Chapter 734: Schemes in Starlit Shadows

“With the power that kid’s battleship clone showed earlier, that clone module is absolutely top-tier stuff. Add in the fact he’s a Star-Annihilator-class Captain, and it won’t be long before he’s a force to be reckoned with in the chaos.”

“Alright, as long as we’re all clear on the situation. The real priority now is the ascension of the Shensia Jiuli. We need a true myth-level warship to break through our current predicament.”

“That’s right. Once the Shensia Jiuli ascends, it’ll be much easier to operate on the Chaotic Divine Land with that superb clone module. No more tiptoeing around like we do now.”

“So, have you all decided? Which three Ninth-Tier Living Floating-lands should be sacrificed?”

……

At that moment, while discussing the matter, all five Superdimensional Captains fell silent at once. A strange hush settled over the group chat.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan took the initiative to speak up:

“If we use the Demon God Floating-Land as the base and supplement it with eighty percent of the Origin Cores from three Ninth-Tier Floating-lands, that’ll push the Demon God Floating-Land right up to the threshold of the Star Continent. Once we add this module, the Shensia Jiuli’s chances of ascension will skyrocket!”

He said this as he shared a screenshot of the module’s stats in the group chat.

Life Prayer Sacrifice lv100

Quality: Colorful/Lower-Grade

Unique Trait: Life Prayer Sacrifice

Consumption: 500/s (Eon Energy Points)

Effect: Greatly boosts the warship’s internal life force by 200%, subtly prolongs the captain’s lifespan.

No need for charging or cooldown.

……

{Life Prayer Sacrifice: Consumes 50,000,000 Eon Energy Points and shatters this module completely. Draws the life force from three equally ranked or lower Living Floating-lands to help the hosting warship break through to the next tier, raising its ascension success rate by an extra 20%!}

Even after tens of thousands of years, everyone was still amazed every time they saw this module’s stats.

A 20% boost to ascension success might not sound huge, but bear in mind—this is for a Ninth-Tier being aiming for myth, and even those prepared for hundreds of thousands of years rarely hit that overall success rate.

Now a single module could provide that edge. It’s hard to overstate how precious the Life Prayer Sacrifice truly is.

Unfortunately, it’s a one-shot item. Once used, it shatters. Only the Shensia Jiuli gets to make use of its insane effect—the other Superdimensional Motherships won’t ever have that kind of luck.

Eyes drifted away from the stats screen as Ying Huang and the other three exchanged glances. At last, a decision was made.

“We’ll go with Demon Serpent, Black Serpent, and Brood Serpent Floating-lands. But after this, the Demon God Floating-Land’s territories must be split evenly among all four houses!”

With that, Ying Huang and the other two fell silent, waiting for Jiang Yuan’s final answer.

Per the original plan, aside from the designated Public Zone, the newly ascended Demon God Floating-Land would mostly be claimed by the Shensia Jiang Clan. Now, they were proposing to divide it four ways.

Jiang Yuan only hesitated a moment before nodding his agreement without complaint.

Taking eighty percent of the Origin Core from a Floating-land far exceeds what it can self-repair. While it won’t collapse immediately, it can’t really improve further and even its resources and output will take a hit.

Given that, it’s only fair to compensate the other three houses accordingly.

Once that was settled, the five quickly moved on to assigning the more detailed tasks.

Extracting the Origin Cores from three Ninth-Tier Floating-lands is no easy feat. If the Shensia Jiuli handled it alone, it’d take thousands of years. Sharing the workload meant shaving it down to a few hundred.

The end result: each person was responsible for the Floating-land they currently occupied. For instance, Ying Huang would oversee the extraction from the Demon Serpent Floating-Land.

Besides Ying Huang, Ji Emperor, and Sage Emperor, Emperor City would be watched over by Jiang Yi for now. Other fronts would be left to one or more Ninth-Tier enslaved creatures.

This did mean some fronts might be pressured—or even lost. Ninth-Tier rulers are strong, but even so, enslaved creatures just can’t compare to the combat strength of a Superdimensional Mothership.

