Chapter 707: Serpent Relics and Family Dilemmas

“Such powerful attributes… First it was the Moon-Swallowing Viper’s Remains, and now this, the Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python? Why does it always tie back to mythic serpents?”

After inspecting the panel, Song Chi’s first reaction wasn’t excitement but a flicker of doubt.

Still, he quickly shook off those thoughts and moved on.

The Eight-Armed Serpent Demon clan is inherently grounded in serpent bloodlines. They’ve taken over an entire galaxy cluster, so it’s likely the mythic oddities they once possessed weren’t all like this. More likely, the ninth-tier Serpent Demon Dominators deliberately swapped in serpent-related mythic artifacts best suited to them.

That idea flashed through Song Chi’s mind for just a moment, but even after, he couldn’t help thinking it was probably true.

Another possibility occurred to him.

‘Maybe that Moon-Swallowing Viper’s Remains that Haoyue had was also something they got from the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon galaxy cluster, thousands of years ago…’

But this kind of conjecture could only stay secret. It wasn’t something he could walk up and ask Haoyue about directly.

From what he’d heard, Haoyue began making their charge toward the Star River-class Battleship centuries ago. Even with all those preparations, though, pushing a Star-Annihilator-class Ship up a class was just too hard. In the end, they still failed.

Still, Haoyue’s true backing is a powerhouse noble house under the Xian Qin Divine Dynasty. Even after failing to ascend, their family’s refined warship promotion system let them keep every advanced component intact. Add in that tier-seven Moon Spring and now they’re already nurturing a whole new flagship.

With millennia of experience, in just a few centuries, that person has already elevated the new flagship to the level of a dreadnought. Using the sixth-tier Timeworld Fruit he got from Song Chi, they’re now going all out to reclaim the Star-Annihilator-class Captain’s post.

‘Star River-class… like reaching for the heavens itself.’

Sighing at the thought, Song Chi shook his head and reined in his wandering mind, focusing back on the Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python.

This component’s stats more than live up to its reputation as a mythic relic that could suppress an entire clan.

Never mind the rest; just its ‘Mythic Shedding’ effect was already terrifying.

The repeated evolution chance every so often is like getting a guaranteed ninth-tier Golden Apple every few thousand years—the Song Family can pick whichever part they want it used on.

Song Chi’s mind churned with possibilities, each more enticing than the last.

The Celestial Authority Ring, Four Symbols Rotating Sigil, Pusa Zen Seal, Blood War Stele, Mythic Serpent’s Eternal Guard Scale, Blood Chalice, Divine Thunder Cannon, Domain Countercurrent Device, Plasma Guardian… and on it went.

And that’s only considering the primary effect. There’s more…

Song Chi’s thoughts stilled, his eyes flicking to the inn at his side.

He stashed the Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python away, letting market-level power for tier nine flow. A heartbeat later, he’d vanished from the spot.

By the inn’s doors, space rippled in front of the Fifth-Tier Doomstar, and Song Chi materialized to accept the Dimensional Spatial Stone.

No need for questions. With a gesture, he summoned the Ashura Emperor from the Dimensional Spatial Stone. Only now, the Ashura Emperor looked nothing like before.

Their power, which had neatly brushed up to half-step ninth-tier, now barely clung to early eighth-tier, and the silvery blood coating that crimson skin told a tale of energy leaking away every moment.

This was partly the cost of taking a direct hit from that phantom limb, but more than that, it was the backlash from the Enslave Seal: Berserk ending.

Song Chi knew: if left untreated, the Ashura Emperor wouldn’t live much longer. That brief half-step toward the ninth tier had burned up all their life force.

After summoning the Ashura Emperor, Song Chi quickly took out several Genesis Creation Pills and had him swallow them.

The Ashura Emperor was an eighth-tier being. Earlier, tests showed the Genesis Creation Pill could cure seventh-tier Dominators, but it was unknown whether they’d work at eighth-tier. To be safe, Song Chi decided to use a few more.

Next, he called out the Heavenly Ruin and moved the Ashura Emperor into the level 70 Life-System Medical Repair Pod.

Watching the hatch close over, Song Chi found himself silently hoping for the best.

