Chapter 440: Standoff in the Shadowed Void

This was exactly why Song Chi was reluctant to step out into the outer Void Sea again.

Even though the Heavenly Ruin was now well-armed and could take on Fifth-Tier Void Demons without flinching, and he still had the Market Projection Token as his ace in the hole.

But right now, he had no other choice. With the Moyun Vine reaching a critical stage, boosting the Cultivation Sanctuary to the sixth rank had become urgent. There was no time to hesitate.

With this in mind, Song Chi opened the warship’s status panel and gave it a thorough once-over.

He saw that except for the ‘Samsara Time Domain’ trait, every other ability had finished its cooldown. Satisfied, he headed outside and borrowed a special light-type artifact from the vein.

It wasn’t a high-grade artifact, just a purple-level Oddity, but it continuously gave off a blinding light. That made it the perfect bait to lure in the Void Demons.

Wooo-wooo-wooo!

Howling storms raged across the void. The advancing Heavenly Ruin was suddenly caught in a massive void storm with an unbelievable diameter.

Thankfully, the ship’s hull was sturdy enough, boasting impressive spatial resistance. No matter how powerful the external storm became, nothing could break through to threaten the ship’s interior.

After trying a few things, Song Chi ended up maxing out the Antimatter Evolution Engine. With the extra thrust, the Heavenly Ruin finally broke free from the storm’s pull and surged ahead.

Several hours later, once they’d left the hidden storm-silence zone around the Omniverse Market, the ship’s hatch snapped open. The glowing artifact was tossed out, its radiance painting the dark.

With the bait set, Song Chi steered the warship into the shadows to wait.

In the pitch-black, eerily silent shadowed space, that purple artifact shone like a beacon. Drawn by the intense light, waves of Void Demons came swarming.

Most were only first or second rank—easy prey for the Void Shadow Assassin Warriors, who made short work of them.

Time flowed on. After taking down five Fourth-Tier Void Demons, the first Fifth-Tier one finally appeared.

If this had been before, Song Chi would’ve been steering the ship to escape. But not this time. He was here specifically for this prey.

He didn’t even need to use the ‘Zen Seal: External Time Stop.’ With ‘Void Bind-God’ active, the Fifth-Tier Demon was locked in place. The hidden Heavenly Ruin unleashed a barrage, and as expected, the demon fell.

Over the next few months, Song Chi kept up this method. In just over four months, he’d slain more than twenty Fifth-Tier Void Demons.

He was getting a little addicted to the thrill.

And who could blame him? Every Fifth-Tier Void Demon yielded a drop of Fifth-Tier blood essence and a Fifth-Tier Void Crystal—each worth as much as two or three Red Epics.

In just four months, he’d raked in over fifty Red Epic Items. With profits like that, who wouldn’t get hooked?

What’s more, in the shadowed side of the Void Sea, Void Demons were so numerous there was no risk of the Fifth-Tier ones running out.

One day, as another horde of Void Demons appeared in the distance, Song Chi in the Heavenly Ruin couldn’t help grinning. He’d seen this scene countless times already.

There it was—another Fifth-Tier Void Demon showing itself.

Following the usual routine, nearly a hundred Void Shadow Assassin Warriors and Fallen Angel Warriors surged forward, charging into the demon horde and starting a massacre.

As usual, a Fifth-Tier Void Demon hiding in the shadows soon revealed itself, unwilling to let the slaughter continue, and joined the battle against the two kinds of warrior statues.

Out on the dim warzone’s edge, Song Chi poured all his energy into his eyes. The Dual Pupils became razor-sharp, the Law of Light fully boosting his senses as he tracked every detail of the conflict unfolding ahead.

In a flash, the Fifth-Tier Void Demon swung its Void Blade, cleaving a Sixth-Tier Fallen Angel Warrior clean in half.

That was the moment Song Chi had been waiting for. The demon dropped its guard, and his gaze sharpened. Instantly, the Bind-God Chains’ ‘Void Bind-God’ feature activated on the warship.

