Chapter 653: Mirror Maneuvers and the Dawning of a New Era

After a few more minutes of careful thought, Song Chi decisively ruled out the Pusa Zen Seal, the No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang, and the Angel King’s Authority Wings.

Heavenly Ruin already had a colored mythic-grade time component. There was no rush to upgrade the Pusa Zen Seal just yet.

The Cultivation Sanctuary didn’t need further consideration either. It was still at seventh tier— not because it wasn’t important, but finding seventh-tier spirit roots and plants was hard enough, and he hadn’t even found any eighth-tier ones, let alone ninth-tier. For now, there was no need to push it.

Technically speaking, the Angel King’s Authority Wings was a defensive component, but Heavenly Ruin already had top-tier energy shields and hull armor. Add to that the absolute defense of the Black Hole Domain and the powerful Neutron-Star Fission, and with the Four Symbols Rotating Sigil later, their defense was downright terrifying. Further upgrading the Angel King’s Authority Wings would just be gilding the lily.

In comparison, the Blood War Stele and Mirror Image Split were clearly more critical right now.

No matter how sturdy your defenses, if your battleship can’t move, you’re just a sitting target waiting to be carved up.

Mirror Image Split was even more impressive— with strong enough mirror warships, Song Chi wouldn’t have to risk his own neck. He could stay in the shadows and control everything from behind the scenes. That’s what true wisdom looked like.

“Mirror Image Split it is. This will be the core for future operations on Demon Serpent Continent and exploring the Immortal Continent Ruins. The higher its quality, the greater my future harvests!”

His mind made up, Song Chi didn’t hesitate. He tossed the ninth-tier Golden Apple straight toward the Mirror Image Split component.

When Mirror Image Split successfully advanced to supreme black-grade quality, he checked its properties— just as he’d hoped, the max component quality it could now mirror had increased to colored lower grade.

……

Time slipped by, and in a blink, several years had passed.

At the Omniverse Market, a nearly tangible Golden Throne floated high in the sky. Song Chi sat cross-legged atop a silvery meditation cushion, clutching the Emptyfall Dao Crystal in his hand. The shadow of his dual pupils blazed in his eyes, fixated on the Law of Spatial Origin manifesting before him.

Crack!

With a crisp shattering sound, the last trace of Sea of Stars spatial source within the Emptyfall Dao Crystal was fully absorbed. Now, it had become nothing more than an ordinary stone— utterly worthless.

Song Chi closed his eyes, focusing all his senses on tracking his own progress with the spatial origin law.

“Eighty-eight percent… not bad. At this pace, I’ll soon have enough to boost my ascension chances.”

Just then, the Abyssal Devil stationed outside sent a message.

After a long journey, they finally arrived at the Song Family’s territory on Dragon‑Spine Continent.

Song Wujian and the others had already heard the news and came out to greet them beyond the continent itself.

After a brief exchange of greetings, work on the Dragon‑Spine Continent’s relocation began right away.

This time, Yixing Trade Guild’s migration fleet worked with incredible efficiency. Not only did they avoid any delays, they even insisted on not entering Dragon‑Spine Continent itself.

According to them, this was a hard rule from Yixing Trade Guild. Every floating-land could involve deep secrets, and by avoiding entry, they sidestepped possible trouble and improved their reputation, encouraging customers to come back. Migration teams were strictly forbidden from stepping onto target floating-lands.

And it worked— surprisingly well, in fact. Nearly every client who’d used the service had nothing but praise, except for grumbling about the high fees.

It even brought in a flood of repeat business for Yixing Trade Guild.

……

While the Song Family’s Dragon‑Spine Continent was being relocated, the local networks in the Morningstar Kingdom were abuzz with heated debate.

“Major news! The ancestral Dragon‑Spine Continent of the Song Family has officially begun migration, headed straight towards the Chipan Galaxy!”

“Is Song Family really doing it? The Morningstar Family’s authority has fallen, and if Song Family leaves too, who’ll represent the face of the Morningstar Kingdom?”

“Did your flagship just get connected? Morningstar Kingdom? There’s no such thing anymore. From now on, we’re all citizens of the Yaohan Kingdom— Morningstar Kingdom’s been erased!”

“Wait, what about the Song Family then?”

“I heard they’ve teamed up with the Chigu Luo Clan from Goldenplate Galaxy. They’re going to found a brand-new kingdom in Chipan Galaxy. Philip Family, Stark Family, and even the Morningstar Family are said to be moving there too.”

“What about the Gold Horn Lu Family, Dusk Family, and Eagle Family?”

“Ha! Most of those have already collapsed in all but name. Their main fleets heading to the frontlines were utterly wiped out.”

“What a spectacle. Who could’ve imagined— of the five mighty powers that ruled all of Morningstar Duchy, it’s the always-underrated Dinghai Song Family that soared to the top!”