It had taken him untold hardship to enslave an eighth-tier Dominator. After the latest battle, the Ashura Emperor had been exposed to half-step ninth-tier power ahead of schedule, so chances were, he could push deeper—maybe all the way to eighth-tier peak.

So, Song Chi was truly hoping the Genesis Creation Pills would work. Even if they just kept the Ashura Emperor alive, he could try other things later.

But for now, with the medical repair pod running, he’d just have to wait and see the results.

……

Eight-Armed Serpent Demon galaxy cluster, Central Region, Xian Qin’s Eleventh Advance Fleet.

The Song Family’s warship squadron—Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, Heavenly Ruin, Scorching Sea Blazer, and Unmoving Vajra—held their joint encrypted chat.

With four Star-Annihilator-class Ships, including an elite ship and a veteran, the encryption level was off the charts.

In such conditions, not even regular Star River-class ships, let alone extreme ones, stood a chance of breaking in.

So, the family top brass relaxed and dug into debating all things regarding the Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python.

Song Chi had already sent the relic’s full details to the chat.

After their initial euphoria, the old guard jumped into heated discussion.

“Should we strengthen the Origin Core Siphon?” Song Shixing asked.

“No need,” Song Shiyuan replied. “The Origin Core Siphon is already a gold component. It’s enough to siphon an eighth-tier Floating-Land Origin Core. There’s no point rushing for black quality now. With our current abilities, pulling off a core heist on eighth-tier floating-lands is our limit, and that’s thanks to Xiaochi’s Market Projection. Ninth-tier floating-lands? Unrealistic!”

“How about the Blood Chalice then?” suggested Xuancang.

“No need for the Blood Chalice either. Are we really going after ninth-tier Dominators now?” said Shixing.

“I say we just use it on the Four Symbols Rotating Sigil. We’ve seen how it performs—once the Four Sacred Beasts’ phantoms are summoned, even the Clan Elder could face off against Eighth-Tier Serpent Demon Dominators!” Tianhao chimed in.

“No doubt, the Four Symbols Rotating Sigil is a solid pick,” Song Yan agreed.

……

While everyone shared their opinions, Xingru, silent until now, suddenly spoke up:

“You know, the Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python has better stats than our Dragon Whale Hall! But there’s a problem—there’s only one Dragon-Spine Continent, our family’s greatest heritage. Do we really have to rip out Dragon Whale Hall from the Floating-land Origin Core?”

This killed the chatter. Everyone’s attention focused in.

Truth is, many had thought of this, but had failed to come up with a real solution, so nobody brought it up yet.

Since Xingru had said it, they began to hash it out openly.

“No, forcibly removing Dragon Whale Hall is the worst idea. Sure, its stats and quality can’t compete with the Shedding, but their effects don’t conflict. Dragon Whale Hall offers mind protection, boosts perception, and unparalleled secrecy—things the Shedding just can’t provide.”

Xuancang was the first to object. He continued:

“Besides, forcefully extracting Dragon Whale Hall from the core would seriously damage its essence, making it hard to re-integrate for quite some time… The Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python already proves that.”

Others in the family chat got the message right away.

Right now, the Shedding is indeed showing signs of core damage. This mythic relic had once been merged with an Eighth-Level Floating-land’s core—very likely the lair of that Ninth-Tier Serpent Demon Dominator. But with the Torch Human Civilization advancing so fast, the millions of light-years separating them can be crossed in just a few hundred years.

Perhaps that’s why the ninth-tier serpent took the risk, having their underlings rip the Shedding from the core to send it to the Demon God Floating-Land.

Too bad luck was on the Song Family’s side, and things turned out this way.

Why didn’t that ninth-tier Dominator send it to the Demon God Floating-Land earlier?

You just need to check the Shedding’s attributes. Its potential is immense—if not for the threat of losing it to rival Dominators, they would’ve evolved it to at least rainbow upper rank themselves.

If it had ended up on the Demon God Floating-Land and other Dominators discovered it, this supreme relic wouldn’t be exclusive to just one nine-tier serpent anymore.

The Eight-Armed Serpent Demons are creatures like any other, not saints—they all have their selfishness.

Because of all this, the Shedding never made it to the Demon God Floating-Land. Without human pressure, that Dominator might’ve hidden it until it reached rainbow upper rank and become a real trump card.

