Chapter 750: Storm Hunt in the Shadowed Void Sea

Song Chi wasn’t one to waver. Once he set his mind on something, he’d act on it without hesitation.

Amid thunderous roars, the Heavenly Ruin—now condensed to just over two hundred meters long—blasted straight out through the dark energy barrier overhead, vanishing into the depths of the eerie Void Sea.

……

Time slipped by. In a flash, two years had passed.

Deep within the shadowed side of the Void Sea, the Heavenly Ruin surged ahead like a ghost threading through darkness.

With help from the Three Realms Five Elements Medallion—an unrivaled stealth component—the Heavenly Ruin blended seamlessly into the shadowed void. It swept forward in utter silence.

Every now and then, it barreled through void gale winds, chaos storms, even dimensional rifts, yet nothing along the way could cause the warship much trouble.

The Heavenly Ruin had changed. Ever since installing the advanced Void Vault hundreds of years ago, its spatial resistance had reached new heights. As long as it didn’t run into a once-in-ten-thousand-years superstorm, Song Chi could sail freely through the void without concern.

Inside the Ship’s Control Room, ripples of space shimmered—and Song Chi appeared out of thin air.

After his return from the Omniverse Market, Song Chi barely paused. He guided the Heavenly Ruin to change course, punching up the speed.

Over the last two years, he’d fought a dozen battles across the Shadow Side, but none of them particularly grand. The best haul was killing two Seventh-Tier Void Demons, and after tallying all his minor spoils, he’d managed to collect only five Seventh-Tier Void Crystals.

But the Cultivation Sanctuary demanded a flood of high-rank Void Crystals. Five wouldn’t even be enough for a single round of acceleration—still far from what was needed.

Low-rank Void Crystals—Sixth-Tier and below—were plentiful. But now that his No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang had evolved to gold status and reached level 80, those lower-rank crystals barely made a dent.

So for two years he’d dotted the Shadow Side with traps and left a few enslaved fifth- and Sixth-Tier Void Demons to keep watch. Just now, one of those guardians sent word—something big had taken the bait.

A horde of Void Demons was converging at the trap.

That was why Song Chi had rushed out of the Market so quickly.

“No good. Too slow…”

Listening in real-time to the Sixth-Tier Void Demon, Song Chi realized the demon swarm had started to see through the deception and looked ready to leave.

“Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl—Mirage” activate!

As the familiar power awoke, one of the ship’s jump modules kicked in right behind it.

Ignoring the threat of the dense howling void winds, the Heavenly Ruin forced a jump tunnel open, even here in the unstable depths of the Shadow Void.

Once the ship plunged inside, the absence of its stabilizing force fields left the jump tunnel exposed—void winds tore into it almost immediately.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Barely two seconds after the Heavenly Ruin entered, the jump channel collapsed in a thunderous crash.

The resulting spatial storm chased the ship along what was left of the tunnel. It was only the Ruin’s insane speed that kept it ahead—if it ever got caught, the trouble would be unimaginable.

Of course, this was only true if Song Chi didn’t activate the Antimatter Evolution Engine’s phase shift.

If he used that special trait, the Heavenly Ruin would become incorporeal. No matter how vicious the spatial storm, it wouldn’t leave a scratch on the hull.

But Song Chi kept that move as a last resort. Unless it came to do-or-die, he wouldn’t gamble it lightly.

“Antimatter Evolution Engine—High Overload Burst!”

“Flamehowl Engine—Overdrive!”

Both engines thundered to life, overclocked to their limits. The already blinding ship rocketed forward while the storm behind finally began to fall away.

Then, in the far distance, a crack appeared. The Ruin dove through, bursting out at the jump’s endpoint.

Even with all that spatial turbulence in its wake, not even the million-strong demon swarm in the distance noticed a thing.

Song Chi’s eyes flicked to the Three Realms Five Elements Medallion, agleam with brilliance.

The Mirage effect could disguise most jump activity, but in that horde, there was a demon lord at the eighth rank—mere illusion would never be enough.

