Chapter 696: The Blood Chalice Decision

If they can’t be bred elsewhere, that means the Mist Snakefolk can only be raised in the misty marshes of the Bronze Serpent Floating-land.

Everyone in the group chat was centuries old or more. The moment Song Yan shared the news, they quickly pieced together the implications.

Song Xingru was the first to speak:

“If that’s the case, then what we really need to fight for is the right to control the entire Bronze Serpent Floating-land!”

“Exactly. Before, everyone went along with grabbing whatever resources they could find here, then splitting up the Mist Snakefolk among themselves. The actual ownership of the land was always expected to go to the strongest—usually the Fusang Imperial Family and the Fujiwara Clan. But now, I doubt anyone’s going to back down that easily!”

“Since the Mist Snakefolk can only be raised on the misty marshes, from now on that area is the most precious sustainable resource on the whole floating-land. Just looking at our Song Family’s current size, twenty thousand Mist Snakefolk is nowhere near enough!”

“I heard the marshes even hide seventh-tier Mist Snakefolk—which means they could affect even Star-Annihilator-class Captains. At the seventh tier, practicing the Guiding Technique slows to a crawl. Our Clan Elder has been at it for over six hundred years, yet the Guiding Technique’s still stuck at level 70, never reaching 71. If we could secure one of these seventh-tier Mist Snakefolk, they could completely change things!”

“So the Mist Snakefolk we’ll keep getting from the marsh in the future—we need to make sure we get our share for the Song Family!”

While the debate raged on, Song Wujian finally cut in and interrupted.

“Enough. We can worry about all that later. Right now, our focus needs to be breaking through those two secondary Serpent Demon Holy Cities in West Sector 3. No need to hold back—aside from the Ashura Emperor, summon every dominated beast we have!”

“Plus, spread the word that Mist Snakefolk can only be raised on the marshes. A lot of factions probably know already, but it’s not enough. The more chaos we stir up now, the easier our moves will be later!”

“Understood. I’ll have the Shadow Division operate in secret. With a few months, the news will be all over the Bronze Serpent Floating-land—and then we’ll have plenty of people making noise for us.”

Once Song Wujian gave the order, the Song Family’s five-hundred-thousand-strong fleet split in two, heading straight for both secondary Serpent Demon Holy Cities.

Elsewhere, invisible in the depths of the Void, over a hundred Song Family Shadow Division warships, each equipped with at least a purple-tier Void Shroud, roared through the darkness on their own missions in all directions.

……

Over the next six years, the two secondary Serpent Demon Holy Cities in West Sector 3 endured countless bombardments from the Song Family’s fleet. Though they held out, it didn’t come cheap.

The energy shields that once gleamed above the cities were now a pale echo of what they looked like six years ago.

Sensing their chance, the two Song Family fleets went straight into all-out assault mode as soon as they arrived above the cities.

Above the first city, two Dreadnoughts led two subsidiary Azure Dragon fleets. Up in the clouds behind them, you could barely make out phantom images of Azure Dragons, and the pressure they radiated was entirely real—seventh-tier level.

Plus, the Star-Annihilator-class Ship Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang took the center, supported by two seventh-tier Star Devourer Wolves. That made five Domination-level heavy hitters in total.

The force facing the second city was just as powerful. Aside from three Dreadnoughts—Scorching Sea Blazer, Calm-Sea Rising Dragon, and Azure Vast Infinity—each leading their subsidiary Azure Dragon fleets, there were also two Dominator Worms and a Starry Sky Dragon Shark.

“Attention, all clansmen—open fire at will!”

The command rang out and, once again, thunderous barrages shattered the sky over both secondary Serpent Demon Holy Cities.

“Flame God Annihilator Cannon: Supercharged!”

“Flame God Annihilator Cannon: Annihilation Star-Shatter Strike!”

With both traits triggered in sequence on the black Star-Annihilator Cannon mounted on Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, the shield above the first Serpent Demon Holy City shattered completely. The next assault targeted the two seventh-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons hiding within.

Five against two—the outcome was obvious.

