Chapter 749: The Armored Dawn: Seeking Light in the Sea of Stars

Song Bei’s gaze lingered on the Starsea Giant Ape and the eruption site of the Floating-land Origin, scanning them several times. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned to leave.

A moment later, he caught a sudden flash of movement from the corner of his eye, startling him to his core. Instinctively, sixth-grade dark energy swirled around him, a ghostly light flaring between his brows. His first reflex was to summon his command ship.

After all, this was the heart of the cultivation base—the most secure place of all. Song Bei himself was a sixth-grade, bolstered by Dual Pupils. For someone to slip by unnoticed here was no trick an ordinary being could pull off.

But then, catching a clear glimpse of the figure beside him, he froze mid-movement.

“Chi, what are you doing here? Couldn’t you give me a heads up next time? You nearly scared me to death!”

At his side, Song Chi beamed, clearly amused by how thoroughly he’d startled Song Bei.

“The Heavenly Ruin has reached the limits of seventh-grade. I thought I’d stop by to see if there’s any news on resources for the next phase.”

Song Bei considered it briefly, then shook his head.

“It’s tough. Resources that work for ascending to Star River-class are already rare. Now that Torch Civilization is growing stronger than ever, plenty of Star-Annihilator Captains are trying to make the leap. Even if such resources show up, they’re snatched up quick at sky-high prices.”

Song Chi, who hadn’t really expected a miracle, smoothly changed the subject.

“How’s the setup here at the cultivation base?”

“Not bad. Over eighty percent of the Heavenly Stargrass is already receiving nourishment from Clear Emerald Spring. Their base essence has improved across the board. Once Demon God Floating-Land reaches tenth-grade and the energy tides surge, at least thirty percent of the Stargrass should complete five hundred years of evolution. Around ten percent will reach a thousand years, and maybe half again as much will hit three thousand.”

Song Bei felt that was decent, but Song Chi clearly thought otherwise.

“Way too low. Even with Superior Heavenly Stargrass, you’re only guaranteeing half survive. What about higher-tier Celestial Stargrass? Are you telling me we’ll be lucky to get one in a hundred?”

“Uncle Xuancang’s about to break through, and I’ll need buckets of Starbody Refinement Elixir once my Guiding Technique hits eighth-grade. We must ensure steady output of Celestial Stargrass!”

Song Bei looked more than a little troubled at that.

“It can’t be helped. This is our best. The output of Clear Emerald and Azure Spirit Springs is so tiny that a single drop per Stargrass is already pushing the limit. Any more, and most of our stock won’t get any at all.”

At that, both fell silent.

Of all people, Song Chi knew best just how little output they could expect from Clear Emerald and Azure Spirit Springs.

Azure Spirit Spring had been discovered while exploring a fragment of the Immortal Domain Continent, while Clear Emerald Spring was the fluke find of a second-grade clansman two centuries ago out in the Outer Domain.

Both springs were promptly sent into the Cultivation Sanctuary, where time was endlessly accelerated to push out every drop they could.

But time was still limited, and the number of Stargrass they were nurturing was staggering. There was no way to keep up.

Song Chi’s mind was spinning as he searched for any solution.

After all, once he hit eighth-grade, Guiding Technique would only get tougher. Blood-Flesh Lingzhi from Evil Buddha Continent capped at seventh-grade, and without it, cultivation would be a painful slog. He needed a brand-new replacement.

That’s where Starbody Refinement Elixir came in—the substitute he’d settled on. He couldn’t afford mistakes.

“Does our clan have any advanced Void Crystals in reserve right now?”

“We do, but not many!”

“Alright, send someone back to Dragon-Spine Continent to bring them here. I’ll head to the Market myself.”

Hearing Song Chi’s command, Song Bei hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.

“What, is there something else?”

Song Bei had almost pointed out that Song Chi could return to Dragon-Spine via the Omniverse Market—far faster than anyone else. But thinking it over, he guessed Song Chi had his reasons and kept quiet.

Before going downstairs to arrange things, he handed Song Chi the expensive neutron star wreckage he’d scraped up over the years from Demon God Floating-Land.

He also received another order from Song Chi.

“Mobilize every Shadow Division member on Demon God Floating-Land. Focus all efforts on gathering resources for Star-Annihilator-class ships advancing to Star River-class.”

They’d talked about this before—such resources were scarce in the trading cities here—but as Song Chi put it:

Demon God Floating-Land’s public zones were enormous, with the Four Torch Empires, top forces, and untold numbers of civilian captains. Who knew what they’d find?

