Chapter 711: The Price of Power and the Weight of Conquest

He was deeply interested in that eighth-tier Black Devourer King Beast, but the thought of enslaving a Star-Annihilator-class Torch Captain was equally tempting to Song Chi.

After all, whether in the Torch Human Galaxy Cluster or exploring the Outer Domain in the future, a Star-Annihilator-class Ship would be at least as valuable as an eighth-tier cosmic behemoth.

Most importantly, his Master-Servant Pact component had already been evolved to silver quality, making it fully capable of binding a seventh-tier Torch Captain.

Lost in thought, he noticed the Ashura Emperor standing on the Longji Plains below had found the perfect moment to break through. As the tidal surge of energy reached its peak across the plains, its body was awash in a surge of vital energy, climbing from the peak of the eighth tier with steady steps toward the very limit of that realm.

Maybe it was because the Ashura Emperor had experienced ninth-tier power firsthand twice before using the Enslave Seal: Berserk trait, but this time, its ascension was smooth and effortless, stepping into the eighth-tier limit without any mishaps.

By this point, it could be said the Ashura Emperor was just half a step away from truly entering the ninth tier.

……

Compared to the Ashura Emperor, things were far tougher for the two Six-Star Ancient Beasts in the other corner of the Longji Plains.

Whether it was lack of foundation or simply not enough time at the peak of the sixth tier, both failed in their first attempts to break through.

Fortunately, they hadn’t been injured, but Song Chi had no choice—he turned his eyes to the Creation Eight Trigram Furnace—Damaged on his flagship.

The furnace’s fifth trait, Breakthrough Immortal Pill, and sixth trait, Threefold Golden Body Pill, both required black-grade Fireseed Artifacts. Conveniently, he’d obtained one strand of Black Devouring Chamber Coldfire from the Sky-Devouring Python’s belly, and later picked up a second when raiding the Blackfang Clan’s ancestral ground.

Originally, Song Chi hadn’t planned to use these two rare black fireseeds anytime soon. He’d already advanced to the seventh tier himself, so the Breakthrough Immortal Pill no longer benefited him. He aimed for the far more valuable Threefold Golden Body Pill, but that required three black fireseeds for a single batch.

Now, however, he had no choice; to help the two Six-Star Ancient Beasts advance, he would have to refine two Breakthrough Immortal Pills first.

With a simple mental command, one strand of black fireseed began to rise within the Eight Trigram Furnace, the entire furnace flickering with a ghostly black light.

After a few dozen seconds, the glow faded and a pill the size of a dragon’s eye appeared inside the furnace—the Breakthrough Immortal Pill.

Just like the Threefold Golden Body Pill, the Breakthrough Immortal Pill yielded only one finished pill per batch, but that wasn’t where Song Chi’s attention was—he was focused on the state of the black fireseed left inside.

“It’s dimmed by about a quarter… which means a strand of black fireseed can produce four pills—four batches of the Breakthrough Immortal Pill. Likewise, by the same rule, the Threefold Golden Body Pill using three strands of black fireseed would follow suit…”

Song Chi was satisfied with this; at least in his eyes, it was a pretty solid number.

He swapped out the used fireseed for the second one and refined a second Breakthrough Immortal Pill.

With the help of these two pills, the two Six-Star Ancient Beasts had no trouble finally breaking through to become Seven-Star Ancient Beasts—true lord-class beings.

Seeing this, Song Chi nodded in approval.

Two Seven-Star Ancient Beasts were enough to absolutely dominate a tribe of their kind. For the family, this would hugely improve efficiency in managing that ancient beast group. Mixing in their bloodline for breeding along with the spirit land of the Young Serpent Floating-Land would make the next generation’s growth terrifyingly fast.

It wasn’t just Song Chi’s side; the two Vermilion Divine Birds under the old clan elder and Song Yan had also done well. Powered by the eighth-tier energy tides, they’d repaired their missing laws. While they didn’t break through directly to the seventh tier, restoring their inner laws had freed them from their shackles. With their powerful potential, breaking through was now only a matter of time.

The Song Family’s lower and middle-level clansmen had also made immense progress. Nearly a million of them used the Longji Continent’s energy surge to push their advancement. According to the latest news from Internal Affairs, out of that million, close to half—around five hundred thousand—advanced their first-tier ships to escort-class (tier two). About twenty thousand tier-two clansmen’s ships advanced to tier-three cruisers, and nearly a thousand leapt all the way to Zhulu-class cruisers.

