Chapter 643: Collapse of the Star River: Dominion Clashes at the Heavenly Ruin

Inside the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Civilization, things work much like the Torch Human Civilization. Any Eight-Armed Serpent Demon that ascends to the seventh tier earns the title of “King.”

That’s why, when the recon ship under Prince Zhaonan’s command sent back their report, they described the scene as a gathering of “hundred kings.”

Even though they’d pieced together some of this from screenshots Song Wujian had taken and intel transmitted by Prince Zhaonan’s forces, the moment over one hundred and twenty dominator-class serpent demons actually revealed themselves, the shock hit every captain present like a physical blow.

Over a hundred and twenty seventh-tier (and above) beings appeared at once. Their collective pressure nearly turned the entire galaxy into a collapsing void. The terrifying energy surged in waves, and any warships too close began to buckle and warp, eventually crushed into heaps of blood-stained wreckage.

In that single instant, millions of starships were reduced to debris. Billions of Torch citizens perished, their bodies pulped under the crushing weight.

Seeing this, the Blood Sui Zhenyuan and more than thirty Star-Annihilator-class Ships shot forward, heading straight for those one hundred-plus serpent dominators. Alongside them charged over ten enslaved creatures radiating dominator-level power—including the Song Family’s two Dominator Worms.

At this rate, if the serpent dominators kept rampaging unchecked, the Joint Fleet’s casualties would only keep soaring.

The captains of the Star-Annihilator-class Ships had no choice—they launched a full assault.

……

Song Family comms group chat:

“Shiyuan, Xiaochi, Xiao Yan, help the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang in the fight.”

As he spoke, Song Wujian’s gaze shifted to Song Shixing.

“Shixing, you have full authority over the clan fleet’s retreat. This spatial wormhole exits inside the Chipan Galaxy. Our Three-Eyed Clan Dominator Flagship is stationed there. Once you arrive, be sure to use the Dominion Flagship as your anchor—stay alert and don’t let your guard down for even a moment!”

“Understood!”

“Don’t worry about us, Clan Elder. You four are our real hope—please take care of yourselves!”

After Song Shixing, Song Tianhao, Song Tianmang, and Song Xuancang each answered sincerely, Song Shiyuan carefully detached the Darkstar Mystic Turtle Armor and transferred it over to the Calm-Sea Rising Dragon.

That component’s real strength was in boosting a group, not individuals. It was best used when the whole family fleet was together.

But that wasn’t all—Song Wujian turned and looked at Song Chi.

Getting the message, Song Chi darted out of the Heavenly Ruin and boarded a regular family warship.

His job was to leave a spatial anchor aboard that ship. If things got dangerous later on the Chipan Galaxy’s end, he’d be able to rush over and help immediately.

At this point, he only had two Market Projection Tokens left—his strongest ace in the hole. Those two needed to stay on the main battlefield, so this anchor was the best backup he could arrange.

Even then, there was still a small snag.

The sixth-grade Market let him maintain five spatial anchors at once—but right now even that wasn’t enough.

He had one anchor on Dragon-Spine Continent, one on Immortal Continent, another on the Flame God Clan’s land, one inside the Starrealm Gut, and one set up inside the Heavenly Ruin.

Even though he’d already removed the anchor from Red Star Continent, the list was full again. Another would have to go.

After a quick deliberation, Song Chi decided to axe the one inside the Starrealm Gut. He’d hoped to milk it for more loot after the Market leveled up, but with things like this, that was a pipe dream.

Luckily, he’d already stripped the Starrealm Gut of anything truly valuable. Now there were only a few silver oddities left—not worth waiting thousands of years for the chance at a gold or black oddity. He cut his losses without regret.

Once that was done, the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, the Unmoving Vajra, and two more battleships shot skyward, with the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang leading the charge. The Heavenly Ruin and other ships fanned out behind it.

Above, all 120-plus serpent dominators unleashed their full dominion power and charged fearlessly at the Torch fleet below. The battle was about to erupt.

Seventh-tier shockwaves exploded throughout the starry sky. In just moments, the battlefield was reduced to a scarred, shattered void.

On one particular dominator battlefield, four Song family warships and two Dominator Worms, with Luo Yi’s flagship as well, faced off against five seventh-tier serpent dominators.

Four of the serpent dominators were each held back by two Star-Annihilator-class Ships and the Dominator Worms, while Song Chi, Song Yan, and Song Shiyuan—working together—dragged down the fifth.

To outsiders, the fight looked perfectly balanced—neither side could gain the upper hand in the short term.