A jump storm that size couldn’t stay hidden without the colored, top-tier Medallion, not to mention fooling an eighth-grade demon lord lurking nearby.

With the guidance of the Sixth-Tier Void Demon he commanded, Song Chi soon locked eyes on the terrifying presence of the Eighth-Tier demon lord. In this deeply attuned environment, the demon’s oppressive aura bore down on him like nothing before.

He had a gut feeling—even that Ashura Emperor, strong as he was at his peak, couldn’t match just how dangerous this Eighth-Tier demon lord felt.

But if anyone thought Song Chi would shrink back now, they were dead wrong.

Chhk—

The warship’s hatch slid open, and the Ashura Emperor, blood-red sabre in hand, shot out, eager for battle.

That was hardly all. This was enemy turf, and the Ashura Emperor, though half a step into the ninth rank, hadn’t yet consolidated his strength. Relying on him alone was risky.

As for the Heavenly Ruin itself, Song Chi had no intention of sending the ship’s main body into a brawl. It wasn’t a lack of faith in the hull’s firepower—just that he was deep in the Shadow Side now. This was the ship’s true body; recklessness could be fatal.

“A lord’s treasures shouldn’t risk ruin in the halls of danger.”

Far safer to sacrifice a silver oddity than gamble his real self.

Brilliant golden light filled the control room as purple mist energy poured out from the golden token in Song Chi’s hands, swirling into a dense halo outside the hull.

Violent void winds tried to shred the purple mist, but it stood unmoving, utterly unshaken.

Deep in the mist’s core, a vast spectral realm hovered, its presence the true heart of this defensive field.

Then, in the Omniverse Market’s phantom projection, a colossal purple mist palm formed. Joined by the fully unleashed Ashura Emperor and his blood-red sabre, it launched at the Eighth-Tier demon lord ahead of them.

The Purple Mist Palm.

The Timeblade Saber Light.

Both attacks brimming with the might of half-step Ninth-Tier power—even before they landed, the Eighth-Tier void lord was scared witless.

An Eighth-Tier peak demon lord could wield power close to the half-step ninth, at least here in the void’s shadowed depths. But only thanks to the perfect environment and its incredible spatial affinity—meeting that kind of attack head-on was out of the question.

On pure instinct the demon tried to fade into the void, but several black dragonbone chains had already slipped out from the shadows, lashing tight around its limbs.

These chains, saturated with Dragonblood Demon-Sealing power, possessed special properties. Even when the void demon lord fought back using near-Rule Master level spatial laws, they held, buying enough time to ruin its escape.

That one instant lost its last hope of dodging.

Swish! Swish!

Together, the purple palm and saber light slammed home—the palm struck its shadowy chest, while the bloody light carved straight through both twisted red horns atop its head.

A brilliant flash of blood-red carved the dark void, mingled with a fierce, agonized howl.

It was none other than the Eighth-Tier void lord shrieking—its crimson spiral horns chopped clean off by the Ashura Chronosaber.

Among Void Demons, those horns weren’t just ornamental: they symbolized power and rank, serving as the source for channeling spatial law. Now severed, the loss crippled the demon’s strength.

Of course, Song Chi hadn’t intended a killing blow; otherwise, that saber would’ve split its weaker neck instead.

His goal was clear: to enslave this Eighth-Tier peak Void Demon.

Odds were, he’d join the coming assault on the Ancient Broodmother. Having another stealthy Eighth-Tier demon slave could only make things safer.

Besides, an Eighth-Tier Void Demon gifted in space would be invaluable when exploring the Immortal Continent Ruins.

Once the pact was forged, he could even swap this demon out for the Mirror Warship, sending it to scout the ruins in his place.

For over 300 years now, the Mirror Warship had been working the ruins side. Without it, he never would’ve risked sending out the true Heavenly Ruin this time.

Truth be told, life was much harder without the mirror running backup. Letting the true ship act personally always made Song Chi uneasy.

And if the Ancients Broodmother’s swarm raid really came through—and if he did subdue this void demon—he could deploy the mirror instead of putting himself at risk.

Roar!

