Chapter 515: Rewards and Storms in the Sea of Stars

After that initial spark of joy, Song Chi and his companion couldn’t help but let their gazes drift over the massive projection screen hanging in the sky ahead.

Up there, several lines of rule-text were neatly displayed, showing the final results of the Inheritance Tower challenge.

Orange Oddities for Domain-level Geniuses: 3,084

Red Oddities for Galaxy-level Geniuses: 926

Silver Oddities for River-level Geniuses: 28

Gold Oddity for Super-River-level Genius: 1

In the Heavenly Ruin’s command center, Song Chi’s brow twitched. His eyes locked onto that last line—Gold Oddity Reward for the Super-River-level Genius.

He hadn’t set foot in this star domain for over two centuries, and who would’ve guessed—on only his second return, he’d witness someone claim that gold-tier Sanctum Oddity.

He remembered the elders’ words: a Super-River-level rating was unimaginably rare. Sometimes centuries, even a millennium, would pass before one such genius appeared.

“The real question is, what kind of Gold Oddity did this person actually get?”

With this thought, Song Chi moved quickly. Three powerful tractor beams shot out from the Heavenly Ruin, locking onto three cruisers above.

As the Song Family’s three cruisers were pulled rapidly downward, things unfolded just as Song Chi had expected. The overwhelming allure of that Gold Sanctum Oddity sent a ripple through the crowd. After a brief silence, countless high-level Starsea aliens went into a frenzy, launching barrages at the thousands of surviving challengers overhead.

“So much for loyalty,” Song Chi muttered to himself, his face less than pleased.

He’d seen it coming, which was why he’d reacted first. Still, those aliens below, already driven half-mad by the Gold Oddity’s influence, moved just as fast. Before he’d even gotten his three kin down, torrents of energy and law-attacks surged upward.

Song Chi’s eyes gleamed as he made a snap decision.

“Song Bei! Ready shields and prepare to defend!”

No sooner had his command echoed through the magnetic comm channel than Song Chi activated the Warship Position-Switcher on the Heavenly Ruin.

Out in the starry sky, Song Yiming suddenly felt a wild surge of power engulf the Minglong. Before he could react, his warship spun with dizzying force—when things finally steadied, Song Yiming found himself, and the Minglong, suddenly beside the North Star River.

Glancing up, he realized the Minglong’s previous spot was now occupied by a massive battleship shrouded in pure holy light.

From that holy-lit behemoth, two bands of energy shot out, tightly wrapping around the Chuanlong and Tianhang. Using mighty engine power, the giant ship was dragging both vessels downward at great speed.

Rooooar!

A nearly perfected law of space gathered above, manifesting a space law dragon whale that shielded the Chuanlong and Tianhang—taking the brunt of the oncoming assault from below.

As for the holy light ship, all those attacks from below crashed against its shield, dimming the radiance a little, but at such a slow rate that you’d barely notice unless you looked close.

“Uncle Song Chi actually came in person? Uncle Song Bei, something must’ve happened, right?”

Recognizing the Heavenly Ruin, Song Yiming instantly let out a breath of relief, switching to the comms to ask Song Bei what was going on.

For recent generations, almost every Song descendant had grown up listening to legends about Song Chi. Most of the younger family members saw him as their role model, a living legend—two generations older but nearly a mythic figure, his power unmatched, his reputation untouchable.

With Song Chi covering them, the Chuanlong and Tianhang escaped the upper air’s attack zone and returned safely to the crowd below.

“This chaos is going to drag on for ages. We’re leaving—now.”

Once they joined up, Song Chi took charge, not hesitating for a second.

Given his current status, no one dared argue. The five warships sped toward the passageway controlled by the family.

“Junior Song Yiming (Song Yichuan, Song Hang) greets Uncle Song Chi!”

On the comms channel, the three younger members greeted their idol politely, excitement shining in their eyes.

Song Chi gave a warm nod, then asked,

“How’d you all do in the challenge this time?”

Faced with his question, the three made sure not to hide a thing. Each took out their rewards.

Song Yichuan: A silver energy shield.

Song Hang: A red hull armor plate.

Seeing the decent haul, Song Chi’s smile didn’t waver. Whether red or silver, both meant impressive results in the Bodhi Inheritance Tower.

But that wasn’t the main thing. When Song Yiming revealed his reward, genuine surprise flickered in Song Chi’s eyes.

Gold Sanctum Oddity: The Illusion Array Stone.

Song Yiming had pulled a gold-tier oddity.

[Oddity: Illusion Array Stone]

[Quality: Gold]

[Convertible: None]

[Note: A primordial stone preserved since the multiversal era, nourished for years by some unique illusion energy of the Sea of Stars, now transformed into a high-level oddity capable of evolving extraordinary illusion arrays.]

This Illusion Array Stone couldn’t be converted into a battleship component, and its value clearly fell short of a time-type oddity like the Pusa Zen Seal.

“Yiming, how many levels did you clear in the end?”

“Uncle Song Chi, I made it to level 75.”

With that, Song Chi’s eyes said it all—just as he’d suspected.

He’d reached 76 levels himself back then, which let him pick among several top rewards. Song Yiming’s 75 cleared just barely hit the Super-River-level threshold, so he got only a single, unchosen Gold Oddity.

Even so, it showed how formidable his flagship was. If they trained him right, Yiming might soon become the torchbearer for the next generation.

Song Chi was about to praise him when, suddenly, his brow furrowed. He changed tone mid-sentence:

“Song Bei, you take the youngsters and go—now!”

Song Bei had spotted the two massive figures chasing from behind on patrol radar, so he knew exactly what was happening.

“Alright. Watch yourself out there!”

He knew staying would just hold Song Chi back. With a quick word, he led Yiming and the other two away.

