Chapter 718: Full Force for Every Battle

A lion goes all out, even when hunting a rabbit.

That’s the code Song Chi had followed ever since he became a Torch Captain over two thousand years ago.

Sometimes, in certain critical moments, he’d even toss aside his own motto of ‘caution and stability’—but this one thing, putting his all into every fight, had never wavered.

Whenever a battle started, he gave his whole strength. Especially now, facing the terrifying rank-nine mech overlord!

One move after another, endless waves of purple mist energy swept out rapidly, shrouding more than half of the entire high-dimensional space.

Normally, this special high-dimensional space built by the Timepiece Chessboard would never allow any outside interference. But the Omniverse Market’s rank was so high, even a colored superior mythic relic couldn’t constrain its power.

With the Market Projection gathered and both enslaved rank-eight beasts rampaging, Song Chi suddenly commanded forces amounting to three strikes at rank-nine strength.

A Seventh-Tier Star-Annihilator-class Captain wielding three trump cards tied, one way or another, to the might of rank-nine… There’s no way you just dropped in by chance. This was clearly premeditated.

The surge of three abnormal rank-nine energies left the still adapating, greatly suppressed Father of Truth stunned and shaken.

Song Chi didn’t bother replying. He simply signaled—the enslaved beasts and Market Projection charged Father of Truth together.

The purple mist handprint struck first, slamming into Father of Truth’s metal body, quickly followed by the Ashura Emperor’s Chronosaber and the Black Devourer King Beast’s Devouring Roar Wave.

Energy bursts tangled with flashing streams from metal being sliced apart, a stunning display—but the damage done to Father of Truth was far less than one would expect.

“Something’s wrong. That special alloy on his hull is absorbing energy attacks—out of the three methods, only the Ashura Emperor’s blood-hued saber, a black-quality oddity, managed real damage.”

With energy storms raging out of control, direct sight was nearly useless. Luckily, Song Chi had his Dual Pupils active, and with that sharp perception he could pick out Father of Truth’s exact state.

His face tightened. This wasn’t part of any plan he’d drawn up.

Not that he hadn’t prepared thoroughly. Who could have guessed Father of Truth’s hull would include a layer designed to massively cut down energy damage?

Still, Song Chi was calm as ice—not a trace of panic. His mind spun through possibilities, and a new plan took shape in a heartbeat.

He instantly recalled the Market Projection to protect the Heavenly Ruin, keeping only the two enslaved beasts locked in direct combat with Father of Truth.

Hiss—

At a certain moment, the Heavenly Ruin’s hatch cracked open. Before Father of Truth even reacted, Song Chi had already sent out the Immortal Spear.

As the hatch resealed, the Immortal Spear rapidly swelled until it stretched 15,000 kilometers long.

Red flickered in the dark eyes of the now-enlarged Black Devourer King Beast as it crashed, head-on, into Father of Truth’s chest.

More sharp, familiar screeching of metal filled the air. Under the impact’s force, even a giant like Father of Truth was knocked back tens of millions of kilometers.

But for a rank-nine mech lord over a hundred million kilometers tall, that distance was only a tiny shuffle—barely a scratch.

Just then, on the far side of the high-dimensional space, a deafening sonic boom rang out.

The Immortal Spear, stretched to full size, was hurled at an impossible speed by Song Chi, guided with a handprint formed from purple mist energy.

Clang—clang—clang!

With a series of piercing shrieks, the Immortal Spear buried itself deep inside Father of Truth’s chest.

Song Chi’s timing was nearly flawless—but Father of Truth was hiding a colored superior detection-type oddity inside. Every move captured by the Market Projection was precisely recorded, so even when airborne and vulnerable, he managed a subtle recoil.

That tiny adjustment shoved the Immortal Spear just off the vital mark. It didn’t strike the all-important dark matter core—for Song Chi, a fatal miss.

He’d been holding out for this moment. Earlier, when he had fired everything outside, Father of Truth had mostly recovered.

Father of Truth’s armored panels began shifting again, until the familiar sight of countless black hole cannons re-emerged.