They didn’t even need to risk Shen Youran or Song Xingru. Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang and the two Domination-level Star Devourer Wolves handled the battle with ease.

Even with the blessing of Floating-land Origin, the two seventh-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons were outmatched. The Song Family had poured immense resources into upgrading Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, and over the centuries—even with all their close calls—it was nothing like a mere newly advanced Star-Annihilator ship. By now, Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang was firmly in the elite ranks.

And with Torch Battleships famous for their firepower, even one could suppress a seventh-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon in a straight fight. Both Star Devourer Wolves also quickly subdued the other serpent demon by sheer numbers.

As soon as the fight ended, Song Wujian used the comms module to notify Song Yan’s unit. Soon after, a projection of Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang appeared over the second city—summoned by Song Yan using a special projection module.

Just like that, the second Serpent Demon Holy City fell. The two seventh-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons there were also blasted apart.

It’s worth noting that when they raided the vaults in both cities afterward, Song Xingru somehow got a sudden stroke of luck and retrieved a truly exceptional Oddity—or rather, a unique component—from one of the treasure rooms.

Oddity: Blood Chalice

Rarity: Gold

Transformable: {Blood Chalice}

Note: A Blood Chalice once used by a Sea of Stars Dominator to drink the blood of other races. Through a twist of fate, it became a gold-tier Starsea Oddity.

……

Blood Chalice lv0

Rarity: Gold

Trait: When loaded on a warship, increases the power of blood-based attack techniques by 140%.

Trait 2: Blood Resistance +1000

Trait 3: While loaded, increases insight by 5% when meditating on blood Laws and blood-path secret arts aboard the ship.

Trait 4: Blood Boil

Trait 5: Vessel of Sacred Blood

……

Note: This component occupies 5 equipment slots.

Blood Boil: Consumes 100,000 Eon Energy Points to target an enemy unit within 100 million kilometers, forcing their blood to boil and severely weakening them for a short duration. Cooldown: 240 hours.

Vessel of Sacred Blood: When the warship kills a flesh-and-blood being, with the captain’s permission, it can store a trace of their source sacred blood. When the warship evolves, the captain can release all accumulated source blood at once, greatly boosting the evolution success rate. No cooldown, but currently can only store source blood of zero-tier creatures.

Why is the Blood Chalice so exceptional? The secret lies in its fifth trait: Vessel of Sacred Blood.

Based on the description, its effect is straightforward: if a Torch Battleship hasn’t begun its evolution quest, it will accumulate blood from every Sea of Stars nonhuman it kills. When the time comes to evolve, all the saved blood is released at once, dramatically raising its odds of success.

Even better, after training its trait, Song Xingru found it could hold the source blood of up to eighth-tier Dominators. Forget Dreadnoughts—this could even help a Star-Annihilator ship push toward a Star River-class.

When Song Xingru revealed this in the encrypted Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang group chat, the Song Family leadership was ecstatic.

With this new piece and the Timeworld Fruit resources, the odds of successful evolution for high-ranking family members just shot up.

In other words, thanks to the Blood Chalice and Timeworld Fruit, the Song Family should see their number of advanced and top-tier members only climb from here.

“It’s a shame those four seventh-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons went to waste. That’s four high-level kills lost…”

Song Tianshu sighed in the group chat.

Since ascending to Battleship Captain, he’d thought his days of pursuing higher ranks were over due to his age. But after seeing the Blood Chalice, the desire awakened in his heart once more.

He’d reached Battleship Captain without ever using a fourth-tier Timeworld Fruit.

Blood Chalice plus a fifth-tier Timeworld Fruit… And he’s not even three thousand years old yet. With nearly a millennium left, Song Tianshu saw a real shot at Dreadnought.

While Song Tianshu was lost in thought, Song Wujian’s voice sounded again in the group chat.

“Here’s the plan: since Xiaochi’s warship has already evolved, Xiao Yan gets the Blood Chalice first!”

The message couldn’t be clearer—they were committed to pooling the full strength of the Song Family to help the Scorching Sea Blazer strive for Star-Annihilator within a few centuries.

