Chapter 596: The Turning Tide: Clash in the Sea of Stars

Just as the situation reached a razor’s edge, ripples suddenly swept across the distant starry sky. In the very next moment, the Heavenly Ruin’s Mirror Warship emerged from a portal in space.

Without hesitating, Song Wujian, Song Shiyuan, Song Xingru and the others dashed out of the mirror warship, summoning their own battleships in quick succession.

The Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang shot forward at breakneck speed, closing in on one of the Seventh-Tier Serpent Demon Dominators in a matter of moments.

Almost at the same time, the Luo Clan’s Star-Annihilator-class Ship and the Tiger Carapace King Bug launched their assault too, intercepting all three Serpent Demon Dominators at once.

As Song Wujian and his group arrived in the nick of time through the mirror warship, the faces of the three newly arrived Eight-Armed Serpent Demons twisted in shock.

They had hoped to hit fast and hard while drawing the main force away—a classic feint attack. They’d never considered the possibility that the Song Family’s support fleet, which had left days ago, could return so quickly.

Now that the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang was back in the fight, joined by the unexpected Tiger Carapace King Bug, the serpent demons responded without missing a beat. Power surged within them and all three turned to escape, Dominion Power blazing as they darted toward the distant stars.

“Everyone, focus! Do everything you can to stop the leftmost Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Dominator!”

Suddenly, a message crackled from a communications module aboard the Heavenly Ruin. Song Chi sprang into action, issuing rapid orders.

Still surrounded by the fading triple-layered Serpent Prison, he activated the Starlight Flash Spirit Stone Talisman he’d just acquired.

In the very next instant, the Heavenly Ruin, under heavy suppression and slowed to a crawl, exploded into pure light and vanished from its original spot.

While the component worked, the flash-step was nowhere near as effective as usual. Normally, it could leap over dozens of light-years, but this time it didn’t even reach a few hundred million kilometers.

Still, that was enough for the Heavenly Ruin to catch up with one of the fleeing Serpent Demon Dominators—the one farthest to the right.

Multiple modules activated at once across the Heavenly Ruin.

Bind-God Chains: Void Bind-God!

Voidlock Skyseal Sigil: Heaven-Binding Shackles!

Pusa Zen Seal: Zen Seal—External Time Stop!

All these modules targeted the serpent demon ahead, but the oppressive force of the Serpent Prison had severely weakened their collective power.

Still, the Serpent Demon Dominator was anything but an ordinary foe. Its reaction was lightning fast—by the time the Heavenly Ruin’s flash-step landed, it had already taken countermeasures.

Dominion Power and the fully-mastered Earth Law surged around it. Before the three modules’ powers could lock on, an enormous Eight-Armed Serpent Demon phantom—spanning over a hundred thousand kilometers—materialized above its head.

It was the Serpent Demon Avatar.

Empowered by this ancient avatar, its strength multiplied instantly. The Bind-God Chains, first to strike, shattered after clashing with the phantom’s projection—no surprise, as they only came from a red epic-grade component.

The Heaven-Binding Shackles managed to wrap around the demon’s true body, pushing through the phantom. But already weakened, they lasted less than a second before breaking apart under the monster’s terrifying might, just like the Bind-God Chains before.

The golden light of the Zen Seal: External Time Stop followed, dimming as it pierced the phantom. Although it managed to freeze the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon in place, the effect was clearly fleeting.

As expected, the serpent demon broke free in less than two seconds.

Even as it resumed its charge through the black starry void, it didn’t forget to retaliate against the Heavenly Ruin.

With a swing of a phantom arm, the gigantic Eight-Armed Serpent Demon avatar slammed down, carrying the full force of a Seventh-Tier peak strike. Spatial rifts tore open as the blow raced straight at the Heavenly Ruin.

On instinct, Song Chi nearly triggered his Neutron-Star Fission mode.

But he stopped himself, steering the battleship head-on into the attack, choosing not to use any extra defensive measures.

Boom! Boom!

The colossal handprint of the Serpent Demon avatar smashed into the Heavenly Ruin’s outer energy shield, unleashing a terrifying energy storm that swept across space.

