Chapter 416: The Black Core’s Temptation

Song Chi’s reaction was lightning fast—no hesitation at all. The moment he got his hands on the antimatter source the Heavenly Ruin shot toward the outer rim at full speed.

But no matter how fast he went, it was never as fast as the way his shield values were dropping without an energy shield.

The warship had barely raced tens of thousands of meters before the Immortal‑Realm Five‑Element Omnishield finally overloaded completely.

As the shield overloaded, those terrifying forces of shearing and compression hit the Neutron‑Star Core Armor and the hull directly.

Crrrunch!

Metal groaned and twisted as the ship was squeezed. Right on cue, Qiongtian AI’s warning sounded out in his mind.

“Warning: Due to intense external compression and tearing, warship armor integrity down 23%. Immediate repairs required!”

“Warning: …Warship armor integrity down 38%. Hull integrity down 10%. Immediate repairs required!”

In the blink of an eye, the armor had lost more than half its integrity, and over a fifth of the hull was damaged too.

Just as Song Chi was considering whether to activate the Last Aegis component’s special ability, the damage rate eased, balancing out against the Neutron‑Star Core Pulse’s self‑repair. That was enough for him to refrain from activating Last Aegis just yet.

Its cooldown was no joke—five years minimum, even with Zen Seal · Internal · Time Acceleration cutting that down, it would still take a year. And right now the time acceleration trait had just been used, so he’d need to wait ten more days to trigger it again.

With that in mind, Song Chi’s attention soon shifted.

Instead of focusing on the big stash of antimatter, his thoughts circled around that fleeting glimpse he had earlier.

No matter how hard he tried to recall it, he was sure he hadn’t imagined things. That flash was real.

But what on earth would glow with such deep black radiance?

And what could survive in the black hole’s very core, enduring such dreadful crushing and tearing forces? Whatever it was, it couldn’t possibly be ordinary.

Could it be…?

Suddenly, an idea hit him like lightning—‘Starsea Treasures’.

That was the only explanation he could think of. Only a treasure of the very highest caliber could survive in a black hole’s central region for countless millennia.

Still, up to this point, he’d never even heard of a ship component that glowed with such black light.

The highest grade treasures he’d ever heard of were the legendary Yaoguang Star Tower’s Civilization Wall and gold-tier Saint Domain Treasures.

He flicked his thoughts and summoned the Yaoguang Star Order from his Torch Ancestral Orifice, ready to use the Star Order group chat to ask about grades above gold-tier Saint Domain.

But after hesitating, he didn’t send the message. In Yaoguang Star Tower, the group’s opinion of his identity was already fairly established.

He was seen as a direct descendant from a prominent Family.

It wasn’t intentional on his part, but he didn’t want to suddenly break that image he’d built.

He shifted his gaze to the Yang·Tongxin Pendant—asking Shen Youran through the Yin‑Yang Connection trait was definitely the better move.

As a member of the Northern Firmament Prince’s Manor, and now Fourth-Tier, Shen Youran’s status might not be considered top-tier inside the Shen Family, but she wasn’t low either. She’d definitely understand how Starsea Treasures were graded.

“Youran, do you know if there are grades above gold-tier Saint Domain treasures? Like… the colored mythic ones?”

Shen Youran replied in no time.

“Far as I know, there’s actually a grade in between gold Saint Domain and colored mythic. It’s called Black Supreme.”

…

“I knew it!”

Reading her reply, Song Chi’s eyes shone with excitement.

A Black Supreme component—that perfectly matched his earlier glimpse, confirming his guess.

Just imagining a treasure more precious than gold-tier Saint Domain by ten or even a hundred times waiting in the black hole’s core, his heart couldn’t stay calm.

The idea of grabbing the antimatter and fleeing was long gone. With a possible Black Supreme treasure within reach, there was no way he’d just let it go.

Still, even in his excitement, Song Chi’s brows soon knit together.