That’s clear from its Devour-Evolution effect. If the whole civilization rallied their power, it would have evolved long ago; instead, its devouring progress is still stuck at 62%.

……

“But if we don’t touch Dragon Whale Hall, what do we do with the Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python? Create a second heritage floating-land?” Xingru asked.

At least Xingru was honest—when she couldn’t figure something out, she just asked.

Unfortunately, none of the other family elites had an answer either, or someone would’ve raised the point already.

Finally, it was Song Wujian who spoke:

“I’ve heard of a special secret art—one that can let a floating-land’s origin core split into multiple fragments, so you can merge several relics at once…”

Just as eyes lit up across the chat, Wujian’s tone shifted.

“But the art is incredibly rare. Supposedly, only super-noble houses with over 100,000 years of history have it!”

That wiped the excitement from everyone’s mind.

Ten-millennia lineages are giants, and with their family’s current power, connecting to one was nearly impossible.

And even if they managed it, why would such an ancient powerhouse share their clan-guarding secrets?

At that, every elder’s gaze turned toward Song Chi.

Among all the family’s upper ranks, only Song Chi had such a deep web of connections.

When it came to the Yaoguang Star Tower, Song Chi had never kept anything hidden.

Understanding their intent, Song Chi nodded slightly.

“I’ll do my best to look into it. But whether it’ll work or not… hard to say.”

With the matter shelved, everyone turned to the relic’s remaining features.

The ‘Three-Color Spirit Mark’ is straightforward. It’s the link for connecting to the Shedding. There are a thousand available; all used to be locked by the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons, but Song Chi used the market’s tier-nine authority to overwrite them, including any held by unknown ninth-tier Dominators.

Afterward, all family leaders inscribed their spirit marks, and eventually every four-tier or higher clansman would have a spot.

As for the total number? They didn’t worry. Sure, it’s only a thousand now because the relic has no foundation yet. Once merged with a higher-tier floating-land, the vast scale of the Sea of Stars would let that number rise dramatically.

The ‘Ancient Python Spirit’ is the obvious mark of a clan-defining mythic relic—a remote summoning to call out an ancient mythic python projection to fight by your side. Unlike Dragon Whale Hall’s main sheltering effect, this spirit can attack and defend, making up for the other’s lack of offense.

‘Holy Blood Baptism’ is set aside for new third-tier prodigies. Its bloodline-evolving boost isn’t that big for fourth-tier or above, but to new third-tiers it can grant huge gains when they rise—especially those with high innate talent, as their law amplification will soar.

‘Sumeru Python’s Belly’ and ‘Sumeru Extraction’ operate as a set—the family’s new core vault, massively streamlining resource exchange and offering an even bigger benefit.

With Sumeru Extraction’s space-ignoring property, any clansman who’s inscribed a mark can access it, whether they’re on Dragon-Spine Continent or exploring the farthest reaches.

Which means, even if they’re in a crisis out on some distant world, they can fetch gear or components on the fly, keeping them safer and boosting their haul from every expedition.

Imagine carrying a bottomless treasure chest everywhere you go. Who wouldn’t want that?

After hashing it all out, one job remained: fusing the Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python into Dragon-Spine Continent’s core. Otherwise, it was all just talk.

As for which component should get the next ‘Mythic Shedding’ boost, debate was endless—no consensus in sight, not even from Song Chi.

But there was no rush. The effect was still on cooldown after its last use by the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons and wouldn’t be available again for nearly two centuries.

……

Chipan Galaxy, Dragon-Spine Star Domain, Dragon-Spine Continent.

Deep inside Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain, a Fourth-Tier Doomstar, standing watch over a special clan token, suddenly tensed up—the token flashed with bursts of light.

Had Song Chi been there, he’d have recognized it as a private message signal.

Receiving the psychic transmission, Song Chi arrived in a flash.

……

“Yulong: Jingzhe, your big sister has an emergency! Please respond when you see this!”

Song Chi blinked at the message on his Yaoguang Star Order.

For a woman from a noble house to be this frantic, something extraordinary must’ve come up.

Still, he didn’t keep her waiting.

“What’s wrong, Yulong?”

Tang Dynasty, Changsun Family.

In a remote compound deep in the family estate—

Yulong, her face lined with urgency, lit up when the reply came in, immediately typing again.

