Chapter 604: Clash Over the Void: Baiting the Dead

Buzz—buzz!

As energy kept gathering within the spatial vortex, two Starry Sky Corpse Fiend Imprints swiftly solidified at its center.

Finally, driven by the power of two ninth-tier Corpse Emperors, the furious imprints barreled straight for the Tiannan Fortress, shimmering with ninth-tier might.

These imprints weren’t just the innate divine powers of the Corpse Emperors—they were also infused with the primal lethal energy from a colorful lower-grade corpse-fiend oddity, making them far more formidable than normal. Even with two Star River-class Battleships and the Tiannan Fortress working together, blocking them would come at a serious cost.

This was the core reason for the earlier panic among all the captains.

The Sea of Stars is vast, bursting with more oddities than anyone could count. But the Torch Human Civilization isn’t the only one gathering and using Starsea Oddities.

The Corpse Sovereign Clan, ruling over more than three hundred galaxies, is a near top-tier advanced civilization. They have no shortage of Starsea Oddities, either. Pure defense won’t last for long.

But things are different now. With the Shenyi Qiongyu in play and the Tiannan Galaxy’s Titan I-class Mechanical Fortress at their back, stopping this Corpse Sovereign army isn’t so tough anymore.

Up above, the Shenyi Qiongyu suddenly blazed with dazzling light. Strings of Law of Light runes wove together to form a colossal radiant cauldron. Once it fully materialized, it charged straight at the twin corpse-fiend imprints blazing down from afar.

“That’s the Eternal Nine Cauldrons! It’s the ancestral secret art of the Tianzhu Jiang Clan.”

Someone within Tiannan Fortress recognized the radiant cauldron and shouted out in excitement.

Moments later, the cauldron and the two corpse-fiend imprints collided in a deafening clash.

Boom, boom, boom!

A throbbing hum filled the air as vast swathes of space collapsed. The sound was quickly drowned out by violent explosions.

No surprise—the two corpse-fiend imprints eventually shattered the radiant cauldron. Blessed by two ninth-tier Corpse Emperors and a myth-grade oddity, they couldn’t be snuffed out by a single secret technique, even one wielded by a ninth-tier being.

Jiang Yi, the Torch Captain at the helm, seemed to expect this result. Just as the imprints surged forward, his battleship fired off two corrosive beams that finally dimmed them for good.

Afterward, both sides seemed to reach a silent understanding. Neither made another move. They simply squared off, holding their ground.

Divine Xia Empire, Third Imperial Dragon Fleet—Open Comms

“What the hell? They charged in so fiercely, only to go quiet like this?”

“You want things to escalate even more?”

“That’s not what I mean, it just feels… unfinished. They charged in, then fizzled out.”

“You’re wrong. This is called knowing when to cut losses. Retreating at just the right time.”

“With the Shenyi Qiongyu holding the line and the Tiannan Fortress behind us, this Corpse Sovereign army can’t threaten our Torch territory in any hurry. Even if they took the fortress, it’d take ages, and their casualties would be enormous.”

“Given that, tying up one of our ninth-tier Torch Battleships without losing a single soldier—that’s the best possible outcome for them!”

…

Compared to the chatter among the regular captains below, the joint group chat atop—with Star-Annihilator-class ships, Star River-class ships and the Shenyi Qiongyu—was focused on much more than that.

“Ancestor Yi, are we really just going to stand here staring each other down?”

“Unless something changes, the Corpse Sovereigns should withdraw soon. They’ll probably ramp up their occupation of the galaxy cluster while our expeditionary fleet is away. They have no intention of wasting time on a real fight here.”

“Still, we can’t risk it. If something goes wrong, this entire Four Great Empires campaign could fall apart. Centuries from now, we might have to face a myth-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon. If the tables turn, we’ll become the eternal shame of Torch Civilization!”

…

Serpent Mother Galaxy—a Class VI Floating-land.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Cannons roared as a swarm of Sky Serpent warships chased after a black Dreadnought, blasting out from within the floating-land’s shield.

It all started a while ago, when Song Chi, piloting his Mirror Warship, slipped into the floating-land and raided one of its most prominent serpent demon temples. He cleaned it out and almost got away, but was discovered at the last second—sparking a wild chase by the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons.

As soon as he cleared the shield, Song Chi activated the Starlight Flash Spirit Stone Talisman, no hesitation at all.

After using it twice, the Mirror Warship had already jumped several light years away.

Song Chi was just about to use this lull to initiate a warp jump when a massive surge of energy off in the distance made him abort at once.

Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl—”Mirage” engaged!

With its silver-stealth function active and the Void Shroud boosting its concealment even further, the Mirror Warship melted deep into the void, completely unseen.

In this state, even a seventh-tier overlord wielding a gold-grade detection oddity wouldn’t be able to find the ship.

Having set his concealment, Song Chi fired up both engines at once, racing toward the source of the energy surge.