Inside the ship’s main control room, most of Song Chi’s attention was focused on the Sky-Domain AI’s alerts.

He’d deliberately avoided using any special defense this time—he wanted to test how well the Heavenly Ruin’s defenses could hold up now.

After all, modules like the Angel King’s Authority Wings, Yin-Yang Counter-Phase Annihilation Shield, Black Hole Evolution Layer and Neutron-Star Core Armor had all been upgraded to Tier Eight. Song Chi truly didn’t know exactly how strong the ship’s defenses had become.

This serpent demon’s strike, launched on the run, was unlikely to cause more damage afterward. With little real threat to being sunk, it was the perfect opportunity for a field test.

Sure enough, system messages pinged one after another.

[Warning: Heavy external energy attack detected—Shield of Holy Light has been shattered!]

[Warning: Heavy external energy attack detected—Current ship’s energy shield damaged by 16%. Recommend immediate repairs!]

[Warning: …energy shield integrity decreased by 32%. Recommend immediate repairs!]

…

When the barrage finished, the Yin-Yang Counter-Phase Annihilation Shield had taken exactly 32% damage. After the Shield of Holy Light collapsed, the energy shield lost 32% of its strength too. The sheer power behind that strike was truly jaw-dropping.

Still, the overall result was within Song Chi’s expectations.

After all, this was a full-power attack by a Serpent Demon Dominator, boosted by both the Serpent Prison and its avatar. That level of force was undeniably at the Seventh-Tier peak.

Even so, the Heavenly Ruin’s energy shield had only lost 32%. What did that say?

It meant the ship’s defense had formally reached the threshold of the Seventh-Tier peak, with multiple self-repair systems to boot. Even against a top-level Eight-Armed Serpent Demon, they could hold out for quite a while.

With that pleasant surprise out of the way, Song Chi quickly refocused.

Now that he understood the ship’s defenses, there was just one goal left.

Do whatever it took to stop that fleeing Serpent Demon Dominator.

For years, both kingdoms’ fleets had operated in the Chipan Galaxy. Only Yaohan Kingdom’s Three Houses had any success killing Seventh-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons—the Morningstar Kingdom simply didn’t have the same reserves, but nobody dared say that out loud.

Even so, lacking resources didn’t mean they’d get a smaller cut later. In the end, post-battle spoils depended on real combat achievements. Only by taking down a serpent demon dominator would a fleet earn equal standing with Yaohan’s Three Houses when new territory got split.

A quick glance at the radar showed the Dragon-Xiang’s Star-Annihilator Cannon was still charging. Song Chi prepared to use Zen Seal: Internal Time Acceleration, hoping to unleash External Time Stop a second time.

But just then, a spatial ripple swept in from the ship’s flank—the Scorching Sea Blazer had just returned with the mirror fleet.

A scroll wreathed in flames shot from the Blazer’s hull.

Covenant of Flame: Scrolls of Flame’s Children—Fix Sub-scroll!

The scroll pierced right through the serpent demon’s avatar shield, once again freezing the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon in place, just like with the previous Zen Seal.

The immobilization effect lasted just under two seconds, about the same as the Zen Seal. Immediately after that, Song Chi followed up with Zen Seal: External Time Stop for a second burst.

By the time the serpent demon finally broke free, the Dragon-Xiang’s attack was already roaring toward it.

The jet-black, transcendent-grade Star-Annihilator Cannon—boosted all the way to level 80 and packed with the ultimate Annihilation Star-Shatter Strike—unleashed a truly cataclysmic blow.

Even without its Supercharged effect due to limited prep time, the upgraded Flame God Annihilator Cannon now had a 75% chance to inflict double critical damage. This time, the Annihilation Star-Shatter Strike triggered that effect perfectly.

A blow that already would have left the serpent demon half-dead now tore straight through its entire chest, leaving a bloody hole over a thousand meters wide.

Before long, the Seventh-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon lost all signs of life.

But right after, the other two fleeing serpent demons had already vanished without a trace—chasing them down now was out of the question.

Back on the Heavenly Ruin’s main control deck, Song Chi kept his eyes on the radar display.