……

While the online chatter elsewhere was full of nostalgia and regret, Song Family members were all fired up. The star migration plan was still going full throttle.

That day, at the Omniverse Market.

Tens of thousands of alien races were ejected from the Market Pocket Realm, and a new round of market trade officially wrapped up.

After tallying his gains, Song Chi didn’t rush to leave— instead, he opened up the Market’s statistics panel.

It had been over five hundred years since the Market reached sixth tier. With uninterrupted deals over the centuries, it was now finally on the verge of meeting every requirement for seventh tier.

[Name: Omniverse Market]

[Market Owner: Song Chi]

[Level: lv69]

[Scale: 4800km by 4800km]

[Basic Facilities: 5,900 shops, one 300km by 300km stall zone, one four-story inn, one lv69 Full-Attribute Cultivation Chamber (double dark energy cultivation efficiency), one lv69 Enegma defense array, one lv69 long-range random space gate transfer platform, one sixth-tier Spirit Synthesis Platform, one sixth-tier Oddity Essence Refinement Platform.]

[Extra Facilities: Veil of Light (red) lv60, sixth-tier Bloodline Baptism Platform (red), Divine Realm Task Platform (gold) lv80 (7/22)]

[Trait: Calamity Evasion (can freely move through the void, instinctively avoiding natural disasters)]

[Trait 2: Spatial Anchor (can set five coordinate anchors anywhere in the Shattered Sea of Stars)]

[Trait 3: Dominion Authority (while inside the Market, possesses dominion powers)]

[Upgrade Requirements: 1,000 strands of sixth-tier Floating-Land Origin, market transaction value of one million (1,045,081/1,000,000), sixth-tier Floating-Land Origin, 20 Time Fragments, 20 Spatial Fragments.]

From the final ‘Upgrade Requirements’ line, it was clear that after this trade cycle, the Market’s transaction value had finally hit its mark.

In recent years, he’d also finished collecting enough Spatial Fragments. Only Time Fragments still eluded him.

No way around it— when he’d upgraded the Timepiece Chessboard, he had already bought up every available Time Fragment from Star Tower Members and Star Tower Mall. Since then, he’d had to slowly track them down by himself.

At least two centuries of lucky finds had turned up a few, or he’d be even further behind.

“I’ve got seventeen Time Fragments now. Still need three. Should I just use Hunyuan Copper as a substitute?”

He mulled it over, but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it.

He’d tested it before— one piece of Hunyuan Copper could only replace one Time or Spatial Fragment. Not the best deal.

After centuries of collecting, he had five pieces of Hunyuan Copper, each arduously obtained. Spending three at once just didn’t sit right with him.

“Master, you have a communication!”

The Abyssal Devil’s voice suddenly sounded in his mind, breaking his train of thought.

But returning to the Heavenly Ruin in the outside world, Song Chi’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

At first he thought the message was from a clan elder or someone else in the family. But the truth shocked him even more.

It was a message for sure— but from a communications sub-component he hadn’t touched in centuries, something he’d nearly forgotten.

Staring at the faintly golden ring in his palm, long-lost memories quickly sharpened.

“This… It’s from when I extracted a batch of Abyssal Origin Crystals in Silverplate Galaxy using the Destiny Compass. It’s a contact ring left behind by the original owners of those Abyssal Origin Crystals…”

He remembered it well, because back then he already knew that woman’s identity was far from simple.

Abyssal Origin Crystals— those only ever came from the Bottomless Abyss. And nobody truly understood how terrifying the Bottomless Abyss was.

Throughout history, numerous overlord civilizations had vanished into its maw.

To explore or even survive in the Bottomless Abyss meant you were anything but ordinary.

Song Chi took a deep breath, forced down his curiosity, and activated the communications ring.

[Recently got another batch of Abyssal Origin Crystals. This time the contamination’s even worse. If you’ve got time, can you handle it? We can discuss your fee in person!]

They’d only met once, and their relationship was strictly transactional— so she cut straight to business, skipping any social niceties.

Honestly, Song Chi preferred it that way.

After a moment’s thought, he replied directly.

[Sure, still at Silverplate Floating-land?]

[Either way is fine. Up to you.]

[Let’s go with Silverplate Floating-land then.]

[Alright. I’ll head there within half a year and contact you then!]

Since the Chaotic Interaction Ring could be used twice thanks to its unique properties, they didn’t bother arranging a specific meeting spot yet.

With that minor detour out of the way, Song Chi stopped fretting.

He could only hope she had Time Fragments to spare— that would save a ton of effort.

After informing the Clan Elder and others, he activated the mirror warship again and set course for Yaohan Continent in the center of the Tianpan Galaxy.

He didn’t need a full half-year. In less than four months—without even rushing—Song Chi arrived ahead of schedule at Silverplate Floating-land.