In less than half an hour, after burning through a Space-skipping Pearl and the Angel • Wing Blink function, the Mirror Warship arrived at its destination.

Energy shockwaves still rippled through space. At the heart of the chaos, three seventh-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons faced off against two Star-Annihilator-class ships—the ones responsible for the entire energy storm.

Hugging the battlefield’s edge, Song Chi held back from making a move. Meanwhile, his true body way over in the Serpent’s Fang Galaxy frowned in puzzlement.

“This star domain sits in the mid-south of the Serpent Mother Galaxy. It’s at least one hundred thousand light years from the southern front. Why would two Star-Annihilators go this deep behind enemy lines, and then take on three serpent overlords head-on?”

He honestly couldn’t make sense of it, but decided it wasn’t his problem. Right now, all he cared about was those three serpent overlords.

It’s been over seventy years since the last big battle, and the Soul-Devourer Sacrificial Altar is still stuck at 21% on its second stage. Progress feels painfully slow.

If he could take out even one of the overlords here, the altar’s progress should shoot way up.

Just as he had that thought, an eagle’s screech echoed from the battlefield. Glancing over, Song Chi saw two illusory giant eagles made of law encasing the Star-Annihilators, shielding them from harm.

“Those are Starlit Crown Solarhawks, the ‘Solarhawk Rampage’—which Noble House under Chiyu Divine Dynasty do they belong to?”

This galaxy is right along the Chiyu Divine Dynasty’s advance route. Song Chi immediately narrowed the suspects to Chiyu’s subordinate clans.

Considering their two Star-Annihilators, it didn’t take Song Chi long to figure it out.

Odds are high they’re from the Tianying Tan Clan.

That clan wields major influence in the Chiyu Divine Dynasty, boasting both Star River-class and Star-Annihilator-class battleships.

But all the prestige in the world couldn’t hide the fact that they were losing ground at this moment.

They were outnumbered—two against three—and one of the serpent overlords was at peak seventh-tier, pinning a Star-Annihilator by itself while the other two hammered the remaining ship with their dueling eight arms.

The Torch Battleships are famed for individual power, and both enemy captains have elite backgrounds. Their equipment is strong, but even so, they’re barely holding on.

Still, drag this out long enough and the scales would inevitably tip toward the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons.

Song Chi saw it clearly, but remained hidden, unconcerned by the battered hulls and armor of the Star-Annihilators.

“Hey kid, you’ve been hiding long enough. Lend a hand!”

Song Chi: ⊙ω⊙

He had no idea how the speaker got through to his Mirror Warship, and it genuinely caught him off guard.

Even using double concealment he had been found. Which meant one of those two Star-Annihilators had to be carrying a Patrol Radar of at least black-grade quality.

Surprised as he was, Song Chi acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing and kept hidden in the void, showing zero interest in helping the Star-Annihilators out.

Sure enough, a few dozen seconds later, the voice echoed again.

“I said I’ve already spotted you. You gonna keep hiding?”

“Help out! You’ll get something good for it!”

Only once that was said did Song Chi finally reply via thought-link.

“Specifics?”

“You…”

Those three words, curt as could be, left the other person speechless. It was a long pause before the voice came again.

“A Singular Stone—how about that?”

“Deal! I’ve recorded this. Don’t forget your promise. Also, let me land the final blow.”

Whether the offer was genuine or not didn’t matter—not like there was any contract to sign. Betting on someone’s honesty here was pointless.

It was just a matter of firing remotely. If he got the Singular Stone, great; if not, no real loss. It’s not like he’d have to bring the Mirror Warship in close and risk everything.

Song Chi’s thoughts raced as he activated several more components aboard the Mirror Warship in one go.

Singular Stones are rare resources needed to advance a Dreadnought to a Star-Annihilator-class ship, so he was plenty interested.

“Can you lock down the leftmost seventh-tier serpent demon for just a second?”

Right as the supercannon finished charging, the serpent demon on the far left of the distant battlefield suddenly stiffened, as if frozen for a moment.

A blood-red spear roared from the side of the void, and before the serpent could snap out of its daze, the spear drove itself hard into its head.

Just before the spear landed, a streak of bloodlight darted into the serpent—God of the Hunt’s Weakpoint Mark, ready to trigger double damage.

The spear smashed into the serpent’s skull, and a wild energy storm burst in every direction.

That wasn’t all—a micro black hole materialized next, and with a second surge from the weakpoint mark, the damage to the peak seventh-tier serpent overlord was devastating.

Of course, instant kills aren’t realistic—unless Song Chi used his last Advanced Lightning Law Crystal to power up the Divine Thunder Cannon’s Ninefold Violet Heaven World-Ending Calamity Thunder, stacking that on top of the weakpoint mark and the black hole. Then, maybe.

But that was more than enough to change the tide. With the serpent overlord gravely wounded, the Tianying Tan Clan’s Star-Annihilator began seizing the upper hand—and, to their credit, they held to their word, leaving the final blow to the Mirror Warship’s side.