Besides, it’d be five more years before Qin Yue Trading House replied. Might as well take their chances now.

Song Bei didn’t object and left quickly to carry out the plan.

As for those ancient civilization ruins mentioned earlier, he didn’t ask further.

The clan was swamped, Song Chi was about to break through, and Demon God Floating-Land itself was on the verge of ascension. They were all too busy for now, but once things calmed down, those ruins would become a real priority.

……

Omniverse Market, high above the Heavens.

The Heavenly Ruin, back in its standard form of nearly twenty thousand kilometers, floated in place. In the ship’s control room, wave after wave of neutron star wreckage fused steadily into the hull, filling the cabin with a flicker of eternal darkness.

When that darkness finally faded, Song Chi saw the source of all this transformation once again.

Neutron-Star Core Armor lv90

Quality: Black (99/100)

Song Chi’s gaze shifted from the attribute panel. He tossed in another piece of neutron star wreckage.

Despite both Demon Serpent and Demon God Floating-Lands yielding little lately, Song Chi had already built up a hefty stash. On top of that, the Market and Red Star Continent were also sending in more. He still had plenty on hand.

As the crucial piece fused, another wave of eternal darkness swept the warship—this time, though, faint tricolored radiance shimmered between pulses.

No one knew how much time passed before both lights faded. When Song Chi looked back at the Neutron-Star Core Armor, the piece was gleaming with tricolored hues.

Neutron-Star Core Armor lv90

Quality: Colorful/Lower

Trait: Neutron-Star Fission

Trait 2: Neutron-Star Core Pulse

Trait 3: Armor protection increased by 410%

Trait 4: Neutron Link

Trait 5: High-Energy Particle Storm

Trait 6: Dual Armor

Trait 7: Gamma Ray Burst

Consumption: 8,000/s (Eon Energy Points)

Protection: 14.5 trillion

……

“Just as expected. Like with the Mirror Warship’s ascension, trait 7 is ‘Gamma Ray Burst’ too…”

Song Chi scanned the panel one more time, finally lingering on its Quality.

The hull armor had finally advanced to colorful quality, and Song Chi was genuinely delighted. But what he cared about even more was the Neutron-Star Core Armor’s potential.

Could the Neutron-Star Core Armor evolve further?

Colorful armor was impressive, but above this lower tier were higher grades—upper and pinnacle. Did the Neutron-Star Core Armor have a shot at reaching them? That question now preoccupied him.

He still had three more pieces of neutron star wreckage left.

“Phew!”

Song Chi took a deep breath and threw in another, his gaze locked on the armor component.

Once more, tricolored radiance flared inside the ship—it was easily the most breathtaking spectacle Song Chi had ever witnessed.

A faint chuckle escaped him in the Heavenly Ruin’s control room.

If the armor could keep fusing neutron star wreckage, that meant its evolution wasn’t done yet.

Suppressing his excitement, Song Chi merged the final two pieces, then checked the attribute panel again.

Neutron-Star Core Armor lv90

Quality: Colorful/Lower (3/300)

……

“Three hundred pieces, huh… damn…”

Song Chi rubbed his forehead, torn between joy and exasperation.

Even getting those first hundred had taken ages. Who knew how long three hundred would take to gather?

Still, at least the armor could reach the upper colorful grade in the future, and that was what really mattered.

He’d seen plenty of lower colorful hull armor at this tier, but none could match the Neutron-Star Core Armor. No exaggeration—it truly was top-tier.

As far as Song Chi was concerned, as long as this ultimate hull armor could keep up, he had no reason to swap it out. Now that its minimum was upper colorful, he finally felt relieved.

That meant he wouldn’t need to upgrade his prime hull armor for a long, long while.

……

After dealing with the armor, Song Chi’s attention shifted, using the control room’s main display to look beyond the market’s energy shield above.

His plan for solving the spring issue was simple: since the output of Azure Spirit and Clear Emerald Springs kept falling short, it was time to accelerate their generation even more.

The “Sanctuary Accelerator” effect in No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang couldn’t be pushed any further. But there was still one way: dump even more time-boosting resources inside.

With enough advanced Void Crystals fueling it, the sanctum’s time flow would surge ahead.

That was Song Chi’s target—a plan he’d tried several times before.

He’d dive into the shadow side of the Void Sea once again to hunt down more advanced Void Demons.