But Song Chi reacted even faster. There’s no way his ship could take a barrage from hundreds of thousands of turrets. He had to dodge.

This time, he couldn’t rely on the “Time • Game” ability to cleanly sidestep the attack.

But he could stop it before it even began.

He’d been charging up the Mythic Pulsar Energy Shield from the moment he’d entered this high-dimensional time-space. Now, Song Chi poured all that power out at once.

The Mythic Pulse Wave fired off at blinding speed—still, no matter how fast, you can’t outpace the Eye of Truth, which rivals even the Timepiece Chessboard.

Prepped in advance, Father of Truth twisted his metallic form into a wicked curve. The very next moment, a subordinate rank-seven mechanic behemoth burst out from his body.

And at Father of Truth’s command, that mech beast charged headlong toward the blazing Path of the Pulse Wave.

His intent was crystal clear. Still, Song Chi wasn’t about to give him a chance.

216 multicolored chess pieces shot from the Heavenly Ruin’s hull, instantly forming a massive illusory chessboard at the peak of this high-dimensional domain.

The Timepiece Chessboard, shaped by those 216 pieces, created a field where time itself flowed 330 times slower—every bit of that slowdown channelled entirely by Song Chi’s will.

In the next breath, the Heavenly Ruin’s own Mythic Pulse Wave surged on, completely unaffected. But Father of Truth and his summoned mechanical giant became trapped in slow motion.

The rank-seven mechanica behemoth, especially, was fully subject to the time field. Its mind, its reactions, even its movements and power transfer—everything bogged down to a crawl, 330 times slower.

The collision that should have happened never did; the gap widened instantly.

Father of Truth, farther back, realized the problem but, with his mind and body also slowed over two hundredfold, couldn’t do a thing except watch the Pulse Wave scream toward him.

The pulsed energy penetrated his bulk, megawatt frequencies shaking his entire frame. The once-frenzied dark energy inside Father of Truth instantly turned inert, killing the charge in all his latent super-cannons.

It was like a couple, after the crescendo of foreplay, suddenly interrupted by an overtime call from work—impossible to describe the mood.

Song Chi ignored all that. The silencing effect kicked in; he seized the moment and ordered both enraged enslaved beasts to attack with everything they had.

With Father of Truth’s will and reflexes slowed massively, he was nothing but a punching bag for the Ashura Emperor’s blood-red saber and the Black Devourer King Beast’s brutal, explosive attacks.

But even now, the armor constructed from Truth IV Alloy was so sturdy that the wounds seemed dramatic yet the actual damage was minimal.

“Incredible. Each rank-nine lord of the Sea of Stars is more terrifying than the last…”

Song Chi let out a soft sigh, his gaze sharpening.

He’d planned this fight for centuries. He’d always treated Father of Truth as the worst possible threat and never claimed these were his only cards.

New schemes churned in his mind. Another ship module came online.

“Mirror Image Split—Mirror Image Split!”

Buzzing waves rippled as, after more than a century, the mirrored Heavenly Ruin warship materialized again.

He wasn’t finished. Right after summoning the mirrored warship, Song Chi sent out another command.

This time, though, he controlled the mirrored ship instead of the main Heavenly Ruin.

Copy: Soul-Devourer Sacrificial Altar—activate!

Black Neutron-Star Core Armor—now upgraded to colored Neutron-Star Core Armor!

Copy: Mirage Thrusters—Mirage Shift!

Copy: Antimatter Evolution Engine—High Overload Burst!

Copy: Flamehowl Engine—Overdrive!

Copy: Hunyuan Copper Ramming Prow—Hunyuan Impact!

Copy: Elephant King Ivory Ramming Prow—Elephant King’s Wrath!

In the blink of an eye, seven modules were all engaged. The mirrored warship blurred into a streak, rocketing at Father of Truth with unstoppable momentum.

With the temporary colored Neutron-Star Core Armor, plus the natural protection of the mirrored Mythic Pulsar Energy Shield, Song Chi went for broke—he ordered the mirrored ship to trigger every boost and ram straight into Father of Truth, led by two super ramming prows, one gold, one black, with no hesitation.

