Chapter 688: Siege at Blood Shura City

This “Mark of Might” component actually has pretty decent stats, but it’s almost useless for Song Chi. It’s specifically suited for Torch Captains who follow the Path of Force, which just isn’t his thing.

And honestly, it’s not just him. Across the entire Torch Human Civilization, there are barely any captains walking that path.

I mean, think about it: with the human race’s frail bodies, do you really expect them to suddenly go toe-to-toe with giants, ancient monsters, or true dragons just because they have some kind of Law of Force helping them out?

Being born physically weak pretty much decides your fate right from the start.

So this ‘Mark of Might’ is even less valuable as a result.

Still, because of its third and fifth special effects, Song Chi ended up installing it on the Heavenly Ruin.

Not for anything fancy—but at the very least, it’ll give a solid boost to close-quarters attacks with the ramming components down the line.

And then there’s effect five, ‘Blessing of Might’. He can use it to buff enslaved creatures like the Flamewrath Giant, Starry Sky Dragon Shark, and Tiger Carapace King Bug, pushing their combat abilities that bit further.

Of course, Song Chi only upgraded this component to level 70. Even with all his recent loot, his stash of Dominion Souls is still tight.

Don’t forget, that also includes twenty strands of ninth-tier Floating-land Origin, which means he can still bump more battleship components to level 90 as long as he wants to. But he’ll need a ton more Dominion Souls if he does.

Compared to the ‘Mark of Might’, that ‘Tooth of the Elephant King’ feels a lot more reasonable.

It’s another ramming component—and Song Chi didn’t hesitate to swap it in for the now-outdated Black-Gold Ramming Spike, taking it straight up to level 70.

Elephant King Ivory Ramming Prow, Level 70

Grade: Black

Effect: Ramming prow hardness increased by 380%

Effect 2: Ramming prow destructive power increased by 380%

Effect 3: Hull durability at ship’s bow increased by 380%

Effect 4: True Armor-Piercing

Effect 5: Elephant King’s Wrath

Effect 6: Elephant Charge

…

{True Armor-Piercing: Omitted}

{Elephant King’s Wrath: Consumes 100,000 Eon Energy Points to temporarily activate the Elephant King’s Wrath aura. The next hull strike from the ship deals 450% increased damage. Cooldown: 240 hours.}

{Elephant Charge: While the ramming prow’s ivory form is active, consumes 100,000 Eon Energy Points. The battleship instantly charges at 3,000% cruising speed in the chosen direction, smashing into an enemy with massive destruction. Duration: 20 seconds. Cooldown: 12 hours.}

The first few effects are self-explanatory and similar to the Hunyuan Copper Ramming Prow, but what Song Chi really likes are ‘Elephant King’s Wrath’, paired with ‘Elephant Charge’ and ‘Hunyuan Impact’. The combined strike is bound to dish out terrifying damage.

And if he tacks on ‘Neutron-Star Fission’ afterward, it becomes yet another trump card in the Heavenly Ruin’s arsenal.

As for the old Black-Gold Ramming Spike, Song Chi plans to pass it down to his grandpa, Song Mingsong. The Furious Lion of War has already evolved to battleship class, and with how hot-tempered Song Mingsong is, this ramming prow fits him perfectly.

…

Two years later. Northern slope of the Redleave Mountains.

The Redleave Mountains form an imposing range along the north of the Red Star Continent, stretching thousands of light-years with countless ore veins. Rumor has it, who knows how many nonhumans are hiding deep within.

The northern slope lies right next to the Redleave Sea. Mountains and sea treasures gather here, turning the region ever more prosperous. More than ten billion Sea of Stars nonhumans flock here, spawning hundreds of autonomous cities above seventh tier—and among these, Blood Shura City ranks among the most famous.

And there’s a simple reason: Blood Shura City is ruled by an emperor-level Ashura at eighth tier.

On this day, high up in the heavens hundreds of billions of miles away from Blood Shura City, the Heavenly Ruin lay quietly concealed.

With the Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl powered up to level 80 and the Void Shroud already at silver grade, the ship’s cloaking abilities were long past ordinary. Yet Song Chi hadn’t dared draw closer to Blood Shura City for a whole host of reasons.

Besides that terrifying eighth-tier Ashura Emperor inside—already on the verge of reaching peak eighth tier and no ordinary Sovereign—there have also been rumors leaking throughout the Red Star Continent these two years: a ninth-tier Sovereign had started descending to hunt. All the clever ones have been on high alert ever since.

