Chapter 579: Auction of the Darkstar Mystic Turtle Armor

The Torch Captains of Tianqi Kingdom couldn’t be more familiar with the Whale King.

His true name was Sun Changjing, and behind him stood the Sun Clan, one of Tianqi Kingdom’s major Immortal Houses. They inherited the legacy of the Golden-Horned Whale and ranked as one of the foremost clans among the Immortal Houses.

Faced with his question, the Chigu Luo Clan’s Dreadnought Captain could only answer honestly.

“Your Majesty Whale King, once the Darkstar Mystic Turtle Armor is upgraded to level 70, it can simultaneously link up to fifty thousand warships. It boosts both the energy shield and hull armor by 50%, lasting forty minutes.”

After he answered, a faint sigh seemed to drift from the private box above.

“Fifty thousand, huh. That only puts it at the bottom among silver-tier strategic components. What a shame…”

His words sounded offhand, but what he really thought only the Whale King himself knew.

Inside the Song Family’s box, Song Yan glanced at the box next door, then shook his head.

“Looks like the Chigu Luo Clan is in trouble. The other Immortal Houses in Tianqi Kingdom clearly aren’t on board with this.”

While Song Yan focused on that, Song Wujian’s gaze never left the Darkstar Mystic Turtle Armor down below.

“This isn’t our business. But what do you two think of this silver-tier strategic component?”

Song Chi replied, “Elder, I believe we must win this. Our family doesn’t have any group boost components like this yet. Since the Chigu Luo Clan is willing to offer it up for auction, we have to get it.”

Song Yan felt the same way.

Group-boost strategic components like this are extremely rare. Once they show up, every power does whatever it takes to grab them. No one is going to leave any chance for their rivals.

This time, the Chigu Luo Clan put it up only out of desperation. If we miss this opportunity, it’ll be near impossible to get something like this in the future.

On the auction stage, the Chigu Luo Clan’s Dreadnought Captain acted as if he hadn’t even heard the Whale King’s murmur. He continued on his own:

“Everyone, this Darkstar Mystic Turtle Armor is a strategic-grade part. In a few years, the war between civilizations will break out. Imagine what it’ll mean for a clan to have something like this. I don’t need to say more. Now, place your bids!”

He spoke with such passion the Chigu Luo Clan had expected a storm of bids to follow.

But instead, it felt like they took several loud slaps to the face. Around the massive auction hall, not a single person dared speak.

Many Torch Captains who, like the Songs, had come from other star systems looked on in surprise.

“Wait, can the mere presence of one Immortal House really have this much of a deterrent effect?”

A veteran captain nearby quickly explained their confusion:

“No, you’re mistaken. Even though only the Whale King spoke up, he actually represents the shared stance of the other Immortal Houses in the kingdom. Otherwise, there’s no way his words would carry this much weight.”

Just as the Chigu Luo Clan members were growing pale with anxiety, someone finally broke the silence.

“Fifty wisp units of Seventh‑Tier Floating-land Origin.”

Strangely, this didn’t bring relief to the Chigu Luo Clan—in fact, their faces darkened further.

The speaker wasn’t the Whale King, but the voice still came from his private box. Clearly, it was a younger member of the Sun Clan.

Naturally, this meant that no other captain dared to raise the bid.

As the atmosphere grew ever more tense, an unexpected voice spoke from the Song Family’s box.

“Elder, at this rate, what’s the point of us showing up to this auction? Are we just here to make an appearance?”

Song Yan’s words sounded casual, but thanks to Song Wujian’s intention, the sound wasn’t blocked by any rules field. Instead, it rang out clearly across the auction hall.

Right after that, another voice chimed in.

“Hahaha, couldn’t have said it better! We traveled all this way, and we’re not here to watch you folks from Tianqi Kingdom put on a performance.”

This voice came from one of the twelve top-tier boxes as well—a power that had brought an actual Star-Annihilator-class ship.

With the two sides sparking off each other, the mood in the auction hall eased considerably. The person who’d laughed earlier spoke up again.

“The Tuoba Royal Clan bids one gold-tier energy shield.”

Hearing that, Song Wujian followed up immediately:

“One gold-tier space expansion component.”

Compared to an energy shield of the same tier, with the great war approaching, logistics would soon be everyone’s top priority. A gold-tier sanctuary-level space expansion component was valued even more highly.

With two powers making offers, more captains started to join in, though most hailed from Immortal House backgrounds. The more ordinary clans stayed silent.

Still, the Chigu Luo Clan never spoke up, even as time dragged on.

This kind of auction doesn’t just go to the highest bidder. The Chigu Luo Clan themselves have to want what’s being offered, or the auction can be called off.