Clang! Clang!

The high-dimensional space filled with deafening crashes and raw energy storms on the brink of rank-nine power.

Even with Dual Pupils, Song Chi couldn’t catch all the details instantly amidst such chaos.

But what he was sure of: the moment mirrored warship struck Father of Truth, that harsh sound of tearing metal was unmistakable.

He didn’t believe colored, rank-nine Neutron-Star Core Armor would fail so easily. And don’t forget, the Mythic Pulsar Energy Shield carried the “Wall of Legends” property—it could intercept frontal collisions, and as long as the shield held, even the armor was safe.

In short, if the mirrored hull’s armor shattered first, it would mean the shield had already overloaded. Was that likely?

The answer was clear.

With full confidence, Song Chi activated even more powerful modules.

You can’t take out a rank-nine mech overlord that easily. Even half-suppressed, its defense far surpassed most—ripping off one armor plate was only a start.

Copy: Neutron-Star Core Armor—Neutron-Star Fission!

Copy: Neutron-Star Core Armor—High-Energy Particle Storm!

Copy: Blood Spear—God of the Hunt’s Weakpoint Mark!

Copy: Black Hole Evolution Layer—Black Hole Singular Burst!

Copy: Infinite Fallen Immortal Quantum Star-Annihilator Cannon—Infinite Fallen Immortal Quantum Swordlight!

Copy: Blood Spear—Blood Judgment!

Copy: Antimatter Annihilation Cannon—Antimatter Annihilation Blast!

Copy: Divine Thunder Cannon—Ninefold Violet Heaven World-Ending Calamity Thunder!

In just two seconds, Song Chi triggered every lethal module on the mirrored ship. He was determined to take Father of Truth down in one blow.

If not, then wounding him severely would have to do.

That was the only thing on Song Chi’s mind.

Even as tough as Father of Truth was, he sensed mortal danger. Red light flashed around him, his superintelligent AI maxing out its computing power.

And the final calculation was a shock even for this lord who’d stood at rank-nine for hundreds of thousands of years.

Scarlet text flashed across the panel, a death rate so high it forced him to gamble everything.

“Eye of Truth—Source Extraction!”

As he consciously stripped the core from his colored superior relic, a ring of five-colored energy burst out, weaving a thin energy mantle around him.

This rainbow aura seemed to block the omnipotent time power from the illusionary board above, isolating him from its reach.

It didn’t give Father of Truth new attack methods, yet just escaping the slow-motion effect of the Timepiece Chessboard was exactly what Song Chi didn’t want to see.

Breaking free, Father of Truth’s first move was to activate a short-range dark energy shifter, hoping to slip away instantly.

But Song Chi had no intention of letting him escape.

The mirrored warship, still embedded in Father of Truth, suddenly shot out special chains into the void, lashing them tight around both itself and Father of Truth.

The Heaven-Binding Shackles and Bind-God Chains could only last a short time, easily corroded by the immense dark energy inside Father of Truth’s frame. But the copied Dragonblood Demon-Sealing Chains were different—upgraded to level 90 with unique features, their strength was nothing to scoff at.

Father of Truth quickly noticed. He responded in kind.

A weapon resembling the Devastator Ship-Cleaving Blade snapped from his humanoid arm, hacking mercilessly at the Dragonblood Demon-Sealing Chains.

Its edge was wicked sharp. Even the level-90 black dragon chain nearly snapped in one swing. But that delay was enough—the mirrored warship unleashed all its attacks.

First, it shrank itself into a micro neutron star, washing everything in billion-degree heat.

Even Truth IV Alloy couldn’t take such temperatures. Chunks of Father of Truth’s armor started melting almost immediately.

That was just the start—next came the particle storm, the swordlight, singularity bursts, unleashing devastating assaults one after another.

Storm after storm of rank-nine force detonated. Father of Truth’s mechanisms melted or vaporized in the blast.

Watching from afar in the control center of the Heavenly Ruin, Song Chi’s Dual Pupils shone, searching desperately through receding energy for any sign of Father of Truth.

