Chapter 464: Breakthrough at the Edge of the Floating Fragment

According to clan records spanning thousands of years, anyone who can achieve entry-level mastery of a Law within one month using nothing but the Dragon-Spine Secret Domain is considered exceptionally gifted.

But to do it in just twenty days? That’s nothing short of extraordinary.

Back then even Song Chi himself, despite using a mid-grade Law Crystal with spatial attributes, needed thirty-four days to get started.

Take away the Law Crystal and the extra help feeling out the Law of Space, and if he’d tried just a normal Law without tools, it’d have been about the same—thirty-four days or so. Compared to twenty, the gap is obvious.

Thinking of this, Song Chi looked at Song Hao with even more warmth in his eyes. He could feel it—this kid was almost certainly destined for the clan’s next generation core sequence.

Plus, having just achieved entry-level mastery of the Sky Shaman Grand Hand Seal, he was already in a good mood. Without hesitating, he pulled out five Law Fruits of Light from his storage.

“These are Law Fruits of Light. Take them after you leave the Dragon-Spine Secret Domain this time, and they should raise your Law comprehension rate by 0.3%. But remember, they only work if your comprehension is below 1%!”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Song Chi waved him off and didn’t say another word. The Law of Space surged beneath his legs, and with a single flash he vanished a thousand meters away.

It was only then that Song Hao realized Song Chi’s final words were still echoing in his ears.

“Keep it up. Fight for a spot in the clan’s new sequence. Oh, and… how’s that girl who was with you at first?”

As soon as Song Hao heard that, his face darkened.

“Song Ya… she was killed in this last expansion war…”

Song Chi let out a quiet sigh and fell silent.

This was the truth behind the expansion war—not just for the Song Family but for every power involved. Sure, they’d grabbed a lot of land and resources, but the losses on the ground were gut-wrenching. Everything had been built with iron and blood.

Honestly the Song Family had it easier than most. They’d had a huge supply of Hellfire Mechs and plenty of top-tier fighters to back them up.

But some factions under Yaohan Kingdom weren’t so lucky. Lower-ranked kin were decimated, and more than one Immortal House lost every upper rank elder in those suicide blasts from the half-step Seventh-Tier Doomstar Race.

Having exited the Dragon-Spine Secret Domain, Song Chi quickly reached the Market, then returned from there to Dragon Spine City on the Calamity Star Floating-Land.

Now that he’d just mastered the Sky Shaman Grand Hand Seal, the plan had been to practice until he could delve further into Deathstar Descent and Deathstar Rapid Detonation, but the Voidform Avatar he left behind on the Calamity Star Floating-Land had new reports from clan members.

……

Calamity Star Floating-Land, Public Open District.

Dragon Spine City. Inside the Dragon Spine Commercial Tower, Song Chi, guided by a First-Tier clansman, entered a guest room on the third floor.

There he met the male Third-Tier Torch Captain who’d already been waiting for him.

According to the messenger, this man had dozens of drops of Time Essence Liquid.

Song Chi valued the Timepiece Chess component highly—not just because it linked to the mysterious Timepiece Chessboard, but even its basic ability to reduce cooldowns was a huge asset.

After a quick greeting, Song Chi got straight to the point.

“Can you show me the Time Essence Liquid you brought?”

So far, the other man had simply told shopkeepers he carried dozens of drops of Time Essence Liquid but never actually shown them. It was best to confirm the goods before wasting any more words.

The short, stocky man didn’t object. Soon he produced a small glass vial.

“It’s the real thing. Forty-five drops. What are you offering to trade?”

With that confirmed, Song Chi asked for a price.

The burly Third-Tier Torch Captain didn’t hesitate. He said at once:

“Spatial Anchor Stone. I need that kind of rare resource!”

“Oh?”

Hearing that he wanted a spatial resource like the Spatial Anchor Stone, Song Chi made a thoughtful sound, all sorts of theories turning over in his mind.

