Chapter 684: A Trade of Legends: Bargains and Ambitions at the Omniverse Market

Song Chi wasn’t surprised at all by the True Spirit Witcher’s inquiry.

He knew the effects of the Genesis Creation Pill inside and out. If any other race had their hands on such a heaven-defying pill, they’d stop at nothing to get one or two themselves.

So his reply was straightforward.

“This item is precious and costly to make. If you want to buy it, you’ll need to trade high-tier oddities or rare resources. High-grade Fireseed artifacts are preferred.”

“High-tier Fireseed artifacts, huh…”

Staring at the words floating on the light screen before him, the True Spirit Witcher fell into thought.

He wasn’t taken aback by the request. Levann had told him before—The Master of the Omniverse Market was notorious for hoarding Fireseed Artifacts.

“Too bad I don’t have any high-tier Fireseed artifacts on hand. Angel does have a wisp of black ‘Phantom Flame’ but he’s been treating it as an alchemy treasure and would never put it up for trade…”

“I also heard that the Lava Giant civilization, enslaved by the Dragonblood Sorcerer Family, sits on a bounty of high-grade Fireseeds on its ancestral land. But trying to trade with those conceited Dragonblood sorcerers is a different beast altogether…”

Countless thoughts flashed through the Witcher’s mind in just a few seconds, but all of them just faded into helpless resignation.

His path was the way of the Mechanical Witcher. Through bodily modifications, his lifespan far exceeded most at his level, so even though he was thousands of years old already, he hadn’t been a True Spirit Witcher for very long.

Because of that, his accumulated wealth was relatively modest—at least compared to other True Spirit Witchers.

With no high-tier Fireseed artifact, the Witcher mulled it over for a while before finally activating his storage ring, taking out several items.

Out in the free stall area, Song Chi—blending in among the alien crowd—couldn’t help but brighten up at the sight. He thought, typical of a ruler-level being from a dominant civilization—even with a short time at tier seven, his offerings put ordinary Sea of Stars sovereigns to shame.

He wasn’t sure how long this True Spirit Witcher had been at tier seven, but judging by the faint early-seventh-tier life energy in his body, it couldn’t have been long.

Compared to the Crescent Moon Matriarch, the Witcher’s lineup was clearly higher in value.

Gold-tier Witcher’s Alchemy Table

Gold-tier Mana Dynamo Engine

Essence of Quenched Earth

Skythunder Earthfire Stone

Three tier-seven Silver Apples

One power core for the tier-seven True Spirit Tower

…

Among these, not only were there two gold-tier oddities, but the Essence of Quenched Earth and the Skythunder Earthfire Stone were both rare and valuable resources. Each was worth more than an ordinary silver-tier oddity, if not quite up to the solo value of a gold Sanctum Oddity.

The Silver Apples didn’t really tempt Song Chi, but the tier-seven True Spirit Tower power source was another story.

The True Spirit Tower was a specialty of Witcher Civilization, similar to the Torch Battleship system of the Torch Human Civilization. It had its own hierarchy, going from low to high.

At the base was the Magic Tower.

Mid-tier was the Witcher Saint Tower.

Advanced was the True Spirit Tower.

And above tier ten, there were Rule Towers.

At every stage, witchers had towers of matching rank. Staying inside them boosted their training, research, and even combat strength.

With stacks of these benefits, Tower power required far more energy than usual.

And the power core before him was a special energy supply for high-level True Spirit Towers. Even as the lowest, a tier-seven core was extremely valuable and pricey.

Even now, the most Torch Civilization could mass-produce was large reactors paired with advanced (sixth-tier) Mobile Warstars—high-output fusion reactors that only ever managed a standard sixth-tier level of energy.

For lower and mid-tier Torch forces, that’d be enough. For the Song Family, practically an Immortal House, it wasn’t even close.

