Chapter 439: Bartering for Power on the Storm Calamity Floater

After returning to the Storm Calamity Floating-land, the very first thing Song Chi did was head straight into the Market.

Once his mind connected to the Divine Realm Task Platform, he issued two brand new tasks he’d already planned, both as the Lord of the Divine Realm and Market.

Divine Realm Lord: Seeking to purchase Fifth-Tier or higher Stellar Plant Cores at premium rates.

(Task Reward: For every Fifth-Tier Stellar Plant Core, you can pick any four Red Epic Items from the Relic Exchange Shop, or receive an equal amount of Divine Realm Points—3200, that’s 4×800. Alternatively, you can choose a player team voucher plus a party level-up card.)

Divine Realm Lord: Seeking to purchase Fifth-Tier or higher Void Crystals at premium rates.

(Task Reward: For every Fifth-Tier Void Crystal, you may select any three Red Epic Items from the Relic Exchange Shop, or receive the equivalent in Divine Realm Points—2400 (3×800). There’s also the choice of either a player team voucher or a party level-up card, plus 800 Divine Realm Points.)

These purchase prices were clearly above the going market rate. Usually, a Fifth-Tier Stellar Plant Core traded for about one Red Epic Oddity, maybe a bit higher if you were lucky, but never more than two. As for Fifth-Tier Void Crystals, they were generally worth a little less.

The main reason for such generous rewards—aside from the influence of the Moyun Vine—was Song Chi’s clear understanding that the sooner the No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang and the Silver Apple Mother Tree advanced, the greater the long-term benefit.

Given that the previous collection missions yielded no results, the only option left was to pay a premium.

Thankfully, the Relic Exchange Shop now had over a hundred Red Epic Items available, and with both him and Wang Zhen still buying more, at least there were no financial worries.

With that taken care of, he headed into the cultivation sanctuary again.

Standing beneath the Flame Phoenix Tree, Song Chi gazed up at the three Skyfiend Phoenix Eggs perched on a branch, shaking his head with a helpless sigh.

He’d accelerated time in the sanctuary multiple times. Even though eons had passed inside, the three phoenix eggs still showed no signs of hatching.

Yet Song Chi could keenly sense the strong life force inside—none of the eggs were dead.

All he could do was chalk it up to the need for some unique secret technique from an adult Skyfiend Phoenix to trigger hatching. Without that, hatching could take countless times longer.

Leaving the sanctuary, his next move was to log into the Torch Network.

Even though he was pretty sure the Family didn’t have any ancestors specializing in the Law of Gold, the Gold Source Converter component was a big deal—almost good enough to qualify as a secondary Family-heritage relic. He figured it was absolutely worth checking with the Family before trading it away.

If the Family wanted to keep and use it, all the better.

As for the Torch Network itself—the Joint Fleet had been stationed at the Storm Calamity Floating-land for two years now. It was only recently that a basic network was set up, so while the features weren’t complete, it did allow for essential communication.

Sea of Stars—An endless journey with countless obstacles.

The flame of civilization will never die.

Honored Captain of the Heavenly Ruin, welcome to the Torch Storm Calamity Floating-land LAN. Enjoy your surfing!

Once the familiar welcome screen faded, several Torch channels appeared before Song Chi.

Storm Calamity Floating-land General Chat

Storm Calamity Floating-land Torch Forum

Storm Calamity Floating-land Torch Marketplace

Torch Network Search Engine

Song Chi skimmed the public chat, then quickly opened up the search engine.

Song Family Exclusive Channel

He entered a keyword and hit search.

Song Chi soon entered a channel called Song Family Seniors’ Council.

There were over a hundred people here, including plenty of Third-Tier core family members.

He didn’t bother hiding anything, and simply shared the Gold Source Converter component’s stats in the chat, then called out directly:

“Anyone interested in this component? If not, I’ll check with the Chenxing and Stark clans!”

This provisional network wasn’t exactly robust—top brass from each Family in the Joint Fleet could see one another’s chats anyway, so there wasn’t much point in secrecy.

It was important to note, though, that this was just a red-tier component. At best, it matched a silver-tier Oddity—valuable, but not even close to the level of a Family-guarding artifact.