But only the four Song family members knew—they hadn’t used even close to their full strength.

If they let the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, Heavenly Ruin, and Scorching Sea Blazer unleash everything, those five seventh-tier serpent dominators wouldn’t stand a chance.

Why hold back? Because they didn’t want to stand out. Out there lurked five eighth-tier serpent dominators. Two were already pounding the Blood Sui Zhenyuan, and the other three were hunting around the edges of the battlefield. Drawing their attention could mean disaster.

Take the Lingyue Zhao Clan Patriarch for example—he’d managed to suppress a seventh-tier serpent using his powerful flagship, but now an eighth-tier serpent had locked onto him. It was pitiful to watch.

Even as they fought, the Song family kept in contact by a golden communications module.

Over the past century, they’d pulled off three successful raids on seventh-tier floating-lands. The serpent demon civilization was alert now, so the hauls weren’t huge, but still plenty worthwhile.

The golden communications module was by far their biggest prize.

Staryu Source-Encrypted Communicator lv70

Quality: Gold

Trait: Staryu Communicator

Trait 2: Source Encryption

Trait 3: Double Communications Range

Trait 4: Staryu Decrypt-Intercept Wave

Trait 5: Staryu Comms Group

……

The golden communications module’s attributes were outstanding—not only insanely secure, but it could create comms group chats, and its range far outstripped standard ship transmissions. In battle, it kept the main and auxiliary communicators all talking in real time, making teamwork smoother than ever.

“Clan Elder, most of the seventh-tier serpent demons are being kept busy, but another twenty-odd serpent dominators are slaughtering the scattered Joint Fleet ships!”

“Rough estimate—starship losses already top a hundred million, and at this pace, there’s no end in sight!”

“Ignore it—as long as they’re not targeting our Song fleet, it isn’t our problem. We’re not saviors, and we won’t throw our lives away saving strangers!”

……

Two minutes later, Song Shiyuan’s voice came up again on the Staryu group chat.

This time, his tone was urgent.

“Two seventh-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons have noticed the wormhole we opened—they’re racing straight for the entrance!”

Song Wujian reacted instantly:

“How’s the family fleet doing?”

“Almost sixty percent have made it out—about forty percent left!”

That number made the four of them tense up. It was grim news.

Over the past few years, backup ships had steadily bolstered the Song fleet. Some had withdrawn for repair, but overall, their numbers had grown.

By now, the Song Family’s front-line fleet had over ten million ships. Losing forty percent—that’s four million—would be catastrophic.

“Prime Ancestor, big brother—this seventh-tier serpent dominator is yours!”

Song Chi’s voice cut in over the group chat.

Song Shiyuan and Song Yan both nodded quietly.

“Xiaochi (Seventh Brother), be careful!”

……

“Move! Faster!”

“Not gonna make it—why now, of all times?!”

“Xuancang! You’re in charge of the retreat from here—I’ll buy you time!”

“No, Xingzu! You can’t hold off two dominator-class serpents alone!”

“Release every Mara Void Mecha we have—however much time we gain, we take it!”

While the Song clansmen did everything to devise a plan—

Vmmmm! Vmmmm! Vmmmm!

A faint ripple of spatial energy shimmered above the wormhole entrance. Heads turned—and when the Song clansmen spotted the Heavenly Ruin, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“It’s Elder Chi (Xiaochi)!”

“Tianshu, Tianmang, Xuancang… Let’s go! With Xiaochi back to help, all of us together should be able to buy enough time!”

The Calm-Sea Rising Dragon quickly joined up with several battleships and the Heavenly Ruin above. At the same time, Song Chi activated a certain feature on his ship that hadn’t been used in ages.

Neutron-Star Core Armor: “Neutron Link!”

As this ability fired, the Heavenly Ruin, Calm-Sea Rising Dragon, and a few other ships became linked by a unique pulse. Their hull armor and energy shields strengthened instantly, nearly doubling their defenses.

Eighty percent wasn’t the most earth-shattering boost, but Song Chi clearly wasn’t banking just on defense—another feature was about to come into play.

Pusa Zen Seal: “Samsara Time Domain!”

With the time domain active, both serpent dominators hurtling toward them were immediately caught in its field. Their speed dropped to a crawl.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Ruin and allied ships moved unaffected—thanks to Neutron Link, the Samsara Time Domain treated the Song fleet as allies.

“Now!”

Spotting the opportunity, Song Chi shouted for an all-out attack. The Heavenly Ruin charged straight ahead to take the lead.