Chapter 448: The Gathering Before the Final Battle

Spirit Beast Sanctuary. Corrosion Flame Mountain Range.

Buzz!

A colossal spatial barrier shimmered into existence, enveloping the land. After a subtle ripple washed over, the entire mountain range seemed to fall into endless night.

Hiss—hiss—hiss!

Not long after, a piercing, grating cry echoed from deep within the mountains. Through the thick darkness, a massive black serpent burst skyward.

Sizzle!

Viridian toxic flames roiled from the serpent’s scales, twisting the air around it. The searing emerald glow seemed ready to tear reality apart.

This snake, known as the Toxic Flame Black-scaled Python, was one of the rare Sixth-Tier beasts in the Spirit Beast Sanctuary. Its reign stretched across the Corrosion Flame Mountains and the surrounding lands—until now. Today’s sudden chaos clearly had it as the target.

The python barely had a moment to unleash its tidal toxic flames against the spatial barrier before several figures swept in from the mountain’s edge.

A One-Eyed Troll, a Flamewrath Giant, and an Abyssal Devil with a spiraled horn between its eyes. All three Sixth-Tier beasts shot straight toward the python overhead without hesitation.

Sensing these three radiating power on par with its own, the python flicked its tongue warily. Its body erupted with emerald flames, pouring poison down toward its oncoming foes.

As a Sixth-Tier beast, the python possessed keen intelligence. It knew a three-on-one fight was unwinnable, so it tried to stall its attackers with poison while desperately attempting to shatter the barrier above.

After just a bit of corrosion, it could tell—the formation wasn’t all that sturdy. With a few all-out assaults, it just might break through.

But from a dark corner, Song Chi wouldn’t allow that. On the Heavenly Ruin, the Bind-God Chains component flared to life.

Bloodstained chains ripped from the distant void. Before the python could react, they wrapped tight around its body, locking it in place.

Searing cracks echoed as the python tried to melt the chains with its poison. But these chains, tainted with unknown divine blood and strengthened by a deity’s faith, resisted all it could muster.

With attack and defense locked, the three attackers closed in fast.

That emerald poison was powerful, and the touch of it could plague even a Sixth-Tier. But the Flamewrath Giant was different—born of fire, it wielded mastery over all such energies. Even the python’s unique flames were ultimately within its grasp.

So the giant charged through with little cost, dragging the troll and devil behind it, straight through the poisonous curtain.

What happened next was hardly worth describing. The python, while not weak even for its kind, stood no chance bound and surrounded. Especially with the Abyssal Devil manipulating the mind itself.

It didn’t take long before the overlord python, once king of these mountains, was utterly enslaved by the Abyssal Devil.

With its domination complete, the Heavenly Ruin materialized from the void. Song Chi eyed the conquered beast, nodding in satisfaction.

This latest capture brought the Abyssal Devil’s collection to over twenty. Among them were ten Fifth-Tier Doomstar, ten Fifth-Tier spirit beasts from the sanctuary, and now this Sixth-Tier python.

He glanced at a red component beside him—the formation device he’d borrowed from Ru Zu to lock down the area and enslave a Sixth-Tier beast.

After all, the Starfield Scanner on Grandpa’s Furious Lion of War was just an orange-grade device. Against a Sixth-Tier, it didn’t stand a chance.

“Ten days cooldown, huh? Then that’s how long I’ll have to wait…”

After all, there were more than just a handful of Sixth-Tier beasts in this sanctuary. He wouldn’t be content with just the python.

Yet things rarely go as planned. The Family summoned Song Chi before he could act again.

The last battle was about to begin.

During the gap before the fleet rendezvous, he hurried back to Dragon-Spine Continent, dismantled the red barrier module using the Three-Eyed Mind Ring, and returned it to Ru Zu unharmed.

Only then did Song Chi get a chance to calmly consider his preparations.

“This final battle came way too fast. I managed to enslave just one python, far less than I’d hoped. Here’s to hoping it comes in handy!”

“At least the Heavenly Ruin is fully tuned now. All components are at peak. No worries there—just the Family side left.”

With that thought, he quickly joined the Family’s comms channel.

Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Uncle, Second Uncle, and even Song Ting, Song Lin, and others were all present.

Song Lin, having used that wisp of supreme-tier orange evolution fire, and leveraging over thirty years of accumulation, had just advanced to Cruiser rank—a rare bit of good news.

But Song Chi paid that little mind. Once on the channel, he said swiftly:

“I have a stash of fourth and Fifth-Tier enslaved beasts. If your ships are equipped to handle them, drop by and pick one up. It’ll seriously boost your odds in the coming battles.”

His sudden offer shocked the whole group.

Everyone was stunned by such generosity.

These were fourth and Fifth-Tier beasts—prizes worth hundreds or thousands of gold merit points in the Merit Tower.

Sure, years of frontier wars had flooded the market with enslaved beasts, even mid- and high-level ones, bringing prices down by only a bit. Above Fourth-Tier, though, no beast was ever truly cheap.

In the end, Song Chi gave Grandpa a Fifth-Tier Doomstar, Grandma and both Uncles’ families each got a Fourth-Tier Doomstar. Song Qi and Song Lin missed out—they still hadn’t advanced their seeds enough to use Fourth-Tier modules.