The demon’s bellow snapped Song Chi back. Even hornless, it was still an Eighth-Tier lifeform—anyone thinking it was finished would be sorely mistaken.

Song Chi didn’t get careless. He quickly gathered dark energy and channeled it into the Torch Ancestral Orifice between his brows.

Deep inside, beyond the Black Torch Seed, the immaterial Dragon Whale Hall shimmered to life under his will.

“Dragon Whale Shrine!”

Streams of tricolored radiance pulsed through the shadowed void, forming an ethereal, majestic shrine.

He hadn’t called the spectral Dragon Whale Hall to shield his ship. Instead, at Song Chi’s command, the projection appeared directly above the Eighth-Tier void demon’s head.

A crushing force crashed down, keeping the demon lord pinned and powerless.

No sooner had the demon escaped the Dragonblood Chains than it was boxed in by a second prison.

Meanwhile, the Ashura Emperor and the Omniverse Market projection pressed their attack, carving wound after wound—never killing, but wearing the demon’s strength down.

Only when the demon was truly spent and beaten did Song Chi pull back.

Yet he didn’t rush to activate the Celestial Authority Ring to complete the pact. Instead, he had the Ashura Emperor drag the battered demon, still unconscious, back to the Ruin.

Inside the ship, the Ashura Emperor tossed the Eighth-Tier demon into the pocket dimension spawned by the Void Vault.

That auxiliary realm had always served as the Ruin’s cellblock. Now, using it to detain an Eighth-Tier demon left Song Chi completely at ease.

With that handled, his focus turned again to the million-strong mob of Void Demons ahead.

Between the Market projection, Ashura Emperor, and the swiftly fading Dragon Whale Shrine, the commotion he’d caused was massive. He already knew, from another enslaved Sixth-Tier, that this swarm served a Ninth-Tier demon lord. Song Chi was well aware—he had precious little time left before disaster struck.

“Frosted Void Prison—Frosted Void Cage!”

With that gold-grade void-sealing component activated, the panicked demon horde was locked in place, unable to escape.

This was the best moment to make his move.

“Neutron-Star Core Armor—Neutron-Star Fission!”

“Neutron-Star Core Armor—High-Energy Particle Storm!”

“Divine Thunder Cannon—Ten-Thousand Sigil Violet Lightning Prison!”

“Infinite Fallen Immortal Quantum Star-Annihilator Cannon—Fallen Immortal Sword Formation: Ten Thousand Swords As One!”

Almost at once, every wide-area attack system on the Heavenly Ruin activated in unison.

Floods of high-energy particles, violet thunder, and blazing quantum swords swept through the cage, tearing the demon swarm apart.

In mere moments, over ninety-nine percent of the horde was wiped out. Only a handful—thirty or so Seventh-Tier demon lords, plus a dozen lucky sixth-ranks—survived.

Even gold-ranked cages can’t last under such bombardment. Just as the last fifty-odd demons fled in joy, another flash of gold from the Ruin smothered their hope once and for all.

But truth be told, there were two golden flashes.

The Pusa Zen Seal’s “Time Acceleration” only worked inside the Ruin, invisible to outsiders; the visible gold came from the once-more-cooled Frosted Void Cage.

Song Chi then summoned the Starsea Giant Ape and the Flamewrath Giant, and—alongside the Ashura Emperor—the few lucky survivors were quickly slaughtered.

Faced with piles of demon corpses, Song Chi might have groaned in the past. Yet with “Void Storage” now available, he could collect the bodies of powerful demons by sheer will, warping them directly into the pocket dimension.

He targeted mainly Fourth-Tier and above. After all, using Void Storage burned through a lot of Eon Energy Points, even if it didn’t require cooldown.

As for the scraps—the weak demon corpses—he just left the Abyssal Devil and its army to gather whatever they could manage.

Ten minutes later, the frosted prison overhead shuddered violently, cracks blossoming across its weakest points.

Not wasting a second, Song Chi ordered all remaining minions to retreat to the ship.

Thanks to careful planning, most minions were still nearby and quickly returned.

Once over eighty percent were back, Song Chi vanished from the ship’s control center.

