Chapter 573: Golden Apples and Secret Deals

Calamity Star Floating-Land, Dragon Spine City.

In a private suite at the top of a tall building, heavy breathing and a woman’s weak moans filled the air. On the bed inside, two bodies tangled together, the elegant woman left no choice but to endure the man’s forceful control.

A long while later the storm finally passed.

As she looked at the pale-faced man beside her, the elegant woman’s swollen eyes briefly flashed with an icy killing intent. She quickly hid it, not daring to let this seemingly harmless, but ruthlessly violent man—a man with blood on his hands—noticing.

“Now keep your promise already! Tell your City Guards to let my husband and child go!”

As soon as she spoke, the man sitting at the head of the bed curled his lips in a faint smile. But the next moment his expression darkened, and his hand suddenly lashed out.

“Smack!”

The woman was flung from the bed by the slap, her cheek swelling bright red, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. If she didn’t have her peak First-Level Guiding Technique, that slap could have shattered half her face.

“Worthless wench! If you weren’t so good-looking, I’d have thrown you out to make money long ago! Say one more word and tomorrow your son and that green turtle will both be corpses—if you don’t believe me, try me…”

Bang!

Before the man could finish, the room’s door was slammed open with a heavy thud.

A flurry of footsteps followed as several people rushed inside.

“Who’s there!”

The man roared in fury, eyes blazing with anger.

But when he saw who had stormed in, he froze. A beat later, dark energy surged inside him as his Second-Level Dark Energy fired up.

He bought himself a moment, then leaped without hesitation toward the suite’s window.

Crash!

Outside, on Dragon Spine City’s main street, the flow of pedestrians paused as one. Every gaze snapped to the right, toward the North Sea Hearthfire Hotel.

A stark-naked body burst straight out the hotel’s top floor window, followed by several figures in hot pursuit.

“My dad is captain of Dragon Spine City’s Fourth Guard Squad! I’m direct bloodline from the clan! How dare you little inspectors touch me?”

As he plummeted, the man still shouted furiously up at the sky, Dark Energy amplifying his voice and throwing the crowd into chaos.

Not far from the North Sea Hearthfire Hotel, inside a reception room of the Dragon Spine Commercial Tower.

Two people sat across from each other, mid-conversation when they too heard the commotion.

“Uh…”

“Never mind that. Our clan’s poor discipline has bred more than a few leeches—and because of this, Dragon‑Spine Continent has already ordered a full investigation. Sorry you had to see that, Brother Li.”

The speaker was Song Ze. Across from him sat a man named Li, vice-captain of a well-known exploration team in the public zone of Calamity Star Floating-Land. He’d held the title of Zhulu-class Cruiser Captain for over a century.

After a brief explanation, Song Ze quickly steered the conversation back to business.

“About those two wisps of Primal Chaos Qi you mentioned before—was that for real?”

“Of course. Your clan’s a newly ascended Immortal House, there’s no way my White Night Exploration Team would dare lie to you!”

The Li-named Zhulu-class Captain replied at once, then added,

“Two wisps is just an initial estimate. There are still areas of that ruin we haven’t explored, so there could be even more Primal Chaos Qi.”

After hearing his explanation, Song Ze considered a moment before nodding.

“Alright. I’ll report this to the clan. Brother Li, if you could wait a few days.”

With Song Ze’s approval, the Zhulu-class Captain left, grinning with delight.

Though the White Night Exploration Team was sizable, they only had one battleship captain, which made it hard to get deeper into that ruin. Now that the Song Family had agreed, finishing the exploration would be much easier.

With the Song Family’s resources, a bit of support was all they’d need to finish the job.

A few days later, the Song Family transferred in two battleship captains from Dragon‑Spine Continent. The value they placed on Primal Chaos Qi had never been higher.

Publicly, of course, they simply said the two captains happened to be close by—explaining their quick arrival at Calamity Star Floating-Land.

With the two captains joining in, a month and a half later the exploration team finally returned with the ruin fully plundered.

This time, the Song Family walked away with three wisps of Primal Chaos Qi.

Deals like this were happening in Song Family’s merchant branches all over the map.