As for Dad, Mom, and Song Ting, Song Chi handed over three Fifth-Tier Silver Apples. Each evolved into top-tier orange fire, letting all three advance to orange Torch Seeds. Then he gave them each a Fifth-Tier Doomstar as well.

He also shared batches of fourth and Fifth-Tier Floating-Land Origin and some Titanite Crystal, so their ship modules could all be upgraded properly.

Those Fifth-Tier Silver Apples, after all, were stockpiled over years. For over thirty years, the Silver Apple Mother Tree had grown in the sanctuary, producing batch after batch under acceleration. Thanks to it, every single component on the Heavenly Ruin was now orange quality—no more purple pieces at all.

Even the Supreme Celestial Domain Soil in the sanctuary had evolved to top-grade, giving a huge boost to plant growth and transplants. If he could harvest enough Sixth-Tier Silver Apples, upgrading it to the ultimate grade was next.

The extra Fifth-Tier Silver Apples were all saved as well. If he ever found exotic purple modules, he could instantly evolve them upward.

Finishing the upgrades, he finally felt some relief. Thanks to his efforts, his family’s odds of survival rose sharp.

And then there was Shen Youran. Song Chi met her in the market to discuss preparations. He tried to offer her some Fifth-Tier Doomstar or rare beasts as well, but she refused.

She explained simply that she’d been earning plenty on the side these years, and had bought her own high-rank slave beasts from the Omniverse Market.

…

Beyond the Doomsea Floating-land, vast interstellar gates stood side by side. Intense spatial shockwaves rippled again and again as fleets teleported across thousands of light-years to the kingdom’s rally point near Calamity Star Floating-land.

Recovering from the slight dizziness of transit, Song Chi’s gaze slid instinctively to the distant front of his ship.

He wasn’t alone—every first-time captain arriving here found their eyes drawn to the massive continent looming in the distance.

Calamity Star Floating-land—Grade-7, stretching over twelve thousand light-years in length, and eight thousand across. It had always been the heartland of the Doomstar Race civilization.

Decades later, that continent had completely transformed from heartland to frontline bulwark. With what little remained of the Doomstar elite refusing to let it go, both sides now tacitly accepted this place as the last battlefield.

Song Chi snapped back to focus faster than most, having seen other Floating-land lands of similar scale before.

In fact, the Chilong Floating Isle in the Changsun Family’s Tang Dynasty was even vaster.

A few days passed. Back-to-back transfers finally brought the kingdom’s three main fleets together.

The Kingdom Command’s secure channel buzzed—it was the absolute core channel, a place where only Sixth-Tier captains and above could enter.

Even as over a billion starships gathered here, there were barely two hundred people in this chat.

“Yaohan Kingdom’s Liu Shu: For this battle, all Dreadnought Captains will spearhead the assault. Anyone trying to hold back will be sent to Torch Judgement Court after!”

“Beiqiong’s Shen Wei: The two Doomstar Lords will be stopped by our Planet Crackers. You don’t have to worry about them.”

“Dongli’s Xiao Changqing: As for Fifth-Tier and lower Doomstar, that’s for the Torch Captains. Tell everyone—hit them hard and fast. Only by killing enough of the mid- and low-rank can we severely weaken the Floating-land land’s Origin Core. That’s our key to victory!”

“Liu Shu: While we hold the shield breach, I’ll use a high-rank module to monitor the field. All your kills will be tracked, and when it’s over, the top thirty hunting scores get a parcel of land in the Doomstar public area!”

…

Only three spoke, one each from the Yaohan Liu Family, Beiqiong Shen Family, and Dongli Xiao Family—their leaders, their greatest captains.

No one dared interrupt—not even the strongest Dreadnought Captains.

When the words “Torch Judgement Court” came up, every Dreadnought Captain tensed. Among the entire Torch Human Civilization, nothing was more infamous; no one was unfamiliar.

After all, it was the only court with authority over battleships and above. There were just four, stationed in the heart of the Four Great Super Empires, utterly beyond question.

It was said there were only two fates for those sent: a thousand years of brutal service on the harshest front, or losing the Torch Seed and becoming utterly ordinary.

But then, soon as the “land reward” was mentioned, everyone in the chat brightened.

A piece of land on a Grade-7 Floating-land—its value unimaginable. Managed well, it would offer generations of wealth.

It might not show at once, but in time, a faction would thrive on such fortune.

Once the three captains finished, everyone else exited the chat.

Song Family. Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang command chat.

After returning, Song Wujian quickly gathered the family’s key members and repeated the senior captains’ words, then said solemnly:

“Dingbang, make sure everyone gets the word. Pull out all the stops. Kill as many Doomstar as possible.”

“The Song Family’s no pushover anymore, and with just under a hundred Sixth-Tier factions kingdom-wide, we stand a real shot at the top thirty!”

“Yes!”

Song Dingbang replied without hesitation. Everyone in the chat felt a burning eagerness.

Especially Song Xingru.

In the main control of the Violet Moon Longsong battleship, a tangible Fifth-Tier life force radiated from her.

But just then, Song Wujian’s gaze flicked to Song Chi’s comm.

“Chi, especially you!”

Before he could answer, Song Wujian continued:

“Head back to Dragon-Spine Continent now. Fetch every Hellfire Mech the Family’s made—however many you can bring. We need all we can get—those Fourth-Tier siege mechs could be our ticket to a top thirty finish!”

“Understood, Grandfather!”