Omniverse Market. As soon as he appeared, Song Chi triggered his Divine Soul Mark.

Way back in the Shadow Side, a Ninth-Tier void demon struck again, slashing with a Void Blade.

A heartbeat later, a terrible crack echoed through space.

Craack!

Just two blows, and the Frosted Void Cage shattered completely.

With the protective barrier gone, the Ninth-Tier void demon surveyed the battlefield at a glance.

Not a single Void Demon survived. Even with fifty thousand years behind it, the demon lord couldn’t hide a flicker of confusion.

Then blood-red light blazed in its eyes. It stepped forward, space law swirling around its body—almost touching the ultimate path. The very next instant, it crossed billions of kilometers, materializing right above the Heavenly Ruin.

Shhk!

A shard of icy blade-light ripped across the ship’s triple-shielded barrier.

Even though Song Chi was far away in the Market and not physically aboard, the alert chill in his bones was unmistakable.

“Warning: external super-energy impact detected. Ship’s energy shield at 18%!”

The Ruin had never entered direct combat before. In one strike, the Ninth-Tier void demon dropped its shield by eighty-two percent.

And this wasn’t the old Yin-Yang Counter-Phase Shield, but a real, top-tier Mythic Pulsar Energy Shield—already at level ninety.

That thought made Song Chi’s mind race.

‘At least peak Ninth-Tier…’

Without hesitation, he had the Sky-Domain AI power up the Black Hole Domain.

A peak Ninth-Tier monster, blood-thirsty and glass-cannon as Void Demons were, could easily explode with power rivaling godlike beings.

No way Song Chi could feel at ease with that on his tail.

What he’d left behind wasn’t just a decoy—it was the Heavenly Ruin’s real body.

“Whew, that was close!”

As the retrieval beam flashed across endless void and the Ruin reappeared above the Market, Song Chi let out a relieved breath.

Luckily he’d already activated the remote retrieval function from the Tome of Divine Will, not giving the Ninth-Tier demon another chance to strike.

Moments later, the Heavenly Ruin’s dark light returned to the Market.

Song Chi stayed half a day, sorting through the bounty he’d stashed in the ship’s hold.

Though the withdrawal was rushed, the harvest was bountiful—over six hundred thousand corpses collected from the million-strong demon swarm.

These weren’t just crystals; their blood reserves were valuable, too.

Only demons of fourth rank or higher yielded true blood essence, but even so, over ten thousand such bodies meant enormous wealth.

With that, he turned the caches over to his clan for processing and headed back out.

At just over forty, the Seventh-Tier Void Crystals still weren’t enough. More hunting lay ahead.

This time, though, he struck out in the opposite direction, using Space Jumper and the Scarlet Vault Jump Drive to evade any pursuit. Not even the Ninth-Tier void demon could catch up soon. Only then did he resume the hunt.

Eight years remained before the Qin Yue Trading House’s operation. Song Chi planned to spend that entire time culling Void Demons, stockpiling crystals for the Cultivation Sanctuary.

……

Ship’s Control Room. The Void Vault chamber.

“Celestial Authority Ring—Enslavement Mark.”

A trail of black light flashed from the Vault, surging into the pocket dimension.

After a pause, with no result, Song Chi realized the first attempt to enslave the demon had failed.

He’d expected as much, and tried again.

Failure again.

A third time, still no luck.

……

“Whew, worthy of a peak Eighth-Tier skullcracker…”

Song Chi let out a wry grin.

It took nearly two hundred tries, but he succeeded at last. Yet no matter the effort, a win was a win—he now had a new Eighth-Tier demon slave.

Alongside the Ashura Emperor and two Starsea Giant Apes, his roster gained another powerhouse. Reason enough to smile.

But he had another task to finish first.

He tossed a Genesis Creation Pill to the just-awoken demon, then sent it to the Life-System Medical Repair Pod for a full recovery.

With the twin horns gone, the demon’s strength was shackled. If he wanted it to replace the Mirror Warship one day, he’d have to restore those horns first. Without them, its true Eighth-Tier power would never shine.