……

The Heavenly Ruin hovered silently. Within seconds, two looming beasts flew into Song Chi’s view.

“Finally noticed something was off, eh?”

Staring at the two Sixth-Tier Star Devourer Wolves, Song Chi’s gaze flashed with a hint of mockery.

Honestly, they’d brought this on themselves.

Back when countless alien races had been present, Song Chi hadn’t wanted a rash move to ruin future gains, so he’d let them off. But now they’d chased him out past the alien crowd, so he had no reason to show mercy.

In a heartbeat, Song Chi fired up all the main guns and the supercannon aboard the Heavenly Ruin.

Blood Judgment.

Celestial Godslayer.

True Immortal Quantum Blade.

Soul-Annihilating Iris Beam.

Ten-Thousand Sigil Violet Lightning Prison.

On top of all that, the black hole energy from the Black Hole Evolution Layer surged forth. Before the two Star Devourer Wolves even got close, the Heavenly Ruin unleashed a terrifying tide of attacks.

Boom!

Under the raging energy storm, the newly advanced and peak Sixth-Tier wolves both perished, wiped out by that horrific blast.

Not that the aliens near the Bodhi Inheritance Tower noticed—the storm illuminated half the sky, but Song Chi had already activated the Voidlock Skyseal Sigil, shielding the outburst from view.

The Superbody Compression Plate kicked in; both immense wolf corpses—each over a thousand kilometers long—were rapidly shrunk down to a hundred meters and pulled into the Heavenly Ruin’s hold.

Two Sixth-Tier star-beast corpses meant two shares of source-blood. It might not be essential for advancing the warship further, but their value wasn’t minor; they’d make good trade for Titanite Crystals or the like later.

……

Dragon-Spine Continent, Dragon Whale Hall.

Truth was, this Chaos Mist event had little to do with Song Chi. It was triggered because of Song Yiming’s Illusion Array Stone.

Suspended high above the hall, four golden thrones and one silvery throne loomed. Five figures sat in regal silence.

Down below, Song Yiming—the center of attention—stood nervously with head bowed, clutching the Illusion Array Stone.

“Clan Elder, this Illusion Array Stone means everything for the Hidden Vein. With it, our underground base will be even safer. As for Dragon-Spine Continent—its rapid growth isn’t exactly a secret these days. All the major powers have noticed. Using the Illusion Array Stone to cover it up doesn’t seem crucial any longer!”

Song Shixing spoke first, eyes burning as he stared at the Illusion Array Stone like a starving man spotting a gourmet feast.

Song Wujian, Song Shiyuan, Song Xingru, and Song Chi stayed silent for a moment.

They all understood the danger. Hidden Vein was based in a superdimensional Floating-land crawling with alien civilizations—a blade hung over their heads. One mistake could mean total annihilation.

Over the past two thousand years, the main family had poured in resources—advanced illusion arrays, top-tier concealment oddities, the red-tier Cloud-Seeker Disk, even a half-step Seventh-Tier Void Demon.

But it still wasn’t enough. Those measures might barely hold off low-rank sevens, but not veterans or peak-tier powers. In truth, even without the top threats, a passing expert could expose the base. On Red Star Superdimensional Continent, even Eighth-Tier beings weren’t rare.

Yet, Dragon-Spine Continent had its own pressing needs.

It was racing toward the peak of the sixth tier—maybe even a seventh-tier Floating-land. The other Morningstar Kingdom families weren’t going to ignore that.

Nothing had happened because the breakthrough hadn’t come. But once Dragon-Spine’s diameter neared a thousand light-years, you could bet those other families would make secret moves.

Open attacks broke the Four Empires’ laws, but secret suppression was inevitable. This couldn’t stop Dragon-Spine’s rise, but it could slow things down—dragging out the promotion for years.

That’s what was troubling Song Wujian the most.

A Gold Sanctum Oddity like the Illusion Array Stone, boosted by the Three-Eyed Clan Imperial Flagship’s Seventh-Tier energy, could cast an array wide enough to cover all of Dragon-Spine. They could then project whatever illusion they wanted, throwing enemy spies off the scent.

After much thought, Song Wujian finally spoke:

“Here’s how we’ll play it—the Illusion Array Stone stays on Dragon-Spine for now. For the Hidden Vein, Shixing and Chi, you’ll leave soon. With the Starry Sky Dragon Shark soon back to full strength on Chi’s warship, you can hold the base safe. And if it goes south, with Chi and that Dimensional Spatial Stone you can evacuate almost all our assets.”

He paused, then added after a moment:

“It won’t take three centuries. The Illusion Array Stone and the Imperial Flagship will both go to the Hidden Vein. Once there, you won’t have to hold back—go all out on Red Star Continent.”

The leaders mulled it over, then nodded in agreement. It made sense—Dragon-Spine was the family’s heart and had to come first.

Pushing for seventh-tier status was the Song Family’s biggest mission. In terms of both reason and emotion, the Illusion Array Stone absolutely had to stay here a while longer.

With the Starry Sky Dragon Shark present, the Hidden Vein could handle itself. For a family branch that had persisted over two millennia, two centuries was a drop in the bucket.

With the issue settled, everyone finally turned their attention back to Song Yiming below.

The family had paid for the Inheritance Tower tickets, but the young ones risked their lives. More importantly, this oddity was vital for the clan. They couldn’t skimp on rewards.

With those top figures staring down at him, Song Yiming felt sweat prickle his scalp. Thankfully, the moment didn’t last. Song Wujian’s question soon broke the tension.

“Yiming, thought it through? What reward do you want?”

He was nervous, but his answer came quick—he’d obviously made up his mind long ago.

“It was my duty, ancestors. I don’t dare claim credit. I’ll do as the elders decide.”