If he wanted Spatial Anchor Stone, it clearly meant he’d done his homework before the trade. The Moro Secret Domain produced it, and lately the family had set some aside as exclusive shop goods to attract customers.

After considering, Song Chi named his price.

“Two thousand tons of Spatial Anchor Stones, plus two hundred threads of Fourth-Tier Floating-Land Origin!”

While not as rare as Time Essence Liquid—which is produced just one drop every ten thousand years—Spatial Anchor Stones aren’t exactly common. He’d still need to reserve enough for the shop’s draw, so he couldn’t offer too much.

The burly man’s eyes flickered, then after some haggling, they settled on two thousand tons of Spatial Anchor Stone and three hundred threads of Fourth-Tier Floating-Land Origin.

With the deal struck, both parties carefully put away their goods. Before the man could leave, Song Chi gave it another shot.

“Do you still have any more Time Essence Liquid? Or could you get more in the future?”

Hearing that, the burly man looked wary, but after hesitating for a bit he nodded.

“I’ve got a way. Next time I get some, you’ll be my first buyer. But if it’s a big batch, you’ll have to pay even more.”

“Deal!”

Song Chi nodded instantly, not even thinking twice.

No matter what, it never hurts to agree first.

Even if the Cultivation Sanctuary produces a bit of Time Essence Liquid, that doesn’t mean he can rely on it alone. His Timepiece Chess is only at third rank, and even after adding all the stock he just traded for, he figured he’d barely push it to fourth. Far from enough.

To upgrade Timepiece Chess to sixth or even seventh rank, relying on the Sanctuary’s slow trickle would take forever.

And that’s just one chess piece. If he ever managed to collect more—or the fabled Timepiece Chessboard—the amount of Time Essence Liquid he’d need would be terrifying. Song Chi was planning ahead.

Even if he never did find more pieces, given how rare Time Essence Liquid was, he could always sell it for a fortune.

After seeing off the trader, Song Chi made a pit stop at the Market to strengthen his Timepiece Chess component to level forty.

Now its cooldown reduction was already up to thirty-five percent.

He didn’t head back to the Dragon‑Spine Continent right away. Suddenly, the memory of the Immortal Domain Continent Fragment came to him.

With Rosetta Morningstar now a full Star-Annihilator-class Captain, she might be able to tear open its barrier by herself. Though it was just a hunch, it was a strong possibility—Star-Annihilator-class Captains were as powerful or more so than the Masters of the Shattered Sea of Stars.

So Song Chi’s plan was simple. While Rosetta Morningstar was still cementing her strength and distracted managing the new Morningstar Kingdom and their rise to Immortal House status, he’d finish exploring the Immortal Domain Continent Fragment alone.

He acted at once. After reaching the Omniverse Market, Song Chi used the Spatial Anchor he’d set in the Spirit Beast Sanctuary to travel straight to the Immortal Domain Continent Fragment, kicking off a new phase of exploration.

Song Chi was buzzing with anticipation about this fragment.

Thus far, the best thing he’d found there was a Red Epic Oddity. But a place that had once produced items above silver-quality? No way it had been completely picked clean.

Rushing out of the Spirit Beast Sanctuary, Song Chi quickly reached the outer world of the Immortal Domain Continent Fragment.

But before he began exploring, there was something else he had to do.

He strode to the No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang component, and in the blink of an eye, his form vanished.

Inside the Cultivation Sanctuary, beneath the sixth-tier Silver Apple Mother Tree.

Looking up at the ripening sixth-tier Silver Apples, Song Chi picked them all, one by one.

When he returned to the battleship, he had four more sixth-tier Silver Apples in hand.

The first target for these apples was obvious: the Void Shadowslayer Soldier-Tree.

As a component with spatial attributes, the Void Shadow Assassin Warriors could sense hidden spatial fluctuations and array patterns—key abilities for further exploring this fragment.

Once the first Silver Apple successfully evolved the Void Shadowslayer Soldier-Tree to red quality, Song Chi boosted it to sixth tier without hesitation.