And then thirty-three more advanced to battleships. Song Tianshu, Song Yichuan, Song Hang, Song Mingsong, Song Chao, and Chen Lixia—these six each had their flagships advance to Dreadnought level.

That put the number of tier-two clansmen above 1.2 million, tier-threes just under one hundred thousand, tier-fours at over two thousand, and tier-fives above eighty.

As for tier-six clansmen, Song Chi did a rough count. Including the six whose flagships had just advanced, there were now nineteen Dreadnought Captains in the clan.

That included Song Xuancang, Song Shixing, Song Xingru, Song Zhendong, Song Tianhao, Song Tianshu, Song Bei, Song Han, Song Yan, Song Mingsong, Song Ze, Song Yiming, Song Yichuan, Shen Youran, Song Hanyu, Song Ting, Song Chao, Chen Lixia, and Song Hang.

Adding four Star-Annihilator-class Ships, the Song Family had quietly grown into a giant, the kind that could dominate among the Immortal Houses for millennia.

With their control over the Timeworld Tree Sanctuary as well, so long as they avoided a catastrophe that wiped out their core members, their inheritance would be secure for generations to come.

……

But just as the Song Family celebrated, Song Chi quietly left the Dragon‑Spine Continent with the Ashura Emperor.

Thanks to his insider contact Lü Xuewu, Song Chi easily reached the Lü Family’s main Outer Domain colony.

The Lü Family called this their Second Homeland Colony. As the name suggested, it was their second core territory after their ancestral land in the Torch Human Galaxy Cluster. When they first discovered this Star Domain, the sixth-tier floating-land here was already at the very peak—far stronger than the one back in their home territory.

The Lü Family immediately changed their development strategy, placing this peak sixth-tier floating-land on par with their ancestral land.

After centuries of relentless effort, they named it “Immortal”—and it lived up to the name, ascending to become a Seventh‑Tier Floating-land. The accompanying energy surge allowed the Lü Ancestor’s flagship to reach Star-Annihilator-class.

The Floating-Land of Immortality—foundation for the Lü Family’s rise to Immortal House status. In the Torch Human Civilization’s three-hundred-thousand-year history, such rags-to-riches tales weren’t uncommon.

Had it not been for Song Chi, they might have continued thriving, accumulating strength and eventually becoming a household name, a dream marriage for countless commoners.

Unfortunately for them, they offended Song Chi over a millennium ago.

Song Chi arrived in utter silence. With Lü Xuewu’s help, even the floating-land shield of Immortal was no obstacle—he simply followed Lü Xuewu’s Tianwu Xuan Frost into the inner territory.

……

Immortal Floating-Land. Immortal City.

As the central city built by the Lü Family on their second ancestral land, Immortal City was vast. In its heyday, it housed several large warship ports and could support tens of millions.

Now, the scene was a shadow of the past. Only a few lonely figures hurried through the streets, highlighting the city’s desolation.

They had no choice. Since tracking the Black Devourer King Beast years ago, the Lü Family had thrown everything into helping their ancestor Lü Qifeng break through, hoping a true Star-Annihilator Captain could use the Seventh‑Tier Floating-land shield to block the beast.

But they also didn’t pin all their hopes on that strategy.

After all, breaking through to seventh-tier Guiding Technique was no easy feat. Even if they succeeded before the Black Devourer King Beast arrived and truly became a Star-Annihilator Captain—

—The Lü Family’s foundation was limited. High-tier components were rare, and Lü Qifeng himself only possessed a silver Torch Seed. Even with the floating-land’s shield and core will aiding him, his chances against the Black Devourer King Beast were slim.

So over the past few years, more than ninety percent of the family evacuated on transfer ships back to Torch Human Civilization’s territory. Only a handful of elite clansmen remained.

Inside the Lord’s Hall of Immortal City, dozens of Lü Family members quickly gathered as news spread.

After thousands of years of heritage and the floating-land’s ascension, the Lü still had some reserves. Over forty people were now in the hall—every one a Zhulu-class Cruiser Captain or higher.

Among them were five Battleship Captains and one Dreadnought Captain.

That Dreadnought Captain wasn’t Lü Qifeng, but another ancestor who had just advanced with the help of the Immortal Floating-Land.

Though his flagship had been at Dreadnought for less than a decade, his aura had clearly reached the sixth tier—his mastery of the Guiding Technique was now at level sixty.

