word.

But for Song Chi, his goal was already accomplished. From then on, no other Tuoba clansmen came to bother him, leaving him free to train in the Guiding Technique.

In the Market’s Full-Attribute Cultivation Chamber, Song Chi held a deepwater pearl even larger than a ping-pong ball in his hand.

This was a high-grade deepwater pearl from the Azure Spirit Spring in the Cultivation Sanctuary, aged at an impressive eleven thousand years.

Taking out a top-tier body refining potion, he mixed the two and downed it all in one go.

With the potent effects of this 11,000-year deepwater pearl, Song Chi devoted himself fully to Guiding Technique cultivation.

A month later, when he walked out of the cultivation chamber, the Guiding Technique had, as expected, broken through to level 51.

He’d rarely practiced the technique during the fifty years spent comprehending the Laws, so it had remained at level 50. This was his first breakthrough after advancing past the fifth tier.

“Still got two more ten-thousand-year deepwater pearls. Hopefully I can squeeze out another level or two in the future.”

Muttering to himself, he left the Market.

By his calculation, the Tuoba Royal Clan’s Divine Fire Rite was only a couple of days away.

The next morning.

Silverplate Floating-land was especially lively today. Dozens of Fourth-Tier and above Torch Battleships arrived from beyond the island, all here to attend the Tuoba Royal Clan’s once-in-a-century Divine Fire Ceremony.

As the name suggests, the Divine Fire Rite was a sacrificial ceremony for a special high-grade fireseed under the royal family’s control.

Unlike other Torch lineages, the Tuoba Royal Clan’s true heritage didn’t come from starsea deities or cosmic beasts—it originated from an extraordinary fire known as the Primordial Cangflame.

Within this Primordial Cangflame were not only various inherited flame arts but also the ability to grant Tuoba clansmen exceptional fire attributes. It was thanks to this fire that the Royal Clan became renowned across the entire Torch sector.

Still, the Primordial Cangflame wasn’t omnipotent. To maintain its blessing of fire affinity among the clan, the Royal family needed to keep making sacrifices—only by doing so could the flame burn on, even grow stronger.

Silverplate Floating-land. Primordial Cang Mountain.

The ancestral ground of the clan, Primordial Cang Mountain was much like Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain. A massive plaza had also been built at its base.

Today, a host of invited Torch Captains gathered here, waiting for the Tuoba Royal Clan to formally begin this centennial fire ceremony. Among them, Song Chi followed quietly behind his patriarch, awaiting the official start.

Soon, an aged figure slowly rose into the air, coming to a halt above the White Jade Plaza. His presence radiated a power nearing the seventh tier, pressing down upon all the Torch Captains below.

Thankfully, he soon restrained his aura, merely projecting intimidation rather than outright oppression.

In the crowd, Song Chi overheard whispers nearby.

“That’s Tuoba Muchong. I heard he’s over nine thousand years old now and already broke into the ultimate Dreadnought Captain rank five thousand years ago. His strength is unfathomable!”

“Wonder when he’ll try for a Star-Annihilator-class ship. Time’s running out for him.”

…

“Tuoba Muchong, huh…”

Song Chi glanced up at the elder, then quickly looked away.

Moments later, the elder’s voice rang down from above.

“The time has come. I declare the Divine Fire Ceremony officially begins. Present the Divine Fire!”

As soon as he spoke, a massive Dreadnought-class ship suddenly appeared overhead.

As expected, this must have been the Royal Clan’s legacy dreadnought.

Its hangar doors opened, and a fireseed shedding eerie gray light was drawn out.

With its appearance, Song Chi could feel the temperature over the entire plaza climb significantly.

Not that the other Torch Captains found it strange—soon enough, the Tuoba faction sent up a huge assortment of resources.

Red, orange, and purple fireseed oddities, rare fire attribute ores, and premium starsea wood-element spiritual herbs—several six-rank draconic humanoids took turns offering these to the floating Primordial Cangflame.

Song Chi, through his dual pupils, watched as each batch of sacrifices made the Primordial Cangflame burn a bit brighter.

Clearly, everything the Tuoba Clan prepared was of enormous benefit to the fireseed.

And this was barely the beginning. Once all the Tuoba offerings had been given, it was the guests’ turn.

Following their positions, each invited captain stepped up to present either red, orange, or purple fireseed oddities or rare fire-based resources, all fed into the Primordial Cangflame above.

Why hold such a grand Divine Fire Ceremony every century—and even share some coveted purification slots with outsiders?

That’s the secret: harnessing the realms’ combined power to nourish the Primordial Cangflame.

Of course, the visiting guests weren’t fools—most only contributed purple fireseed oddities or some serviceable flame material. Only factions vying for a body-tempering slot offered up rare orange or even red fireseed treasures.

In the end, the twenty factions offering the most valuable resources each got a slot.

When Song Wujian’s turn came, his contribution was an orange fireseed oddity unable to be transmuted into an upgraded fire source. Not the priciest, but still well above average.

He’d already secured a slot through Tuoba Jun, but he couldn’t be stingy. Otherwise, it would reflect poorly on Tuoba Jun. An orange fireseed was just right.

When all the slots were decided, it was time for the event everyone had waited for: the Divine Fire Purification.

This was the Primordial Cangflame’s feedback after absorbing all those flame resources. A portion of the gathered energy was turned into a special body-tempering divine fire. Slot holders had to step into the flames themselves, letting the fire purify both body and soul.

As Song Chi readied his nether energy to step up, Song Wujian’s voice echoed in his mind.

“Chi, the Primordial Cangflame Purification is hugely beneficial for a Torch Captain. Hold out as long as you can—the longer you stay in, the greater the rewards!”

“I understand, Grandfather!”

Song Chi nodded, and then—enveloped by Fifth-Tier nether energy and spatial law—he quietly disappeared from the crowd and reappeared up on the platform ahead.

His sudden appearance drew surprised looks from several fourth and Fifth-Tier captains already there.

Spatial law—now that was a rare field for any captain to dabble in. Way too difficult for most.

Ignoring their stares, Song Chi simply closed his eyes and focused within.

Given his current physique, he figured he could last quite a while in those purifying flames. After his grandfather’s reminder, he was determined to optimize his state and endure even longer.

Song Chi knew well how important the body was—for it directly determined the strength of one’s mind.

A Torch Captain couldn’t just keep strengthening the mind; the stronger the spirit, the more robust the body had to be. Only by forging a tougher body could you support greater spiritual power.

Though his physique was solid enough now to sustain the fifty-fold split-mind technique, there was still the matter of the seventh-tier spiritual essence he possessed. Once absorbed, his spirit would soar, and if his body weren’t up to it, he could be in trouble.

His goal was simple—since this Primordial Cangflame purification could reinforce his physique, he’d do everything possible to maximize his time inside.

A couple minutes later, with all participants assembled, the purifying flames from the Primordial Cangflame descended.

Instantly, Song Chi felt like he’d been thrown into a furnace. The terrifying heat roasted every fiber of his being.

He understood this was the flame tempering his body. Steeling himself, he circulated his nether energy at full speed, doing his best to ease the discomfort from the surging heat.

Time ticked by. One after another, captains stumbled off the platform, unable to bear the intensifying flames.

Song Chi never opened his eyes; truthfully, he could barely stand it himself.

Gradually, only the Fifth-Tier battleship captains remained atop the stage—all the Zhulu-class Cruiser Captains had withdrawn.

About half an hour later, even some battleship captains started reaching their limits. Once the first stepped off, more soon followed.