Far ahead, bloody chains shot out, striking the demon dead-on and wrapping it tight, binding it from head to toe.

Vmmm—vmmm—vmmm!

Violent ripples distorted space as the demon tried to leverage its near-perfected Law of Space to blink free.

But it was useless.

Chains tainted with unknown divine blood even suppressed the Law of Space. Though the demon made the chains loosen a bit, getting all the way free would have taken multiple tries. Song Chi had no intention of giving it the chance.

As soon as the Bind-God Chains locked down the Fifth-Tier Demon, the hidden Heavenly Ruin emerged from the dark. Alongside it, the nearly fully charged Myriad‑Spirit Annihilation Bow gleamed ominously.

Swish!

“That’s the twenty-sixth. Almost there…”

The Life‑bane Arrow screamed through the darkness, but in that instant, Song Chi’s mind abruptly blanked.

Every hair on his body stood up in alarm.

Despite the Dual Pupils being at full power, he detected nothing strange. Yet his body was frozen, unable to move. Even the illusory arrow, already launched from the super main cannon, hung perfectly still less than ten thousand meters from the ship, as if time itself had stopped.

The next second, with only his eyes still able to move, Song Chi stared in horror at the image on the front holographic display.

Hovering above the demon swarm was a pair of blood-red eyes, so massive they almost filled the entire display.

Those crimson orbs were impossibly huge. Deep within, the power of nearly tangible spatial laws spun and churned.

With a single indifferent sweep, those eyes sliced through the swarming Assassin and Fallen Angel Warriors, cutting them all to bits with spatial force.

But that wasn’t what terrified Song Chi most. After wiping out his armies, the crimson eyes turned to look directly at the Heavenly Ruin.

The moment their gazes met, stabbing pain shot through Song Chi’s own eyes. The shadows of his Dual Pupils faded, stripped thin as if suffering a violent backlash.

At the same time, the outer void began collapsing. Space smashed into the Yin‑Yang Counter‑Phase Annihilation Shield, filling the bridge with sharp, hissing jolts. Qiongtian AI’s warning made his heart freeze.

“Warning: high-intensity spatial collapse detected. Shield integrity down 54%. Current shielding: 46%.”

“Warning: high-intensity spatial collapse. Shield overload detected.”

……

In barely a blink, the level-67 gold energy shield overloaded. At the same time, cracks raced across the main hull.

“Dominion… that’s got to be a Dominion-Rank Void Demon—!”

Song Chi was screaming inside, but he didn’t lose his head. Though space was sealed, his mind was still free.

Calmly, he triggered the Torch Ancestral Orifice, activating the Market Token.

Feeling the Market’s pulling force seize him, Song Chi allowed himself a shaky breath.

He’d trusted in the Omniverse Market’s superior rank countless times, but facing a living Dominion-Rank Void Demon now, it was impossible not to worry whether even this would be sufficient.

Before his body entered the Market, Song Chi used a mental command to instruct Qiongtian AI.

“Activate the Market Projection Token.”

As soon as Song Chi arrived in the Omniverse Market, the first thing he received was a projection request from the Heavenly Ruin.

……

Deep in the Void Sea, over the shattered hull of the Heavenly Ruin, a gigantic purple fog appeared. Within, the Market’s phantom was barely visible, projecting onto the gloomy shadowed sea.

The Dominion’s power radiated from the projection, suppressing the spatial collapse around the Heavenly Ruin. Inside, the suppression and spatial lockdown were instantly lifted.

Seizing the moment, Qiongtian AI immediately activated the Last Aegis. The hull, armor, and shielding snapped back to perfect condition, looking as if the ruinous destruction from moments before was just a nightmare.

But things weren’t over yet. With full control now transferred, Qiongtian AI rapidly calculated the best escape route.

Vmmm—vmmm—vmmm!