He honestly thought he’d still end up taking it to the Chenxing or Stark clans, but was surprised to see replies flood in almost immediately.

Moments after he’d sent the message, several elders from the most prestigious family branches jumped in.

“Song Daijiang: @Song Chi, do NOT trade it away; the Family definitely needs that component!”

“Song Dingbang: Kid, the ancestral line wants that component. What do you want in exchange?”

…

Song Chi arched an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected such a quick reaction, but he replied right away.

“Same as before—Dense Black-Hole Stone, Fifth- or Sixth-Tier Void Crystal, Fifth- or Sixth-Tier Stellar Plant Core. If those aren’t available, a decent silver-tier component will do.”

At his words, the chat went quiet for a moment.

Meanwhile, several elders from the main family branches started whispering among themselves.

“So? Should we offer up that stash of Dense Black-Hole Stone we’ve got in the ancestral vault?”

“No way. Didn’t Yan just come by some Black Hole Armor? He messaged recently that he needs the Dense Black-Hole Stone himself.”

“But aside from Dense Black-Hole Stone, what else are we gonna trade? Use Void Crystals? We need those for the Family secret realms, no matter which branch it is!”

“How about that universal cooldown-reducing silver component?”

“Impossible. The Eastern Ancestor counts on that. Just—”

“Quiet. This isn’t the encrypted chat, so watch what you say.”

About half a minute later, Song Dingbang, also from the main family branch, finally spoke up.

“Alright, kid. I’m at Tianyue Valley. Meet me here.”

As soon as he said that, before Song Chi could even react, some Family leaders at a distance didn’t look pleased.

At the Dusk Family’s base, a captain of a Fifth-Tier battleship let out a cold snort.

“Song Dingbang, that sly old fox. Always so cautious and secretive.”

Compared with the Lu, Dusk, and Falcon clans’ sneers, the Chenxing and Stark clans’ reactions were a lot more intense.

“What a shame about that red-tier Law of Gold boost. Even for mid-level Gold Law perception, it’d make a big difference. Too bad it’s not ending up in my Stark Family.”

…

At Tianyue Valley, two battleships were docked at the heart of Tianyue City.

On a warship’s comms projection, Song Dingbang spoke quickly:

“Kid, you can choose any one of these four options.”

As he spoke, he sent four messages to the Heavenly Ruin.

“1: One wisp of Red Advancement Fire Source plus three wisps of Orange Advancement Fire Source.”

“2: One Advanced Silver Law of Space Crystal.”

“3: One Sixth-Tier Void Crystal.”

“4: Silver Legendary Component: Ancient Demon Warrior-Tree.”

Song Chi’s gaze lingered on the four options, unable to make up his mind just yet.

On the other end, Song Dingbang didn’t rush him, letting Song Chi take his time.

Of these, Song Chi eliminated the first right away. At this point, he was missing only a Silver Legendary Advancement Fire Source.

But as for the other three… he really wanted all of them.

He hesitated a moment, then decided against the Sixth-Tier Void Crystal—none had even appeared in the sanctuary so far, and after Sixth-Tier, upgrades would be a very long road. Besides, even if he had one, the Heavenly Ruin in its current stage as a Zhulu-class Cruiser couldn’t be enhanced to Seventh-Tier anyway; there was no rush.

Lastly, he let go of the Ancient Demon Warrior-Tree. As intriguing as this Silver Legendary soldier component was,

the Ancient Demon Family, to which it belonged, was part of a top-tier advanced civilization called the Yuangu Family. This civilization was divided into Ancient Demons, Ancient Devils, and Ancient Gods. Supposedly, their overall strength rivaled that of the Torch Human Civilization.

But the Yuangu Family all practiced the Law of Strength, which didn’t mesh at all with Song Chi’s current focus on Light and Space.

Honestly, Song Chi would much rather have the Void Shadowslayer Soldier-Tree component.

Once both the sanctuary and the Silver Apple Mother Tree advanced, the Void Shadowslayer could itself be raised to red-tier, and though it still wouldn’t match a true silver-tier component, there wasn’t much difference since the Heavenly Ruin was still just a Zhulu-class Cruiser—silver parts couldn’t be pushed to their fullest anyway.

“Old Ancestor, I’ll take that Advanced Law of Space Crystal!”