Everyone, however, was prepared with emergency plans.

Once everything was discussed and before the sealed chamber was unlocked, Jiang Yi finally asked the lingering question.

“Ancestor Yuan—with all preparations and backup plans, what are the odds for the Shensia Jiuli this time?”

As soon as the words left his mouth all four sets of eyes turned to Jiang Yuan. Clearly, this was on everyone’s minds.

Jiang Yuan didn’t hold back. He answered honestly:

“With the Origin surge from the Demon God Floating-Land’s ascension, the Life Prayer Sacrifice, the special resource recipe, and every bit of extra resource we have, the success rate should top fifty percent.”

Hearing that, the four felt somewhat relieved. For anyone reaching for the myth tier, a fifty percent shot is phenomenal.

Still, beneath that relief, they felt only more anxious and on edge.

As the strongest conventional force of the Torch Human Civilization, even with all safeguards in place—even if the ascension failed and the Shensia Jiuli survived—it would take ages before peak fighting power returned.

And even that would come at the cost of immense weakening. Should the worst happen, the impact on Torch Civilization would be catastrophic.

After all, hundreds of billions—even trillions—of Torch citizens would face upheaval in their lives.

……

Time streamed by. In a blink, decades had passed since that post-war distribution meeting.

Within the borderlands where Torch Human Galaxy Cluster met the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon galaxy cluster.

In the pitch-black starry void, thousands of massive standardized Kunpeng-class warships surged through the spatial passage.

On a warship comm channel:

“Old He, after this round, you planning to keep at it?”

“Of course! We’re just getting started. With the new Longji Kingdom, the Wang and Song Clans are pushing hard for this second wave of interstellar migration. The pay for every round is way better than before. You’d be a fool not to cash in before the peak passes and there’s nothing left but regret!”

“That’s a bit much, don’t you think? I heard this wormhole passage leads to another entire galaxy—over 1.2 million light years across. My cousin, the Escort Ship Captain, says this whole migration plan will go on for centuries, at minimum.”

When he heard that, Old He’s face became serious. He actually started to think it over.

He did know that cousin. A real big shot—a Captain of an Escort Ship. Even the boss who organized this transport fleet made a point to show him respect every time they met.

So, when it came down to it, Old He trusted what was being said.

“Long, you didn’t get it wrong, did you?”

“Come on, you know me, Old He!”

“I also heard that the Wang and Song Clans started offering special incentives years ago, encouraging people to settle in the Dragon-Serpent Galaxy. Word is, you move, they’ll find you work, and any kids you raise there will have a chance to attend top public schools for the best education around.”

“If you ask me, Old He, you should just propose to Qin, apply to move to the Dragon-Serpent Galaxy, and lock your future in. You won’t miss out on any work, your kids get a shot at a real future, and who knows? If they’re outstanding, by the time this migration wave is over, there could be a brand-new He Family in the Dragon-Serpent Galaxy.”

……

Old He’s eyes flickered as he listened. It was clear these words genuinely swayed him.

They chatted a while longer, until Old He finally said, determined:

“Alright, once we get back, I’ll propose to Qin and migrate to the Dragon-Serpent Galaxy. But Long, you got any secret connections? Give your brother a tip.”

“No problem. Leave it to me…”

After their little talk, ‘Long’ cut the comms, his expression immediately relaxing.

“Twenty-fifth one—secured. And from the looks in the others’ eyes during that chat, there might be even more to snag next time.”

With that, he sent a task completion report from his Quantum Comms Wristband to the lead Kunpeng transport ship at the head of the fleet.

All of this was orchestrated by the Song Family in secrecy. Whether it was him, the boss, or even that captain cousin, they were all just cogs in the plan. And it wasn’t just this fleet—they were targeting thousands of Longji Kingdom citizens connected to them by trade.

In fact, in recent years, the Song Family of Longji had mobilized millions just like them.

And the reason? To develop the entire Dragon-Serpent Galaxy faster and more efficiently.

It’s true—the Song Family could develop a galaxy 1.3 million light years across alone. But that would take tens—if not hundreds—of thousands of years. Far too slow.