The gold Eyes of Heaven patrol radar showed those two missing serpent demons had rendezvoused with a medium-size Celestial Serpent Mothership 180 light-years away. He probably could catch up, but after thinking it through, he decided to let them go.

Even if he did catch up, stopping them for good would require using the Market Projection Token or summoning the ship’s second Dominator Worm and deploying the Timepiece Chessboard module.

Obviously, neither option was something Song Chi or the Song Family wanted to risk.

If he used the Market Projection Token recklessly, the Omniverse Market would be a magnet for opportunists—especially since he hadn’t yet advanced to Star-Annihilator-class Captain.

As for summoning the second bug dominator, that would risk exposing the fact that their ship hid a Dominator-level zerg queen, plus every feature of the Timepiece Chessboard had a long cooldown. It simply wasn’t worth it.

And that would certainly draw the eye of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Civilization’s truly great beings—a recipe for disaster.

But the bottom line was, having just slain a Seventh-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon, they now had the right to negotiate with Yaohan Kingdom’s Three Houses as equals.

“Xiaochi, it’s all yours!”

Staring at the eight-armed corpse floating silently in space, Song Wujian called out to Song Chi.

Within moments, the Heavenly Ruin used its Superbody Compression Plate to stow the corpse aboard.

The Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, being a Star-Annihilator-class ship, could refine that Seventh-Tier serpent demon body on its own, but since both foes were the same tier, it would take considerable time.

By comparison, the Master of the Omniverse Market backing Song Chi could finish the refinement dozens of times faster—so it was an easy choice.

As for the Chigu Luo Clan, they stayed silent even after the Heavenly Ruin successfully collected the corpse.

The Song Family’s power exceeded anything in the clan’s reports. Now, they no longer saw themselves as being on equal footing with the Songs.

Besides, during the crucial battle, their own Star-Annihilator ship had been completely locked down by the layered Serpent Prison and hadn’t played any meaningful role.

Joint Fleet Communications Group Chat

“Luo Yi: I never thought those Eight-Armed Serpent Demons would go for a diversion like that. If the Songs hadn’t returned in time, the whole fleet could’ve been in serious danger.”

“Song Wujian: This really was unexpected. With Yaohan’s Three Houses pushing so hard, I can’t believe the demons tried this to break the stalemate. But now, with one more Seventh-Tier Dominator down, there are only four left in the Chipan Galaxy. Soon, they’ll have lost the ability to fight us head-on!”

“Song Shiyuan: So odds are, the next phase in the Chipan Galaxy will be a slow cleanup lasting decades. Maybe it’s time we move on the Seventh‑Tier Floating-land.”

…

Dragon-Spine Continent, beneath the Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain, a hidden chamber linked to the Floating-Land Origin Core.

A colossal black tower, tens of thousands of meters tall, rose within the vast chamber. Clusters of Song clansmen now gathered beneath its shadow.

“According to the family records, this black tower is called the Time Tower. Outside, a year passes, but inside, fifty years flow by—with our age only counting the outside time, so it doesn’t eat up our real lifespan.”

“Yeah. I heard the tower can host thousands training or comprehending the laws at once. Some people are just about to finish their year—so it’ll be our turn soon.”

“Someone said a few years back that one of our senior brothers, right after comprehending the Law of Light, entered the Time Tower and came out with his Law of Light comprehension rate shooting past 1%.”

…

While the Third-Tier clansmen chatted, at the top floor inside the Time Tower—

Within the dim chamber, a Dreadnought-class warship hovered silently. In its control room, Song Chi sat cross-legged atop a shimmering golden throne, time energy and laws from the Timepiece Chessboard swirling around him.

Gritting his fist around a silver Law Crystal loaded with advanced time laws, he poured his divine sense in, seeking to grasp the endless secrets of time across the Sea of Stars.

Suddenly, Song Chi’s eyes snapped open.

At his brow, the Martial Heaven’s Eye opened, a vertical pupil swirling with boundless time law energy.

“I did it. This is what a top-tier Law Crystal can do!”

Rising to his feet, he felt the time law in his body flourishing—a true breakthrough.

Fifty years in the tower, and the harvest was beyond his dreams.