Once the deal was done, the Heavenly Ruin didn’t stick around at Tianyue Valley for long.

Floating quietly amid the clouds overhead, the battleship’s vast hull was all but hidden, while inside Song Chi’s gaze never left the silver-glowing crystal now in his hands.

This was the Advanced Law of Space Crystal he’d just acquired.

“With this crystal, my Law of Space comprehension should get a serious boost!”

There was another reason for his decision besides the crystal’s value—it was a personal one.

Ever since the start of the conquest, his Law of Space comprehension had crept from 45.31% to just 45.35% in a full decade, even with the dual boosts of Dual Pupils and the Omniverse Market.

He knew things would slow down once he hit the intermediate stage, but this was ridiculous. The progress was so sluggish it drove him mad.

Light Law was going much better though—up from 26.02% to 26.62% since the start.

“Here’s hoping this Advanced Crystal lives up to its name!”

With that decided, Song Chi pushed aside other thoughts. Once he returned to his tenth branch assignment, his first stop was the Market.

Time slipped by—two months flashed past in no time.

During those two months, Song Chi made two more attempts to deploy resources to alien domains, but luck wasn’t on his side this time and he came up empty-handed.

On this particular day, inside the Heavenly Ruin quietly docked in the Free Stall Area of the Market, faint sounds broke the silence.

Within the warship’s main control room, Song Chi poured his entire consciousness into the cultivation sanctuary.

In a distant corner, the already massive Moyun Vine suddenly began to surge with both gold and wood energy, its vines swelling ever larger.

“It’s finally advancing!”

He murmured with anticipation, then found himself rubbing his temples, already sensing the next headache coming.

Sure enough, as the Moyun Vine evolved, the Silver Apple Mother Tree also reacted. Its branches and leaves lashed and churned up a storm, shaking the whole sanctuary as if the world was ending.

As the sole bound plant of the sanctuary, the Silver Apple Mother Tree could control everything inside it. Thankfully, Song Chi arrived in time to calm it down before things got out of hand.

Still, this only made Song Chi more determined to push the sanctuary to Sixth-Tier as soon as possible. Otherwise, the situation wouldn’t last—only an expanded, stronger sanctuary would put enough distance between the plants to keep them from clashing.

Luckily, things worked out perfectly. After devouring a Fifth-Tier Moyun Vine Heart, the Moyun Vine finally advanced to Fifth-Tier. Its length exploded, and its signature Goldvine Armor’s power jumped to Fifth-Tier, now tough enough to shield several people at once.

Song Chi ran some careful tests, and found that even if a Void Shadowslayer Soldier-Tree warrior attacked at full strength with a ghostly dagger, the Moyun Goldvine Armor held up. Only a Sixth-Tier Fallen Angel Warrior’s blows were enough to crack it—and even then, it absorbed over eighty percent of the force.

In short, at Fifth-Tier, even among its peers this plant armor was upper-tier for defense.

With that conclusion, Song Chi dropped by the Divine Realm Player Trading Hall. Staring at the task list, which had been taken up multiple times, he couldn’t hide his frustration.

Though he’d posted buy orders for Dense Black-Hole Stone, Fifth-Tier Void Crystal, and Fifth-Tier Stellar Plant Core—and several players had accepted—none of the rewards had arrived. Apparently, hunting Fifth-Tier Void Demons and Stellar Plants was still too much for most non-human players.

“Forget it. Looks like I’ll have to handle things myself.”

Sighing, Song Chi left the trading hall and glanced out at the desolate void beyond the Market’s energy shield.

With the Heavenly Ruin’s current firepower, he stood a real chance of taking out a Fifth-Tier Void Demon. The only reason he’d held back was himself.

The deeper his status and knowledge, the less he dared underestimate the Shadow Side of the Void Sea. In fact, his respect had only grown.

He’d spent years pulling secret records from the central Family archives—some describing the Shadow Side of the Void Sea and the Void Demons themselves.

One warning was burned into his memory.

“The depths of the Shadow Side of the Void Sea are home to unimaginable terrors. Many a Star-Eater Warship has vanished for good—history records at least twenty lost there, and no fewer than several Torch Captains of the highest (Eighth) Rank, their lives ending in oblivion amidst the void.”