Don’t forget: Torch Human Civilization itself has only existed for barely thirty thousand years! For an up-and-coming power, time is everything.

That’s why giving up some trivial profits and rallying the whole kingdom’s people to work together, with the Song Family pocketing the lion’s share, is the perfect strategy.

In fact, this has always been the Song Family’s guiding principle.

But after winning an entire medium-large galaxy at once, policy alone wasn’t enough. They had to send agents out to nudge things along from the shadows.

And truth be told, after decades, it really paid off.

The Song Family moved nearly a billion of their own, and public citizens topped a hundred billion. Granted, that’s a drop in the bucket for a galaxy over 1.2 million light years wide, but it’s progress that can’t be denied.

To the Song Family’s leaders, just give it a few more centuries, and the Dragon-Serpent Galaxy will truly come alive.

Chipan Galaxy. Longji Kingdom. Dragon-Spine Continent.

It had been twenty years since the Song Family of Longji led the founding of Longji Kingdom, with the Luo Clan at their side, carving out a realm between the Chipan and Dragon-Serpent Galaxies.

And in those twenty years, the Song name had echoed throughout the Torch Civilization’s territory.

But not because of Longji Kingdom itself. Over the past few decades, the Four Empires and Torch Judgement Court had received plenty of new kingdom and duchy applications.

In fact, since the War of Civilization ended less than a century ago, the number of kingdoms ballooned from just over a hundred to one hundred sixty—and it’ll probably keep climbing for millennia.

Among so many new states, Longji Song Family shouldn’t have stood out.

But the reason was clear: the Song Family’s achievements.

That colossal reward from a few decades ago shocked people and factions alike. Add in the Song Family’s earlier lucky break, and they’ve been the focus of endless attention.

……

Dragon-Spine Continent. Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain. Dragon Whale Hall.

Deep in the Chaotic Mist sat several figures, each upon a Starry Throne or Golden Throne.

Judging by their features, only Song Shiyuan at the head of the hall was physically present—everyone else was a projection.

But that didn’t hinder the conversation at all.

“That’s the update from the Dragon-Serpent Galaxy. Any suggestions? Speak freely!”

“The migration’s still too slow. Can we push for even faster interstellar colonization?”

“I’m afraid we can’t. Even after we finished the Longji Continent transfer, we boosted birth rates across the Chipan Galaxy, but all these are brand new Living Floating-lands—not like those transformed for centuries back in Morningstar. Death rates for Torch citizens are high, and overall pop in Chipan just barely tops a trillion now.”

“This is as fast as we can expand while keeping population growth sustainable. Any faster, and our numbers will shrink.”

“What about our own Song clansmen? The Dragon-Serpent Galaxy is massive—ten billion isn’t remotely enough.”

“The order to boost clan numbers went out when we took Chipan, didn’t it?”

“Back then, we didn’t expect to gain another whole galaxy. We only raised it from ten billion to twenty billion—half of whom have since relocated.”

From the Starry Throne at the center, Song Wujian spoke up:

“Two galaxies—and in name, we own the entire Dragon-Serpent Galaxy. Even if we only claim the richest 600,000–700,000 light years or so, twenty billion isn’t enough. Let’s raise the clan population cap to sixty billion!”

“Understood. I’ll send out the instructions. With twenty billion already, growing from here shouldn’t take long!”

“And we still need more citizens. The Chipan Galaxy could handle tens of trillions, not just a single trillion. Only large populations drive real prosperity.”

……

After wrapping up discussion on Chipan and Dragon-Serpent, the topic shifted to other galaxies in the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon cluster.

Song Shiyuan said:

“Thanks to years of talks with other Immortal Houses, we’ve consolidated all our scattered holdings in other galaxies into the Copper Serpent and Spirit Serpent Galaxies.”

“The Copper Serpent Galaxy is home to the Misty Swamp and snakefolk. We control 30,000 light years there; Spirit Serpent is bigger, over 100,000 light years, and includes the Young Serpent Floating-Land.”