For example, during their first expedition to the Red Star Continent to collect the Floating-land Origin Core, Song Family used a gold-tier oddity called Illusion Array Stone. It could build illusion fields but couldn’t be installed as a battleship component—only used manually.

To wring every ounce from the Illusion Array Stone and delay their exposure, they had their rare seventh-tier force—the Starry Sky Dragon Shark—activate it, wringing out a tier-seven effect. The price? That same Starry Sky Dragon Shark couldn’t play its expected role in the fight.

If only they’d had a seventh-tier power core at the time, it could have been so different.

And the Song camp had many cost-boosting needs. Song Chi set his sights on that seventh-tier True Spirit Tower Power Core.

He turned his thoughts around in a moment.

He didn’t give a reply right away. Instead, another idea crept into his mind.

‘So this is the depth of a hegemon-class civilization…’

‘A newly advanced seventh-tier sovereign can still pull out so many good things—completely leaves the Crescent Moon Tribe and its hundred-thousand-year legacy in the dust…’

‘But it makes sense. From the Shen Family’s files in the Northern Heavens, Witcher Civilization took the eighth galactic cluster thousands of years ago. By now, they’ve probably got over a dozen clusters under control—just pooling resources from so many clusters, no wonder their heritage runs so deep…’

Thinking of this, Song Chi got even more interested in the Bloodline Sorcerers’ Alliance. If he really put the Moon-Swallowing Viper’s Remains up in the Oddities Exchange, maybe the Market would see its first legendary mythic component soon.

With his mind racing, he didn’t forget to give another reply.

Text scrolled across the shop’s central screen—a brand new offer.

“Three Genesis Creation Pills for your Mana Dynamo Engine, Skythunder Earthfire Stone, and tier-seven True Spirit Tower Power Core—what do you say?”

The Witcher paused just a moment, then shook his head.

“Sir, True Spirit Tower Power Cores are unique to Witcher Civilization. Annual production is limited, and after internal use, only a few dozen leave our borders every century—all snapped up by allied Sea of Stars civilizations. A single core lasts for over ten thousand years. Three pills isn’t enough!”

Song Chi didn’t argue further—his role as a tier-nine expert meant he’d lose face haggling. After the Witcher’s reasoning, he simply named a new price.

This time, he put out a second offer.

“Five pills!”

The Witcher tried to haggle again, but Song Chi stayed silent, just as he had with the Crescent Moon Matriarch.

The Witcher realized this was the final offer and had no choice but to accept the trade.

The Crescent Moon Matriarch, watching it all, felt a rush of satisfaction.

She’d just spent everything herself, but seeing others bleed too felt deeply gratifying.

…

A dozen seconds passed and the deal was done.

Back at the trading stalls, Song Chi looked down at what he held, a trace of joy flickering in his eyes.

The prize he’d just scored wasn’t the Gold Energy Shield or even the True Spirit Tower power core, but the Skythunder Earthfire Stone—a prize that had seemed only a throw-in compared to the other two.

Inside, it held fierce energies of lightning and fire. To other alien races, maybe it was a rare forging material or a backup energy source. But for the Torch Civilization, it was something priceless.

All because it was a high-tier resource for further advancement.

Not only could it increase the success rate of a Dreadnought’s advancement to a Star-Annihilator by 12%, it even helped boost Star River-class promotion for current Star-Annihilator Captains. The bump was only five percent, but for those captains, it was more tempting than gold or even black components.

After the trade, Song Chi had expected more tier-seven beings to try their luck in the Market. At the least, there had to be a ruler backing the sixth-tier Half-Rat of the Divine Realm. And the ancient dwarves, frost giants… They all had leader-level figures behind them.

Surprisingly, even after all trading concluded, a third tier-seven didn’t show.

‘They’re cautious, but how long can they hold back?’

Still, Song Chi wasn’t disappointed.

He had full confidence in the Omniverse Market. Maybe they could resist the first time, but sooner or later, with more tier-sevens passing through, they’d be unable to resist forever.