Suddenly, his eyes shrank to pinpoints, hair standing on end—a deathly sense of crisis engulfed him.

“Backup hidden energy source—engage!”

“Dark Matter Space Cannon—Judgment of Truth—activated!”

Song Chi couldn’t tell what happened, but with his Dual Pupils he saw a vast black beam—wider than his entire ship—punch through the still-turbulent chaos ahead.

That beam of darkness lanced out so fast even a Seventh-Tier Dual Pupils could only see it in the instant he triggered a single defense.

“Angel King’s Authority Wings—Angel Wing Evasion!”

A faint ripple, and the Heavenly Ruin disappeared, warping billions of kilometers away.

But the sight that greeted him as soon as he landed was terrifying: the beam took a sharp, unnatural ninety-degree turn.

No time to think. The dark beam pivoted again and punched straight for the Heavenly Ruin.

Song Chi’s speed and calm saved him. In that split moment, he triggered one more defense.

“Black Hole Evolution Layer—Black Hole Domain!”

Pure instinct. After two thousand years as Torch Captain, he knew Neutron-Star Fission wouldn’t be enough.

Black Hole Domain snapped into place, rendering the Heavenly Ruin invincible for the moment. Still, Song Chi felt no comfort. If anything, his dread grew deeper.

—buzz—buzz—buzz—

He could barely hear anything besides that endless humming, like his ears were numb, but he didn’t panic.

The invincibility of the Black Hole Evolution Layer lasted just two seconds—that’s with the Market Projection’s boost. Without it, it would be even briefer. Even so, it wasn’t enough to block this certain kill.

Still, there was some good news. Maybe two seconds wasn’t long, but it was enough for Song Chi to teleport back to the Omniverse Market.

Just before leaving, he handed full control of the ship over to the Sky-Domain AI.

Sky-Domain AI responded fast, unleashing defenses like Neutron-Star Fission and the true spirit guard of the Angel King, but nothing stopped the attack. Even the Market Projection, with its near rank-nine strength, was pierced in a second.

The pitch-black beam met the Heavenly Ruin head-on. The Pulsar Energy Shield lasted less than a second. The micro neutron star, too. In the blink of an eye, the ship was completely destroyed.

Not even Song Chi, already at the Market, had time to trigger his divine soul mark.

But the Heavenly Ruin’s destruction didn’t stall the battle elsewhere. The high-dimensional space held firm—the mirrored warship suddenly and silently appeared right behind Father of Truth.

Boom!

A long-fused, ultimate attack—Gamma Ray Burst—fired off point-blank at the barely-holding-together Father of Truth.

Alongside it came the Black Devourer King Beast, freshly enslaved. But instead of unleashing its signature devouring energy, it raced close and self-destructed without hesitation.

Two massive explosions rocked the void. This time, there was nothing left—Father of Truth’s body shattered completely, red light in his eyes flickered out for good.

But the main focus now wasn’t on him, but the spot where the Heavenly Ruin had been vaporized.

—buzz—buzz—buzz—

Ripples swept through the space, subtle at first, then growing wild. At last a spatial rift appeared and, from within, a familiar Star-Annihilator-class Ship began to emerge.

Who else could it be but the Heavenly Ruin?

Standing atop the Heavens in the Omniverse Market, Song Chi let out a deep breath.

“I really was too naïve… Rank-nine overlords aren’t opponents you can simply scheme against… a plan centuries in the making, and I still ended up burning a use of the Nine Lives Game of Life and Death!”

He had hoped his careful planning would spare him from using that rare lifesaving trait. Reality, of course, had other plans.

The destruction of the Heavenly Ruin was real. In the end, what survived was thanks to the Nine Lives Game of Life and Death.

He shook his head, setting those thoughts aside, and returned his will to the restored Heavenly Ruin.

He muttered about the cost, but truthfully he felt little regret. Paying once with the Nine Lives Game of Life and Death for a colored superior radar module and all the resources of the Truth Floating-Land… Was that really too high a price?

Maybe he’d just wanted to keep his losses to a minimum.