Actually, that was the Sun Clan’s plan too: prevent the Chigu Luo Clan from trading for more rare ascension resources, causing them to fail this time around. It’s not like they truly wanted to buy the armor with fifty Seventh‑Tier Floating-land Origins—that would be ridiculous.

Seeing the Chigu Luo Clan leaning toward calling off the auction, Song Wujian spoke again from the Song box.

“One sixth-tier Timeworld Fruit!”

At those words, the Chigu Luo Clan’s Dreadnought Captain’s eyes lit up. In the next instant, he responded at lightning speed:

“Deal! The Darkstar Mystic Turtle Armor goes to King Dinghai!”

Whew!

Every member of the Chigu Luo Clan in the audience let out a huge sigh of relief.

At the same time, Song Chi and Song Yan, seated high in their box, could hear the lively chatter rising below.

“Timeworld Fruit? If I’m not mistaken, isn’t that the special resource that gives a warship a second ascension shot?”

“Right. With this sixth-tier fruit, plus the earlier seventh-tier Evil God Blood, and the Chigu Luo Clan’s own recipe for Star-Annihilator-class advancement resources—not to mention soaking in high-tier alien blood and that seventh-tier Dominion Source Blood—the odds that they’ll successfully reach Star-Annihilator-class actually look pretty good.”

“Nah, you’re leaving something out: the bonuses from comprehending the laws.”

……

In the box, Song Chi’s eyes showed a hint of confusion. His elder was right next to him, so he just asked directly:

“Elder, how does one’s own comprehension of the laws help with advancing to Star-Annihilator-class? I don’t recall you getting that bonus before!”

He’d heard talk of this, but when the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang advanced, they didn’t seem to trigger it. He still didn’t really understand.

Song Wujian shook his head and explained:

“Torch Captains’ own comprehension of the laws can indeed raise the odds for Star-Annihilator-class ascension, but there’s a big catch: your comprehension must exceed 90%.”

“If you can push a basic law like gold, wood, water, fire, or earth above 90% before your ship attempts the breakthrough, then every extra 1% above 90 boosts the odds further.”

“And if you’re comprehending the supreme laws of time or space, every 1% boost past 90 translates to an extra 2% ascension success rate. When I tried, my space law comprehension was only 85% because I spent too little time at sixth-tier—I missed the threshold.”

Hearing this, Song Chi suddenly understood.

So if his space law ever hits 91%, the odds for the Heavenly Ruin to reach Star-Annihilator-class will rise by 2%. If it hits 92%, that’s a 4% jump.

Thinking along those lines, Song Chi suddenly had another question.

“Elder, what if a captain comprehends two laws? If they get both above 90%, can the bonuses stack?”

“Absolutely!”

With that confirmed, Song Chi felt a surge of urgency to further study the laws.

Even with the Omniverse Market, Starry Sky Throne, and Dao Comprehension Mat (Imitation) providing boosts over the years, his space law comprehension was only at 74%, and his light law hadn’t broken 80% either.

Even if he uses a Space God Crystal from the Cultivation Sanctuary later, pushing two—even three—laws above 90% before the Heavenly Ruin attempts the breakthrough would be no small feat.

His mind racing, Song Chi watched as the auction pressed on.

Beyond the Darkstar Mystic Turtle Armor, the next four showpiece items were all just as rare and precious.

That included gold-tier sanctuary-grade components.

The final item up for bid was the very goal Song Wujian had come for.

Time Crown (Replica) Level 0

Quality: Gold

Trait 1: Time Resistance +1000

Trait 2: Time Crown – Lesser Time Stop

Trait 3: Warships equipped with this gain 140% enhanced talent in time law comprehension

Trait 4: Time Crown – Lesser Time Reversal

Trait 5: All component cooldowns on the equipped warship are reduced by 20%

Consumption: 100 Eon Energy Points per second

Effect: When the equipped warship is struck by external time-based energy, 20% of that power is automatically mitigated.

No charge-up or warmup needed.

Upgrade cost: 100 wisp units of zero-tier Floating-Land Origin, 10,000 Eon Energy Points, 1 drop of Time Essence Liquid.

Note: This component occupies five slots.

{Time Crown – Lesser Time Stop: Consumes 80,000 Eon Energy Points to put a designated target in a time-stop state for two seconds. Cooldown: 720 hours.}

{Time Crown – Lesser Time Reversal: Consumes 100,000 Eon Energy Points to reverse time in a small area outside the target warship for up to two seconds. Cooldown is always one year.}

When it came to this component, Song Wujian was determined to have it. But once the auction started, he didn’t rush to make a move.