…

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

A flash of starlight rippled through Beidou Sevenstar Hall and Song Chi’s real body appeared at the heart of the main hall.

Now truly logged in, he didn’t move—just waited quietly at the center.

It had only been minutes since the Market’s trades wrapped up. His rush to log into Beidou Sevenstar Hall wasn’t about making exchanges.

After two minutes, a starlight flickered atop the login platform and a tall, imposing man suddenly appeared.

As soon as Song Chi saw him, he took the initiative.

“New member of the Beidou Sevenstar Hall, Jingzhe, greets Lord Haoyue!”

That’s right—the tall man was another Beidou Sevenstar Hall member, Haoyue. As an elite Star-Annihilator-class Captain, his seniority left Song Chi, a junior, no choice but to address him with respect.

Haoyue cast a mild glance at Song Chi and nodded acknowledgement, then cut right to the chase.

“You mean you want to trade for the Moon-Swallowing Viper’s Remains?”

Though unintended, Song Chi noticed a hint of disdain in Haoyue’s eyes—thanks to his Dual Pupils.

No surprise there. He was still just a sixth-tier Dreadnought Captain. For a Dreadnought Captain to offer to trade for a legendary mythic oddity was like a five-year-old claiming to become a great Star-Annihilator-class Captain—no one would ever believe it.

Fully aware of that, Song Chi didn’t waste time explaining. Instead, he presented what he’d prepared.

“This is a drop of eighth-tier Evil God Blood, and a portion of tier-seven Moon Spring!”

At the sight of these two items, a surprised look flickered on the tall man’s face. The way he looked at Song Chi had lost any trace of his earlier arrogance.

But he still shook his head almost immediately.

“Not enough. A legendary mythic oddity is never this cheap, even if it can’t be converted into a ship component!”

At that, Song Chi grit his teeth and took out the Skythunder Earthfire Stone, turning his gaze back to Haoyue.

Now, for the first time, real seriousness appeared in Haoyue’s eyes. With three such rare items, Song Chi had shown real sincerity—few Hall members could produce as much in nearly ten thousand years on the exchange listing.

Even so, Haoyue finally shook his head.

“Still not enough. Legendary mythic oddities are even rarer than you think!”

Song Chi felt his heart sink. He’d only come to give it a shot, but being refused still stung.

‘Maybe I could use the tier-seven Timeworld Fruit…’

But as soon as the thought surfaced, he instantly crushed it.

The value of a tier-seven Timeworld Fruit was simply too terrifying. He hadn’t even advanced to Star-Annihilator Captain yet—heck, even if he had, there was no way he could expose it.

How valuable was a tier-seven Timeworld Fruit? It was a miracle resource for boosting the success rate when promoting to Star River-class level. Even the four great imperial clans, with their Superdimensional Motherships, would be tempted. If word got out, consequences would be dire.

Song Chi understood this all too well.

Last time, hiding his identity in the Divine Xia Empire, the aftermath from using just one had yet to die down. Multiple Star River-class ships came after him. Fortunately, he’d used a Mirror Warship for that operation, and had the Gold Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl and the Mythic Serpent’s Eternal Guard Scale for protection, or his cover would have been blown.

With that in mind, Song Chi suddenly thought of something else and spoke up:

“If I add a drop of eighth-tier Dominion Origin Blood, would that make it work?”

Haoyue didn’t hesitate; he shook his head again.

“Eighth-tier Dominion Origin Blood—or even ordinary ninth-tier Sovereign Blood—I’ve already got plenty stocked up. It’s not what I’m lacking.”

Sensing Song Chi’s disappointment, Haoyue changed tack:

“Tell you what. I’ve heard your Song Family has a sixth-tier Timeworld Tree. If you can throw in two sixth-tier Timeworld Fruits, plus an eighth-tier Dominion Origin Blood and these three items here, I’ll do the deal.”