The Space‑skipping Pearl kicked in. After a light spatial jump, the Heavenly Ruin zipped far away. Even so, Song Chi was nervous and used the last remaining blink for a second jump.

After two rapid jumps and seeing no sign of the Market’s projection, Song Chi thought he’d finally found safety. But when his mind’s eye peered out through his Voidform Avatar, his heart lurched—those blood-red eyes still hung above the Heavenly Ruin, watching with a chilling, emotionless gaze.

Just then, in the Market’s projection at the ship’s original location, a figure appeared. With a wave, Song Chi gathered endless purple mist into a giant, illusory hand—pulsing with Dominion power—that crashed straight at the red eyes.

But the enemy paid little mind to the projection, splitting its attention to keep hunting the Heavenly Ruin. That made Song Chi furious.

The purple hand’s strength was impressive, but the Dominion-Rank Demon was anything but ordinary. It summoned countless perfected spatial laws to block the attack, all while launching its own overreaching strike against the Heavenly Ruin.

Inside the ship, the familiar mechanical warnings from Qiongtian AI blared out again.

Song Chi knew he couldn’t risk a standstill. He still needed to collect the Heavenly Ruin himself.

With that thought, laws of space and light converged. In moments, a dragon-whale conjured from those laws roared toward the Dominion Demon’s crimson eyes.

No matter the outcome, Song Chi—still in the Market—abruptly withdrew all Dominion power and ended the projection.

He flashed away, returning instantly to the Heavenly Ruin by using a spatial anchor. But the ship’s situation was dire.

“Warning: outer high-intensity spatial collapse detected. Shields have completely overloaded. Immediate repairs required!”

He’d moved as quickly as possible, but up against a Dominion whose command of space was absolute, he still couldn’t keep up. The Black Hole Evolution Layer on the hull was almost gone. Song Chi’s mind raced.

If he tried to recall the ship and rush into the Market afterwards, it’d be pointless. The crushing force from the collapsing space outside would annihilate him the instant he was exposed. He doubted he’d even survive long enough to make the leap.

The more he thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed.

From the looks of things, there was just no way to collect the Heavenly Ruin and keep himself alive at the same time.

As for the Moyun Goldvine Armor, it wouldn’t last a heartbeat against a Dominion-Rank Void Demon.

“Damn it, do I really have to give up the Heavenly Ruin?”

Song Chi clenched his fists, shadows darkening his eyes.

While he hesitated, the Black Hole Evolution Layer—his extra hull—shattered completely. Now the Neutron‑Star Core Armor stood alone against the full brunt of spatial collapse.

He knew he was out of time. Resolute, Song Chi made his decision.

“There’s no choice—it’s all or nothing. If I give up the Heavenly Ruin and start over, it’s no different from dying here now.”

He turned his sights to the ship’s highest-grade module.

The pitch-black, perfect-quality Black Hole Evolution Layer.

More specifically, to its ‘Black Hole Domain’ trait.

After acquiring it, Song Chi had run tests and confirmed its effect was the real deal—absolute invincibility.

So why had he hesitated so long? The answer was simple.

The Sea of Stars produced an endless variety of artifacts and starship modules. Traits like ‘Absolute Defense,’ ‘Absolute Bind,’ and even ‘Absolute Invincibility’ popped up now and again.

But those so-called absolutes were always relative. Usually they only worked against attacks of the same rank—maybe one grade higher, tops.

If the attacker exceeded that, then ‘absolute defense’ or ‘invincibility’ was useless. Death was still very much on the table.

That’s exactly why Song Chi hadn’t dared risk it until now.

Even now, steeled as he was, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. Before unleashing the Black Hole Domain, he layered himself with a plasma shield and the Moyun Vine’s armor.

But even with all that, Song Chi still didn’t feel safe. He crawled into his nearly miniaturized, five-rank Celestial‑Star Power Armor. Still, dread gnawed at him.

After all, outside was a living Dominion-Rank Void Demon.