Chapter 543: Echoes of the Timepiece: Alliances and Choices

Inside the Heavenly Ruin, Song Chi’s figure materialized.

He didn’t return to the warship until he was sure the Timepiece Chessboard had completely transformed into a battleship component, posing no further threat to him.

He reached out to pick up the Timepiece Chessboard, hesitated for a moment, then decided to install it onto the battleship.

Strengthening this component requires time fragments, a rare resource, so upgrading wasn’t possible right now. Even at level zero, though, it gave the Heavenly Ruin—and Song Chi himself—a solid boost.

For example, it greatly increased his efficiency in comprehending the Law of Time.

Besides that, there was another urgent matter he needed to handle.

……

Outer Domain, Unknown Starsea.

On a vast continent over two hundred thousand light-years wide, an ancient divine mountain covered in forbidden runes towered at the center, like a pillar holding up the heavens of this Eighth-Level Floating-land.

Suddenly, a streak of silver light shot out from deep within the mountain. The moment it escaped the mountain, it blazed straight towards the star-studded sky.

“Leave that to me!”

This sudden turn caused a voice, old as the world, to echo throughout the heart of the mountain.

In the next instant, a hand—tens of thousands of kilometers long, encircled by endless laws—reached out from the mountain’s depths, racing after the silver light at breathtaking speed.

Laws of light and power—far beyond perfection—twined together and wove themselves into a net, casting it in one seamless motion toward the fleeing silver flash.

The silver light wasn’t especially fast and was soon caught in the web. Yet, incredibly, even though this net held the might of an Eighth-Tier Dominion, the silver flash passed straight through it, ignoring its earth-shaking power as if it weren’t there.

Witnessing this, the being behind the colossal hand seemed to understand. Its hand slowly withdrew, ceasing any further pursuit.

Scenes like this were unfolding across the Starsea—some in places untouched by life. From remote corners, silver streaks shot forth, each one rushing toward the exact same destination.

But not every silver light managed to escape into the cosmos.

On a continent above the Starsea—beyond even that ancient divine mountain—a certain ray of silver had been utterly trapped within a blood-soaked palace. No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t break free.

Heavenly Ruin, main control room. Song Chi’s gaze stayed locked on the Timepiece Chessboard, his brow gently furrowed, mild surprise in his voice:

“There’s still a chess piece out there that hasn’t returned?”

He’d just activated the recall function for this component. With the Timepiece Chessboard boasting a higher-level colorful quality, he thought summoning back all its pieces would be as simple as flipping a switch. But he hadn’t expected one to resist its call.

“What could block the Timepiece Chessboard’s recall? Is it another Starsea Oddity with the same colorful, higher-grade quality?”

That possibility made Song Chi’s heart skip a beat.

His first instinct was to use the faint directional cue to reverse-track the mystery’s source. Too bad the Timepiece Chessboard didn’t display the piece’s exact coordinates, just a vague sense of direction.

He tried linking the Destiny Compass with the Timepiece Chessboard, but the Map Disk showed no sign of any relevant light.

“Should I just leave it be?”

Song Chi hesitated, debating whether to keep that chess piece on the board.

If his hunch was right, then using this subtle directional hint, he might one day locate another mythic colorful Oddity. With three hundred fifty-nine pieces already in hand, missing one hardly mattered.

But after much thought, he dismissed that idea.

The reason was simple.

Even if it was another high-tier Oddity trapping the piece—what was the nature of the being controlling it?

Someone like him, a lucky Fifth-Tier cultivator?

No. Song Chi didn’t believe that. Odds like that were just too slim. He had a feeling it was more likely an Eighth, Ninth, or even something beyond Ninth Tier, a peak existence.

If that was the case, keeping that piece would be like holding onto a live grenade. If Song Chi could use the Destiny Compass to reverse-search for the Timepiece Chessboard, could those far stronger beings not do the same?

If one of them found him while he was completely unprepared, forget the Heavenly Ruin as a battleship—even once it was upgraded to a Star-Annihilator-class ship, it still wouldn’t guarantee a safe escape.

And honestly, even leaving that chess piece in play, it’s not like the other party wouldn’t catch on. If they set a trap, just waiting for him to walk into it, what then?

Given all that, Song Chi made the decision to deliberately destroy that chess piece with the Timepiece Chessboard.

It’d take a year for it to recover, but at least it would keep the Heavenly Ruin and himself safe for now.

……

On a crimson continent, deep inside a bloodstained hall.

Gurgle, gurgle!

At the bottom of a pool of seething, bubbling blood, a hulking figure—wreathed in chaotic power—slowly opened its blood-red eyes. After a moment, the eyes closed again, and it slipped back into slumber.

……

Dragon-Spine Continent, Azure Moon Estate.