The second apple was a no-brainer, too—he picked the Taoyi Soul-Suppressing Stele.

Combined with the Soulcalling Demon Golem, this provided strong mental defenses. Even though his Torch Seed had grown to silver now, boosting his resistance to soul attacks, you can never have too much defense.

For the third and fourth apples, though, Song Chi was torn.

There were over twenty orange-tier components mounted on the Heavenly Ruin. Picking just a couple wasn’t going to be easy.

After some thought, he narrowed it down to a shortlist.

Neural Remote Control System, Plasma Guardian, Life-System Medical Repair Pod, Skybreaker Drill, Space‑skipping Pearl, Abnormal Status Purifier, Atomic Repair Instrument.

Still seven left. Time to prune further.

Neural Remote Control System? Control range is good for now—skip.

Space‑skipping Pearl? With the Angel King’s Authority Wings, his ‘Angel • Wing Blink’ was good enough—skip.

Atomic Repair Instrument? The Last Aegis, a silver-tier repair component, handled things for now—skip.

……

After another round of cuts, only two were left.

Plasma Guardian and Skybreaker Drill.

Song Chi didn’t hesitate. Both components were evolved to red quality, then strengthened to sixth tier.

Plasma Guardian was all about protecting the captain—no need to say more.

And Skybreaker Drill? It didn’t just break through Floating-Land and battleship shields. Against any hidden array on this fragment, it’d be a huge help. Used well, it’d greatly accelerate exploration.

Once everything was ready, Song Chi set the Heavenly Ruin on a full-scale exploration of the Immortal Domain Continent Fragment.

With the improved Eye of Spirit-Seeking and far stronger defenses, Song Chi’s journey this time was smooth.

He no longer needed to tread carefully as before. With a golden energy shield, silver battleship armor, the black Black Hole Evolution Layer and golden Angel King’s Authority Wings, the Heavenly Ruin could charge straight into the center of Law Outburst zones and still come out intact.

After all, not only was Black Hole Evolution Layer already at sixth tier, but Song Chi had been using his connections and subordinates to gather angelic blood of all levels. Now, Angel King’s Authority Wings had reached level fifty.

That day, as the Heavenly Ruin explored, a report came in from the sixth-tier Void Shadow Assassin Warriors he’d sent out.

They’d discovered another hidden array.

This one, compared to the massive array at the Dustless Spirit Garden relic, was much closer to the edge of the continent fragment—right where the border had been violently cut.

The moment Song Chi realized this, his interest soared.

Why? Simple.

This fragment had been sliced from the original Immortal Domain Continent itself. Untold years ago, the aftershocks of a battle between mighty beings had struck and sheared off its edge, leaving this border behind.

So logically, the closer to that cut, the more intense the forces that had struck. Any array still surviving right at that ground zero must be of the highest grade.

Which meant the Dustless Spirit Garden’s array was probably nothing in comparison.

Without hesitation, Song Chi piloted the Heavenly Ruin in the direction indicated by the Void Shadow Assassin Warriors.

Boom, boom, boom!

Soon, a ring of ancient runes—not especially large—was blasted into view by the firepower of the Heavenly Ruin.

Song Chi’s eyes sparkled with surprise. Instead of disappointment at the array’s small size, he was brimming with curiosity and anticipation.

The glow around this array was anything but ordinary. Instead of the usual pale white, it gleamed with three swirling colors. Just one glance and you knew it was something special.

Suppressing his excitement, Song Chi launched a beam of red light from the Heavenly Ruin.

The Skybreaker Drill’s signature attack.

Now that it had evolved to red quality, its shield-breaking power should be stronger than ever. But the outcome was disappointing.

The Skybreaker Drill’s energy only created a faint ripple in the tri-colored barrier. If Song Chi hadn’t activated his Dual Pupils, he might have missed the subtle shift entirely.

The sight killed his anticipation in an instant.

He was no stranger to the Skybreaker Drill’s power. At red quality, it should have battered even a sixth-tier Floating-Land shield far more than this!