“Alongside this reshuffling, we managed to grab a few plots of land in six more galactic capitals. The local powers agreed to add them to the Public Zone. We’ll be able to build trading cities there and rake in future profits.”

……

Vrrrr-vrrrr-vrrrr!

As discussions buzzed through Dragon Whale Hall, the dull roar of engines suddenly broke the silence. Moments later, a figure pierced the Chaotic Mist and entered the main hall.

Seeing who it was, Song Chi’s hologram broke into a grin:

“Hahaha, big bro—did you seal the deal?”

Song Yan, just stepping into the hall, shook his head helplessly:

“Seal what deal? I haven’t even met them yet.”

Song Chi’s laughter grew even louder at that.

He understood completely—not just Song Yan, but he’d been plagued by the same issue for decades.

Fame brought guests with it. Over the years, old powers and ancient houses sent emissaries straight to their doorstep.

Those captains only wanted one of two things: to negotiate wormhole construction or, just as likely, to discuss marriage alliances.

Most interest was in Song Yan—the only unmarried Star-Annihilator-class Captain among the four leaders of the Song Family in Longji. The old powers even sent bosses themselves, all to probe his marital intentions.

Song Chi was second only to him.

You’d think having a wife would shield him, but the major houses all understood where the Song Family’s true potential lay. Even with repeated refusals, they pursued indirect approaches.

“I hear King Qiongyu’s younger sister is as brilliant as she is beautiful. Our Immortal Qin’s Xiang Clan is quite… interested…”

“Out on the warfront, my grandniece fought side-by-side with King Qiongyu’s son—they survived life and death together…”

Song Chi had heard talk like this endlessly over the years. He was so fed up he eventually hid away, blaming it on closed-door cultivation.

He actually used to care—Song Ting was getting older, and as her brother, he wanted her to marry well. But when he asked her outright, even after she’d calmed down over the years, her reaction was still extreme.

As for Song Hanyu, he wasn’t interested in the matter for now—so that plan was shelved as well.

……

“Xiao Yan, the Clan Elder won’t force you, but it really is time to think about this. Once you take Guiding Technique to the eighth tier, your chances for children will only drop!”

“I know, Elder. Don’t worry, I’ve got this!”

But unwilling to dwell on it, Song Yan immediately changed the subject:

“By the way, the battleship clone module on the Scorching Sea Blazer has finished its cooldown. Are we still collecting time energy?”

Song Shiyuan nodded quickly.

“Absolutely. I checked on the Shedding of the Heaven-Devouring Python a few days ago and it’s at 89%—not far from complete transformation. We need to keep pushing.”

“Alright, let’s prep. Have Xiaochi take us there again. The Eight-Armed Serpent Demon teams have tried this forbidden zone several times but still can’t even get close. They won’t interfere again for a while.”

Compared to Song Wujian and the other two, Song Chi had never stopped exploring the River of Time Ruins over these past decades.

With the Timepiece Chessboard’s evolution requiring vast amounts of Source of Time, he’d spent decades scouring the ruins—and collected quite a bit. Still, it wasn’t quite enough for a full transformation.

Over time, he’d noticed a pattern: the faster time flowed, the more likely he was to find Source of Time. Slow areas were mostly barren.

So he gave up on the outer edges, saving himself a lot of wasted effort. Now, after tens of years, he’d almost reached the heart of the ruins.

“Let’s clear out the last of the core today. Hopefully there’s a surprise in store…”

After dropping the elders at the usual time collection zone and summoning the battleship clone, the three returned to the Market to begin another sweep.

As for Song Chi, his mirrored warship had stayed parked in the heart of the River of Time Ruins. He resumed his exploration from where he’d left off.

Vrrrr-vrrrr-vrrrr!

Channeling his mind, he engaged the mirrored warship’s engines and set off on a fresh foray.

But by now, it was clear—the engines were sputtering. Song Chi knew that meant serious damage.

Even with a replica Timepiece Chessboard, the mirrored warship was inevitably succumbing to time’s irreversible corrosion.

In these deepest reaches of the River of Time Ruins, time already moves nearly ten million times faster than outside…