In these two years, Song Chi made four moves: leaving aside the first one at Giant Elephant City, he succeeded two out of three subsequent times. On his fourth try—just two months ago—the eighth-tier Star Devourer Wolf he targeted proved clever as a fox. The instant the Heavenly Ruin showed itself, it escaped via a superdimensional portal. In the end, Song Chi only managed to enslave two seventh-tier Star Devourer Wolves left behind in the city.

That incident is why the news of a ninth-tier Sovereign hunting lesser nonhumans exploded across the land.

Really, Song Chi was deliberately racing the clock. Wait a few more months, and all of Red Star Continent would be buzzing with the story.

Over these two years, the Heavenly Ruin’s chance of evolution finally reached Song Chi’s expectations.

In the warship’s control room, a single thought summoned a glowing interface.

[Warship Evolution Quest (Heavenly Ruin)]

[Current evolution success rate: 95.501% (Base 0.001% + bathed in Eight-Tier Abyssal Nine-Headed Hydra Blood 15% + bathed in Eight-Tier Elephant Sovereign Blood 5% + bathed in Eight-Tier Frostflame Dragon Blood 2% + bathed in Eight-Tier Scorching Flame Wolf King Blood 1.5% + bathed in Seventh-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Blood 3% + Ninefold Spirit Fruit 10% + Top-tier Energy Crystal 10% + Seventh-Tier Dominion Origin Blood 12% + Eighth-tier Ordinary Sovereign Blood 1% + Special Resource Recipe 10% + Sky Serpent Blood Crystal 8% + Law of Light Comprehension 5% + Law of Space Comprehension 2% + Eighth-Tier Evil God Blood 11%)]

[Special evolution resources required (3/3): Spatial Fragment x1, Singular Stone x1, Silver Star Bangle-Core x1]

[Bonus materials: Seventh-Tier Dominion Origin Blood, Eighth-tier Ordinary Sovereign Blood, Ninefold Spirit Fruit, Sky Serpent Blood Crystal, Eighth-Tier Evil God Blood]

[Bathed in nonhuman blood: Eight-Tier Abyssal Nine-Headed Hydra (15%), Eight-Tier Elephant Sovereign (5%), Eight-Tier Frostflame Dragon (2%), Eight-Tier Scorching Flame Wolf King (1.5%), Seventh-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon (3%)]

With a 95.5% evolutionary success rate, plus a sixth-tier Timeworld Fruit just to be sure, he could pull off the upgrade right here.

But before that, he wanted to head to Blood Shura City. There was still a chance—a slim one, but worth a try—that he could enslave the emperor there.

“Let’s hope this works.”

At that thought, Song Chi glanced sideways. A mechanical prompt soon chimed in his ear.

[Confirm consumption: 3 strands of eighth-tier Floating-Land Origin + 1 eighth-tier Dominion Soul + 705 Titanite Crystals + 550 Law Stones + 2,000,000 Eon Energy Points to strengthen Celestial Authority Ring from level 80 to level 81?]

“Confirm.”

After nine consecutive flashes of golden light, the Celestial Authority Ring reached level 89.

Nine upgrades cost him nine eighth-tier Dominion Souls, but the component’s status panel barely changed.

Song Chi didn’t mind. Taking the ring to its peak wasn’t for a power boost, just to give him the best odds at enslaving a high-tier opponent. Even the smallest improvement was worth it.

Burning through those eighth-tier Dominion Souls would totally be worth it if he managed to enslave just one more eighth-tier creature.

Once he finished, Song Chi’s gaze fixed again on the distant, towering city.

The next moment, with the roar of the warship engines, the Heavenly Ruin crept closer and closer to Blood Shura City.

When the battleship was less than a billion kilometers away, a wave of golden light suddenly shone out. The whole sky above Blood Shura City was sealed off.

It was the Heavenly Ruin’s old trick—using a spatial lockdown component to completely seal the area with the city at the center.

But this time, he wasn’t using the silver-grade Voidlock Skyseal Sigil, or that Sky-Seal Prison borrowed from the Tuoba Royal Clan. Instead, this was a new golden spatial lockdown component: the Frosted Void Prison.

Right now, war raged across civilizations. The Silverplate Kingdom’s armada was still fighting on the front lines, and the Clan Elder’s friend certainly wouldn’t let others use their trump cards at a time like this.

This Frosted Void Prison was loot from slaying the eighth-tier Frostflame Dragon, and Song Chi had since powered it up to level 80.