A faint trace of mind connection attached to Lü Xuewu let Song Chi sense the man’s presence precisely: a level 60 Guiding Technique.

Song Chi wasn’t surprised. Lü Xuewu had already mentioned this—deep in their treasury, the Lü Family had a vial of Azure Marrow Spirit Liquid, a rare item to help fifth-tiers break through to the sixth. With its aid, the old ancestor had managed this feat in just a few years.

“The Black Devourer King Beast is less than a year away from descending on our Immortal Floating-Land—does anyone have a solution?”

With the clansmen assembled, the sixth-tier ancestor finally broke the silence.

An eighth-tier monster hanging over their heads, threatening them every moment—it had kept everyone on edge for years.

The Dreadnought Captain broke the tension, and soon, voices rose up throughout the hall.

But every suggestion fell flat; under the threat of an eighth-tier behemoth, none had anything stronger than retreating.

Abandon the Immortal Floating-Land and return to Torch Human Civilization’s territory.

Listening to the internal discussions from afar, Song Chi, far underground within a hidden tunnel of the Immortal Floating-Land, could only shake his head.

That’s the curse of Outer Domain colonies. The Sea of Stars is full of opportunities, but outside the main Torch civilization, nowhere is truly safe. Even a colony insulated with immense resources could be discovered—and destroyed—in a moment by some powerful alien force.

That’s exactly why the Song Family worked so hard to seize the Chipan Galaxy. Only territory within the true borders of Torch Human Civilization could really be called home.

The Lü Family, for example—still proud of their colony’s success a while ago—were now reeling, blindsided by crisis and barely able to react.

……

What the Lü didn’t know was that just as they debated their very survival, an uninvited guest had already slipped into their ancestor’s secluded chamber, utterly undetected.

Song Chi emerged into a vast underground space after passing through a sloping, pitch-black corridor.

At the center, above an enormous Seventh‑Tier Floating-land origin geyser, hovered a super warship ten thousand kilometers long.

Fed by a constant stream of pure energy, that Star-Annihilator-class Ship converted dark energy at incredible speed. The enhanced level-79 Dark Energy Training Platform inside provided power far beyond the ordinary.

At that moment, Lü Qifeng, who had cultivated atop the platform for years, snapped open his eyes, breaking his Guiding Technique meditation.

His gaze shot across the warship to the far end—landing squarely on Song Chi.

“Who are you? Which branch do you come from? How did you get in here?”

The warship’s comms made Lü Qifeng’s interrogation echo through the underground space.

He fired off questions one after another.

Song Chi’s face remained unchanged, his steps slow and steady, not the least bit bothered.

“No matter your branch or how you got in, this is the family’s forbidden ground—leave, now!”

Seeing Lü Qifeng still thought he was family, Song Chi finally responded.

“Looks like you’ve forgotten about me, Lü Qifeng. Should I help jog your memory?”

With that, seventh-tier dark energy flared from Song Chi, his oppressive aura immediately saturating the entire space.

“Seventh-tier Guiding Technique… Star-Annihilator-class Captain… Wait—you’re… Song Chi!”

Instantly, the memory of that humiliation over a thousand years ago rushed back—Song Chi’s face grew clear in his mind.

And with it, undeniable terror clouded Lü Qifeng’s face.

There was no way he could forget the Song Family—once his enemies fifteen centuries ago, now soaring high.

Especially after their succession of Star-Annihilator-class Captains, any revenge was a pipe dream. The two families’ gap only widened every decade.

His own plan had been to break through, then take his Star-Annihilator-class Ship to join a few civilization wars—hoping to secure a new foothold in the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon galaxy cluster and put the Song Family far behind him.

But suddenly, Song Chi was here—his fear was palpable.

Not seeing Song Chi summon his own warship, but instead arriving in person, Lü Qifeng’s eyes flashed with a cold resolve.

But that determination vanished as quickly as it came.

Having kept close tabs on the Song Family, Lü Qifeng knew they already had four Star-Annihilator-class Captains. If he really tried anything, Song Chi surely had a trump card—or even if not, the other three ships would never let the Lü Family rest.

If he killed Song Chi by some miracle, the Song Family’s retaliation would be unending.

Struggling to steady his pulse, Lü Qifeng forced as much calm into his voice as he could:

“Song Chi, how did you get into the Immortal Floating-Land? Why are you really here?”

Song Chi gave a cold chuckle.