The third renovation of the Dragon Whale Hall needed a full hundred wisps of Primal Chaos Qi. Normally, gathering so much in such a short time would be impossible, but thanks to the thirty-five wisps found earlier in the Flame God Clan’s storage bracelet, the family elders ordered every effort to buy up Primal Chaos Qi before all-out war began—hoping to collect enough in time.

Meanwhile, inside the Dragon Whale Hall, several figures discussed the latest progress.

“So, how much Primal Chaos Qi have we got now?”

“That last batch made sixty in total.”

“Still forty short… that’s going to be tough.”

Song Chi had no idea about these talks in the family ancestral hall. He wasn’t there.

Azure Moon Estate, private courtyard.

Fiddling with the Yaoguang Star Order No.32, Song Chi hesitated for a while before finally sending a message in the group chat.

“Jingzhe” (Order #32): @Whitebrow, are you around?

Not long after, a reply popped up in chat.

“Whitebrow” (Order #30): Here.

“Jingzhe” (Order #32): Let’s talk in the Star Tower.

……

Yaoguang Star Tower, Grand Hall.

Song Chi logged in first and waited only a short while before Whitebrow materialized in person too.

“What’s up?”

Whitebrow seemed far more relaxed than usual, taking the initiative to speak.

Song Chi paid it little mind. Instead, he reached into his Torch Ancestral Orifice and pulled out a part radiating golden light.

Frost King’s Crown, lv0

Grade: Gold

Trait: Shield of Frost

Trait 2: Increases battleship Ice Law enlightenment by 350%

……

Whitebrow’s crystalline eyes swept over the Frost King’s Crown stats, then she looked up to meet Song Chi’s gaze.

“This came from Shang Jie, didn’t it?”

Song Chi didn’t hesitate, giving a direct nod.

He’d known she’d ask as soon as he brought out the part.

That ‘Frost Phoenix True Spirit Guard’ trait made it all too recognizable—which was part of why he didn’t want to keep it in the first place.

Even though the Mythic Serpent’s Eternal Guard Scale blocked Shang Clan’s tracking, the coming war threatened life at every turn. In battles like that, a part you couldn’t freely use was nothing but a waste.

And if he ever did activate the ‘Frost Phoenix True Spirit Guard’ in public, there was no doubt someone would spot it. If word reached Shang Jie, he’d be in real trouble.

Unable to use the Guardian trait, and with no need for the Ice Law boost, the part had lost much of its worth for him.

On the other hand, Whitebrow—who had mastered Ice Law—was the perfect fit.

Afraid she’d spread news of this?

Song Chi had thought long and hard about that, but decided the risk was low.

Back in the Blood War Secret Realm, he figured she already suspected something, but since then she’d never once brought it up.

Seeing Song Chi nod without a word, Whitebrow looked away. She didn’t rush to reply, and for a moment, silence settled between them.

After a while, Song Chi finally broke it.

“No pressure. If you don’t want it, I can sell it elsewhere.”

Whitebrow didn’t answer. Instead, she retrieved three items and placed them before him.

“No, this Frost King’s Crown will help me a lot. In exchange, pick one of these.”

The moment she agreed, Song Chi’s gaze swept over the three objects in her hand.

Two were golden parts, but the last was a rare spiritual fruit.

Earthsplitter Orb, lv0

Grade: Gold

Trait: Earthsplitter’s Shield

Trait 2: Battleship Earth Law comprehension +140%

Trait 3: Earth Resistance +1000

Trait 4: Earth Healing

Trait 5: Earthsplitter Dominion Soul Guard

……

Rakshasa Terracotta Tree, lv0

Grade: Gold

Trait: Power of Darkness

Trait 2: Maximum summoned Terracotta Warriors +10

Trait 3: Rakshasa Scythe

……

Both golden parts—one was also a Dominion Soul Guard, but all about earth attributes, so still not for him.

The other was the Terracotta Tree, of Rakshasa origin. Song Chi had heard much about the Rakshasa—they were recognized as one of the ten Overlord-level civilizations alongside the Three-Eyed Clan.

As leaders of an Overlord civilization, the Rakshasa had unmatched gifts—and were born killers.