Frosted Void Prison, Level 80

Grade: Gold

Effect: Frosted Void Cage

Effect 2: Void Cage spatial stability increased by 380%

Effect 3: Space resistance +7600

Effect 4: Ice resistance +7600

Effect 5: Frost Dragon Domain

Consumption: 3200 per second (Eon Energy Points)

Effect: Greatly increases the spatial stability inside the battleship and boosts energy density for both space and ice elements.

…

{Frosted Void Cage: Costs 300,000 Eon Energy Points to seal an area of space for 120 minutes. Cooldown: 120 hours.}

{Frost Dragon Domain: Costs 500,000 Eon Energy Points. With the battleship as the center, generates a Frost Dragon domain with a radius of one billion kilometers, suppressing all enemies inside—reducing their combat power by 50% and speed by 50%. Lasts 8 minutes. Cooldown: 12 hours.}

Right now, Song Chi had activated ‘Frosted Void Cage’. As that barrier of light spread out, something deep inside Blood Shura City was also triggered.

Beneath Blood Shura City, a pair of crimson eyes snapped open, and a cold voice echoed through an underground chamber.

“Nongzha! (Ashura tongue)—He’s here!”

Right after murmuring this, the blood-drenched figure rose straight from the blood pool. But instead of fleeing via superdimensional portal, they strode out of the chamber and, wreathed in the Law of Blood, shot directly out of the scarlet city.

High up above Blood Shura City, Song Chi watched all this unfold and didn’t feel relief at all. Instead, his pupils contracted and his heart sank.

The enemy’s reaction was weird—like they were following his plan to the letter. For a moment it all felt unreal, and a prickly sense of alarm settled in his chest.

He’d heard the rumors—that ninth-tiers had started appearing behind some of these major neutral cities.

No wonder: it’s the fallout from him, a supposed ‘ninth-tier Sovereign’, breaking the balance and personally stepping onto the field.

…

“Better safe than sorry.”

A surge of Eon Energy rippled through the control room. As soon as the thought passed through his mind, another figure appeared at Song Chi’s side—his Voidform Avatar, assembled by secret arts.

After summoning the avatar, he quickly activated another black component on the ship: the Tome of Divine Will. The moment a black brand of divine power flowed into his true body, space in the control room warped and Song Chi’s figure vanished from the ship.

Meanwhile, with the avatar in control, command of the Heavenly Ruin switched to the Sky-Domain AI. In his hand, Song Chi activated the Market Projection Token.

Outside, a phantom hand reached out of the purple mist above, slamming straight toward the eighth-tier Ashura Emperor.

The emperor’s crimson eyes turned even fiercer. Fighting spirit erupted with a roar.

Boom!

Their clash above Blood Shura City triggered a storm of energy, barely a step away from ninth-tier magnitude.

“Is this guy using me to force himself to break through, to reach peak eighth-tier?”

Inside the Omniverse Market, Song Chi noticed instantly through the projection: the Ashura Emperor was trying to force a breakthrough.

He snorted, eyes shut, as the Dominion Power of ninth-tier surged inside him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Sword chants rang out as, above Blood Shura City, a colossal sword of purple mist exploded from the swirling energy.

Swathed in a freezing light, the sword shot down hard. With sword-light tearing directly through the void, Song Chi let it strike while the purple-mist hand and the emperor recovered from their first collision—the sword roaring down and slicing open a several-hundred-thousand-meter wound across the emperor’s bloody form. Silver blood sprayed the sky.

Even with a body as sturdy as the Ashura Emperor’s, a direct hit from the sword tore him wide open. Silver blood fountained through the air.

Before the emperor could react, another purple-mist hand came crashing down from above.

This time, real danger closed in. A flood of the Law of Blood surged from the emperor, flaring around three shadowy artifacts glowing black as midnight.

A blood-red long saber, a heart-guarding mirror, and a blood-red relic.

The saber filled the emperor’s grip, the mirror pressed close to his chest, and the relic he swallowed whole. Instantly, the Law of Blood and vital energy inside him surged, topping out past peak eighth tier and straight into quasi-ninth tier.

There was no way Song Chi would just wait around while the other grew stronger. Even as the purple-mist hand fell, the energy overhead churned, tearing open the void as two phantom stars burst out and hovered over Blood Shura City.

Starlight Star.

Death Calamity Star.

Sure enough, Song Chi had activated both Starlight Descent and Deathstar Descent after the Sha Sword Chant.

And he wasn’t done yet. As phantom starlight from the Starlight Star illuminated the landscape, the Death Calamity Star grew heavy. Suddenly it plunged, screaming down toward the emperor below.