“How I got in is none of your business. As for why I’m here… do you really not know?”

Lü Qifeng’s face darkened.

Song Chi thought conflict was inevitable, but Lü Qifeng’s reaction was shockingly quick.

Buzz! Suddenly, space rippled unexpectedly—Lü Qifeng had already activated his warship’s Flash-displacement Component.

Clearly, he’d never had any intention of fighting. Even while questioning Song Chi, he’d been preparing to escape.

“Tch…”

A mocking smirk flashed across Song Chi’s face.

He looked at Lü Qifeng, now deathly pale within his Star-Annihilator-class Ship.

“Impossible! The flash-displacement should have worked—unless… there’s a space-lock component above gold quality?”

Realization struck Lü Qifeng. He’d just triggered the silver Flash-displacement, but the ship hadn’t budged. The only answer: Song Chi had already sealed off this space, using at least a gold-tier lockdown.

“What do you want? Or should I say: what does the Song Family want…”

He never finished his sentence—the last word stuck in his throat.

His eyes widened in disbelief, staring straight ahead.

“You… you…”

His gaze locked on Song Chi, still wearing that icy smirk at the far end, and above him—Song Chi’s own Heavenly Ruin warship, sloughing off its cloaking and appearing in all its eighteen-thousand-kilometer terror.

Song Chi ignored Lü Qifeng’s shock and spoke in a frozen tone.

“Submit, or die.”

He didn’t raise his voice. In Lü Qifeng’s ears, though, it struck like a thunderbolt from the heavens.

Buzz! Lü Qifeng could only stare, dumbstruck, as the monstrous Heavenly Ruin fully revealed itself. Its hull was nearly twice the size of his own Immortal Ice Dragon, and any thought of rebellion fled his mind.

As a veteran captain with centuries of experience, Lü Qifeng understood better than anyone what a Torch Captain of this caliber meant.

Standing against Song Chi—who had advanced before him, wielded superior ship modules, and was himself a full Star-Annihilator Captain—was suicide.

More than anything, this was the Outer Domain. If Song Chi wanted Lü Qifeng dead, there wouldn’t be any consequences.

Silent for nearly two minutes, Lü Qifeng finally forced out a response.

“I’ll submit. But how, exactly? You of all people should know Torch Captains can’t be bound by slave components. Or are you proposing a follower pact?”

“Leave the details to me. Just answer: are you willing or not?”

With that said, Lü Qifeng lapsed into another long silence.

Song Chi felt impatient, but there was nothing to be done. A Master-Servant Pact only had the highest success rate if entered willingly—and now, with only a silver-grade version, binding a peak sixth-tier Dreadnought Captain wasn’t a sure thing.

He thought for a second, then added:

“My time is limited. You have five seconds. Five… four…”

Song Chi paused, a thought occurring to him.

“By the way, that Black Devourer King Beast—I can take care of it for you.”

“You’re serious? Then could you…”

Seeing Lü Qifeng push his luck, Song Chi’s face went cold.

“Three seconds. Three… two…”

“I accept. But I expect the Song Family to keep their promise!”

At the last possible moment, Lü Qifeng—though still resentful—had no choice but to agree.

The Immortal Ice Dragon’s hatch slowly opened and the aged Lü Qifeng stepped out to meet him.

Now that Lü Qifeng had given up resistance, the rest was simple.

Song Chi bound him with the Master-Servant Pact, making him his fifth servant.

That made five: the seventh-tier Abyssal Devil, Dreadnought Captain Pan Ying, Battleship Captain Wang Zhen, Battleship Captain Lü Xuewu, and, finally, Lü Qifeng—who was mere moments from becoming a Star-Annihilator Captain.

Song Chi’s eyes shone with satisfaction as he gazed at the five names on his Pact.

A Star-Annihilator Captain as a servant—this was a huge milestone. Now, whenever the Song Family encountered anything inconvenient, he could simply send Lü Qifeng instead.

But he had to be careful—Lü Qifeng was still only at the sixth tier. When he eventually broke through, a silver-grade pact might not suffice. It would be best to upgrade it to gold, once the next batch of Golden Apples matured.

With all that done, Song Chi led Lü Qifeng out of the Immortal Floating-Land and headed straight for the Black Devourer King Beast.

Recruiting Lü Qifeng was important, but the real target was the eighth-tier cosmic behemoth—Song Chi’s trump card for when he finally targeted the Father of Truth.