That flash of black light he’d glimpsed was far from the spot where he’d collected the antimatter.

It had pushed his ship to the limit just to get the antimatter, leaving him with a battered hull.

Obviously, with the Heavenly Ruin’s current setup, going after a Black Supreme treasure on his own was basically wishful thinking.

Unless… the Heavenly Ruin got a full upgrade.

The words ‘full upgrade’ instantly brought one thing to mind—Yin‑Yang Counter‑Phase Annihilation Shield.

That gold component wasn’t just better than the current Immortal‑Realm Five‑Element Omnishield; paired with the Neutron‑Star Core Pulse, it would provide a huge boost.

Its Two‑Modes Damage Reduction trait was utterly different from the Five Element Cycle trait. The former reduced all external energy-based damage, while the latter only worked on five-element energies. In fact, inside the black hole, the five-element trait had been useless.

The more he thought, the sharper his eyes grew.

As long as he swapped in the Yin‑Yang Counter‑Phase Annihilation Shield, his odds would skyrocket—why sit around waiting?

He piloted the Heavenly Ruin further outward, letting the Core Pulse slowly repair the armor while he logged into the Market.

Dragon‑Spine Continent—Song Chi projected himself into Yaoguang Star Tower.

Star Tower Mall window opened.

“Yaoguang Order #32, your account balance: Law Stele Insight Opportunities: 3; Star Tower Points: 23,300.”

Staring at that balance, Song Chi’s brows flickered, already gathering up various ship components he’d acquired in the last two years.

In no time, his points jumped from 23,300 to 24,900. Still not enough.

The Yin‑Yang Counter‑Phase Annihilation Shield cost 30,000 points—he was still short by five thousand.

He exited the star tower, logged in with his real body this time, and grabbed a storage capsule.

Inside the capsule were all sorts of resources.

Jade‑Blood Peach, 100 pieces.

Quenching Spirit Fruit, 50.

10,000-Year Dragon-Blood Fruit, 50.

Ten drops of peak Fourth-Tier biological source blood.

Three Fourth-Tier Silver Apples.

Ten Space Law Fruits.

Ten Light Law Fruits.

Fifth‑rank Floating-land Origin.

…

Once everything was appraised by the star tower AI, his total reached about 28,000 points.

But that was it. All he had left now was the Fifth-Tier Silver Apple, but the next batch wasn’t ripe yet.

Frustrated, Song Chi thought of the treasure exchange shop; he had a huge stash of odd treasures that couldn’t be converted to ship parts. After years of collecting, the amount was staggering.

He had over 50 red‑tier treasures, more than 500 orange, and even more purple and below.

He even had the gold-tier Spirit Language Book he’d just got. Selling that would be enough to cover the difference and then some.

But the idea of selling for barely half price made him instinctively reluctant.

He opened the Yaoguang Star Order and soon posted two messages in the chat.

“Order #32 ‘Jingzhe’: Level 60 silver Legendary Energy Shield for sale with Immortal‑Realm Five‑Element Omnishield stats. Picture attached.”

“Order #32 ‘Jingzhe’: Anyone interested? I’m looking to swap for the Mall’s Yin‑Yang Counter‑Phase Annihilation Shield but still short on points. Waaah!”

As soon as he posted, the previously quiet chat lit up.

“Order #19 ‘Scorching Sun’: Damn, a silver energy shield? You’ve been hiding your power!”

“Order #22 ‘Red Fox’: @Order #19 ‘Scorching Sun’ Don’t play the newbie. If your ship’s shield was worse than this I’d eat…”

“Order #26 ‘Xuanhu’: I want it, too bad I can’t afford it. @Order #32 ‘Jingzhe’ Be a bro, can you give me a discount?”

“Order #17 ‘Yulong’: Xuanhu, if you keep talking like that I’ll skin you myself!”

“Order #32 ‘Jingzhe’: Free delivery for all Floating-land ranks 1–4!”