“Big sister urgently needs a sixth-tier Timeworld Fruit. Jingzhe, do you have one right now?”

Seeing this, Song Chi instantly understood.

‘So Changsun Yu’s gunning for a Star-Annihilator-class breakthrough? But it can’t be that urgent, can it…?’

Turning it over in his mind, he quickly reassured Yulong.

“I’ve got one. But are you aiming for a Star-Annihilator-class breakthrough? Is Yu moving up?”

“Don’t get me started—we aren’t preparing; he’s already hit the ship ascension quest. He didn’t even breathe a word to me beforehand. Infuriating…”

Once she knew he had a mature sixth-tier Timeworld Fruit left, Cui Yulong finally relaxed, then unleashed a torrent of complaints.

That made Song Chi smile in realization.

“No need to worry, Yulong. Most likely, something urgent popped up on the front lines—probably a shot at hunting down a high-level Eight-Armed Serpent Demon. In that sort of situation, asking for permission could waste the best chance.”

Hearing that, Yulong broke into a wide grin.

“You were right—as you guessed, an elder on the front lines crippled an eighth-tier serpent. Once Yu finished it off, his promotion odds jumped 15%.”

“Alright, I won’t keep you—you’d best sign on to the Star Tower and handle the trade!”

A few minutes later, at Yaoguang Star Tower—

As Song Chi handed over the sixth-tier Timeworld Fruit, Yulong gave a faint smile.

But as the matriarch of an immortal giant, she quickly shifted back to business.

“Jingzhe, thank you on Yu’s behalf. That fruit’s worth is astronomical. Name your price—whatever you want, just say it!”

Song Chi didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately brought up the clan secret that had the family so stumped: the art to split floating-land origin cores.

“A secret for dividing origin cores? Sounds like Song Family’s had a lucky streak lately…”

Yulong answered with a chuckle, but her next words made Song Chi sigh inside.

“But I can’t help, either. Not hiding anything—we did split our ancestral origin core, but the technique isn’t ours to give. We acquired it through a hard-fought trade with another noble house and were strictly forbidden from passing it on!”

Once Song Chi heard they’d signed a rainbow-mythic-grade secrecy contract, he gave up on pursuing it with the Changsun Family.

He paused, then tried a different angle.

“Then, Yulong, does the Changsun Family have any high-tier healing fruits? Something that restores life force, suitable even for eighth-tier beings?”

Cui Yulong frowned slightly, thinking deeply before replying:

“Wait here—I’ll check with the clan vault…”

After over a hundred thousand years, the Changsun vault held more than she could ever remember, so she decided to check herself.

Song Chi waited in the Star Tower’s grand hall for half an hour. Good thing the result was worth it.

When Cui Yulong returned, she handed him a Long-Life Fruit of Ten Thousand Trees, a rare spirit fruit needing twenty thousand years to bloom, fruit, and ripen, that refills life energy and extends one’s years—highly effective for seventh- and eighth-tier fleshly beings.

Song Chi accepted the Long-Life Fruit of Ten Thousand Trees and immediately logged out.

The moment the Heavenly Ruin was summoned, he rushed to deliver the fruit into the Life-System Medical Repair Pod.

The Ashura Emperor’s berserk backlash hadn’t fully faded. Though the Genesis Creation Pill and the repair pod had kept it at bay, he still couldn’t leave the pod. If he did, his life force would drain away fast without that constant replenishment.

‘Please let this Long-Life Fruit of Ten Thousand Trees work. If the Ashura Emperor doesn’t recover, my whole plan could fall apart…’

Once the fruit was delivered, Song Chi didn’t wait around. The fruit would take time to take effect, and he had other things to handle.

This time, he took out the Yaoguang Star Order again, but not to contact Yulong—this time it was Whitebrow.

If even the Changsun Family didn’t have that rare core-division secret, then Whitebrow was his only other shot.

Of everyone he knew, only Whitebrow’s background was obscure enough to possibly have access. It was worth a try.

If that failed, he’d have to log into the Beidou Sevenstar Hall and ask the main hall’s Star River-class captains.

But as a newcomer there, how could he even ask for such a priceless secret art?

That’s why Whitebrow was always his first hope.