Everyone agreed without argument. Song Tianshu and the others all nodded.

First of all, the Scorching Sea Blazer was already formidable, and it only lagged a little behind Song Chi’s Heavenly Ruin when breaking into the elite Dreadnoughts. For centuries, it had taken part in every major campaign. Plus, the old Flame God Clan relic they’d discovered had given the family a huge boost. No matter how you looked at it, this ship deserved to use the Blood Chalice first.

After Xiao Yan, Song Wujian named several more people, and again, nobody objected—each choice was fair.

“After Xiao Yan, Shiyuan is next, then Tianshu, Xingru, Shixing…”

As for Shen Youran, she was much further down the list. It wasn’t for any dramatic reason—it was just that she had only just reached Dreadnought Captain, and her ship hadn’t built up enough strength yet.

As Song Chi’s wife, and after giving birth to a successor, Shen Youran’s status was already high in the family. Eventually, as her warship matured, the Blood Chalice would be moved to the White Snow Qingyou at the right time.

Of course, one more thing couldn’t be overlooked: the Blood Chalice couldn’t just stay on one ship forever. After careful discussion, the Song Family’s leaders actually set down clear rules.

Sixth-tier, meaning Dreadnoughts vying for Star-Annihilator status, could borrow it for 200 years.

Fifth-tier, Battleships trying to reach Dreadnought, could borrow it for 100 years.

Fourth-tier, Zhulu-class Cruisers striving for Battleship, could keep it for 50 years.

Core third-tier geniuses could use it for 20 years.

They had no choice. Even though Torch Captains lived long lives, Battleship Captains only made it to four thousand; Zhulu-class Captains barely two thousand. Letting one person hog the Blood Chalice too long meant many others would never get a turn.

Also, every time the Blood Chalice was loaned out, a recall seal would be placed on it. If misfortune struck the user, the family could summon it back across the stars to avoid losing the item.

Plus, everyone borrowing it had to sign an agreement: if a major crisis cropped up, they had to use the recall seal, so if their warship was ever in danger of sinking, the Blood Chalice wouldn’t be lost or destroyed.

Maybe it was strict, but there was no choice. Like the Tri-Eye Spirit-Lock Ring and High-Dimensional Wormhole Generator, the Blood Chalice was a true strategic treasure, one the whole Song Family had to protect.

……

With that settled, the Song Family fleet lingered two more years to completely wipe out the last Eight-Armed Serpent Demons in West Sector 3. Only then did they set off, heading east to rendezvous with the Joint Fleet’s temporary command post.

And it wasn’t just the Song Family—every major immortal force on the Bronze Serpent Floating-land did the same.

In two years, everything about the Mist Snakefolk had spread everywhere. Any faction with an eye on the marshes’ control couldn’t afford to miss this chance. With the mission debrief about to begin, they’d all be fighting Fusang Dynasty for their shares.

So when the Song Family returned, they caught everyone off guard.

Everyone knew what the Song Family’s assigned mission had been, and yet they’d returned earlier than almost anyone else. Naturally, this drew plenty of attention.

But not a single group thought they’d failed; one look at Song Wujian’s satisfied expression and Sato Kawa’s defeated scowl said it all.

In the comms group, Sato Kawa wore a stormy look—anyone could guess his mood.

Song Wujian didn’t seem to notice Sato Kawa’s dark face at all. In a level, even tone, he said:

“Lord Sato, I believe our Song Family has completed the mission flawlessly. Don’t forget the promise you made before!”

Hearing Song Wujian’s loaded words, Sato Kawa’s scowl faded away. He didn’t reply, just gave a faint smile.

That odd reaction made Song Wujian instinctively frown as he thought to himself:

‘Something’s off. Has that guy got something else up his sleeve?’

Lost in that thought, Song Wujian saw more Star-Annihilator-class Ships flying in from afar. With that, all the factions’ representatives had arrived.

The conference to divide up the Bronze Serpent Floating-land was about to begin!