“Order #26 ‘Xuanhu’: Good man! I’ll take it! Are you in the star tower now?”

…

Xuanhu soon logged in in person, bringing the exact amount of fifth‑rank Floating-land Origin, titanite crystals, Law Stones, and even a wisp of sixth‑rank Floating-land Origin.

He also brought 3,500 star mall points.

This was just enough to get the gold-tier Saint Domain energy shield, though it left his account with just 1,500 points, which he used to buy more titanite and sixth‑rank Floating-land Origin.

That gold shield couldn’t be fortified to six‑rank with just Immortal‑Realm Five‑Element resources.

And even after bumping it to level 60, Song Chi couldn’t guarantee the Heavenly Ruin could survive the forces in the black hole’s core. Boosting it even higher would be better.

He chatted with Xuanhu a bit longer, asking him to wait. Then Song Chi exited the Yaoguang Star Tower.

Back on the Heavenly Ruin, he jumped to the furthest edge of the Void Belt.

He then deleted the in-ship space anchor and set a new one out in the Void, so that he could return to the Dragon‑Spine Continent and use the Tri‑Eye Spirit‑Lock Ring.

When he sent himself back later, his level 41 Guiding Technique was enough to resist the edge’s devouring force, letting him summon the Heavenly Ruin again.

He uninstalled the Immortal‑Realm Omnishield without damage and handed it over to Xuanhu. Then he returned to Dragon‑Spine Continent to start the upgrade on his new Yin‑Yang Counter‑Phase Annihilation Shield.

After dozens of flashes of light, the golden Saint Domain–grade shield hit level 60.

Yin‑Yang Counter‑Phase Annihilation Shield, level 60.

Grade: Gold.

Trait: Two‑Modes Damage Reduction.

Trait 2: True Shield.

Trait 3: Energy shield capacity increased by 270%.

Trait 4: Defensive value further increased by 270%.

Trait 5: Yin‑Yang Regeneration.

Consumption: 2,500/s (neutrino energy).

Defense: 3.78 billion.

Shield value: 89.8 billion / 89.8 billion.

Recharge: 10s; 30 minutes cooldown after overloading.

…

{Two‑Modes Damage Reduction: The shield keeps a yin‑yang balance, weakening all incoming energy attacks by 60%.}

{True Shield: The shield’s true defense ignores normal shield-breaking and armor-penetration, and partially absorbs true shield-breaking or real armor-piercing damage.}

{Yin‑Yang Regeneration: The shield’s dual attributes keep it regenerating—restoring 1% shield value every second when damaged.}

Staring at the status panel, Song Chi’s eyes sparkled even brighter. He used to think Yin‑Yang Regeneration and Neutron‑Star Core Pulse overlapped… now he realized they were the perfect combo.

Combined, the healing was nothing short of insane.

And the new shield stat—a massive ninety billion, four times the old Immortal‑Realm Omnishield—was jaw-dropping.

By this point, Song Chi was more confident than ever in grabbing that likely Black Supreme treasure.

A gold energy shield, two repairs via Last Aegis—even if things went south, he could restore both shield and armor at the limit and trigger Last Aegis to return his ship to perfect condition.

If that was possible, reaching the black hole’s core was no longer a pipe dream.

Not to mention the other skills like Neutron‑Star Fission and Zen Seal · Internal · Time Acceleration—those would make a real difference too.

Truthfully, Song Chi was itching to head out immediately.

But he had to wait—at least til the Heavenly Ruin’s restoration was complete, Zen Seal cooled down, and Last Aegis recharged.

In the meantime, he opened the market for another round of trades.

There were no new noteworthy outsiders this time, but when the Spirit Language Book appeared in the treasure shop, he spotted the Night Elves lighting up with barely concealed excitement.

Clearly, this treasure was extremely enticing to them.

Speaking of Night Elves, he still hadn’t gotten a solid answer about the Moon Spring. Next time, he’d be sure to ask during market trades.