Without that third item, Song Chi would have chosen the Rakshasa Terracotta Tree. But his attention was immediately grabbed by the third.

It wasn’t a Starsea Oddity or component, but its effect made Song Chi’s mouth water.

A Golden Apple. Tier Eight.

Golden Apples are rare fruits from the legendary Golden Apple Mother Tree, standing on par with the famed Silver Apple Mother Tree.

Functionally, golden and silver apples were the same—both could upgrade a chosen Starsea Oddity or battleship part by a tier.

But the gap in their potential couldn’t be bigger.

The Silver Apple Mother Tree couldn’t grow past Tier Seven, so silver apples maxed out at that, turning red epic oddities into silver legendary ones.

The Golden Apple Mother Tree, on the other hand, could reach extraordinary heights—records said Torch Captains had seen Golden Apple Mother Trees at mythic level.

The instant Song Chi saw that Tier Eight Golden Apple, his eyes were locked in place.

His mind jumped straight to the No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang, then to the Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl and Sky-Domain AI. With this golden apple, any of those silver-tier components could evolve in an instant.

That decided it. After only a moment’s thought, he made his choice.

“I’ll take the Tier Eight Golden Apple.”

Whitebrow didn’t hesitate for a second, handing it over.

But instead of reaching out, Song Chi spoke again.

“Whitebrow, equipping the Frost King’s Crown means you can’t really use the Frost Phoenix True Spirit Guard either. Strictly speaking, I’m getting the better end of this deal. Here—take a Tier Five Timeworld Fruit to make it fair.”

He flipped a White Jade Fruit to her.

Even with Whitebrow’s powerful background, there was no way she could shrug off the Shang Clan entirely. She was likely after the Ice Law boost and not the guardian trait—so he felt the trade wasn’t completely even.

Whitebrow caught it without a word, lost in thought.

Before logging off, Song Chi offered a final reminder.

“Keep an eye out—Shang Clan might try tracing it again.”

In the past few years, Shang Clan had stopped their hunt, but you never knew when they’d switch it up again.

……

Omniverse Market, Free Stall Area.

After returning from Yaoguang Star Tower, Song Chi went straight back to the market.

In the command room of the Heavenly Ruin, he gripped the Tier Eight Golden Apple, gaze sweeping over several of the ship’s silver parts.

No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang, Myriad‑Spirit Annihilation Bow, Sky-Domain AI, Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl, Last Aegis, Scarlet Vault Jump Drive.

He weighed which part would benefit most from the apple.

After some consideration, his eyes settled on the No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang.

This integrated secret-realm component housed so many precious plants inside.

Just the Silver Apple Mother Tree and the Timeworld Tree alone were priceless.

And then there were the Law Tree, Azure Spirit Spring, Jade‑Blood Peach Tree, Celestial Spirit Earth, and Quenching Spirit Fruit Tree.

As he fused the golden apple with the part, the Cultivation Secret Realm began to glow.

It took about ten minutes, but when the silver light finally turned to gold, it had fully evolved to a Gold Saint Domain tier part.

No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang, lv70

Grade: Gold

Trait: Plant Growth Speed +350%

Trait 2: Heterogeneous Plant Grafting +70%

Trait 3: Sanctuary Accelerator

Trait 4: Time Essence Liquid

Trait 5: Space God Crystal

Consumption: 2500/s (Eon Energy Points)

Effect: When equipped, the entire sanctuary binds to the battleship, accessible at will.

……

Song Chi’s eyes swept those new upgrades, finally landing on the ‘Space God Crystal’.

{Space God Crystal: A rare space-type resource. One forms every ten thousand years. The longer it matures, the higher the quality. Its uses are extremely special.}

After becoming Saint Domain grade, the Cultivation Secret Realm now had another rare resource.

Song Chi had used one of these before and knew a Space God Crystal was extremely valuable—it could directly boost someone’s Law of Space.

On top of that, the ‘Sanctuary Accelerator’ trait’s time boosting effect had increased—from 220×Component Level to 350×Component Level. With the realm’s other treasures like Azure Spirit Spring and Celestial Spirit Earth, a single time acceleration run could equate to a staggering forty thousand years.