Back in Torch Human Civilization territory, Song Chi immediately took out his Yaoguang Star Order.

Yaoguang Star Order Chat Group

“Jingzhe” (Order #32): “@everyone, mission accomplished perfectly. Thank you all so much.”

“Jingzhe” (Order #32): “@Whitebrow, Corpse Dog, Yulong, Blood Soul… got some time now?”

Yaoguang Star Tower, main hall.

“Uncle Corpse Dog, here’s your Book of Years. Thank you again.”

“Sister Yulong…”

He’d long ago borrowed the Tri-Eye Spirit-Lock Ring from the clan’s warship chamber to safely uninstall all the components. Now, he returned them all. Yulong, on her end, handed him the Blood Spear.

Well… except for the black, Supreme-quality Flow of Time Platform.

It wasn’t that this component couldn’t be removed cleanly. The Tri-Eye Spirit-Lock Ring didn’t work on black-quality parts, but he still had the Destiny Compass.

Main thing was, Whitebrow hadn’t logged in yet and didn’t seem to have any free time at the moment.

“I owe you guys big time for this. If you ever need anything, just ask. If I can help, I will, no hesitation!”

Standing in the hall, Song Chi sincerely thanked them again. Lending out time Oddity components of silver or gold quality without asking for anything in return—honestly, that was rare. If he ever got the chance, he would repay them, no matter what.

But Corpse Dog and the others just waved it off, like it was nothing. That’s how things went in the Star Tower—if you could help, you did.

Just then, Corpse Dog spoke up:

“By the way, after years of prep, I’ve decided to give upgrading to a Star-Annihilator-class ship another shot. So if I go quiet in the chat, you know why—just letting everyone know in advance.”

That got everyone’s attention.

Corpse Dog had already tried once before. Last time, he paid with two gold Sanctum Domain Components just to keep his battleship intact. This time, he wouldn’t have that special component to fall back on. If he failed now—at his age—he probably wouldn’t get another shot at reaching Dreadnought captain.

With that in mind, the group couldn’t help but feel somber. After all, everyone in the Star Tower had their own story—they all understood how tough upgrading to a Star-Annihilator could be.

Feeling the mood darkening, Corpse Dog was about to break the silence—but Yulong jumped in first.

“Uncle Corpse Dog, for this upgrade, do you have any Seventh-Tier Dominion Origin Blood? If not, I can…”

“I’ve got a drop of early Seventh-Tier Evil God Blood…”

“A fifty-thousand-year-old Goldenblood Qilin Fruit—it’ll boost your odds of a successful upgrade by one percent.”

Just like that, Tianlong, Blood Soul and the others all offered up what resources they had that might help with the Star-Annihilator upgrade.

Not everyone was truly so generous and selfless. Even though relationships in the Star Tower were close, things that could actually help push someone to a Star-Annihilator were seriously rare—and could define your future. No one gave those away for nothing.

But apart from their deep connections, there was another reason: Corpse Dog actually had a pretty good shot at upgrading his Zhulu-class Cruiser. If he pulled it off, he’d become a formidable Star-Annihilator captain.

And everyone knew—what help they gave today would come back double, or even tenfold.

Song Chi, on his side, only hesitated a moment before pulling out a White Jade Fruit.

“Uncle Corpse Dog, this is a Sixth-Tier Timeworld Fruit. It should come in handy!”

The moment “Timeworld Fruit” was mentioned, not just Corpse Dog but everyone in the Star Tower looked shocked.

After all, this legendary resource could give a battleship a second chance at promotion—a miracle tool everyone had heard rumors about.

“Jingzhe, you…”

Corpse Dog wanted to say it was too valuable, but with his own second battleship upgrade ahead, the words caught in his throat.

In the end, he accepted the Sixth-Tier Timeworld Fruit and solemnly replied:

“Jingzhe, do you need anything in return? Components, Upgraded Fire Source, special resources—just say the word.”

Song Chi thought for a moment, then said:

“Uncle Corpse Dog, do you have any time fragments lying around?”

“Time fragments? Hold on.”

Hearing Song Chi’s request, Corpse Dog quickly logged out.

As his projection vanished from the Star Tower hall, the others all fixed their eyes on Song Chi.

He’d already prepared his answer.

“I found a Sixth-Tier Timeworld Tree during a previous Outer Domain expedition, but this kind of resource appears really slowly. For now, that’s all I’ve got!”

Song Chi understood perfectly how valuable the Timeworld Fruit was. Even so, he’d made up his mind after careful thought.

Most importantly: Yes, a Sixth-Tier Timeworld Fruit was rare, but once Song Wujian’s battleship leveled up, and with the Three-Eyed Clan’s Dominion Flagship and the Starry Sky Dragon Shark involved, even if his identity was exposed in the future, he could at least protect a single Sixth-Tier Timeworld Tree.