Chapter 480: Into the Primal Secret Realm

Hundreds of Fourth-Tier Doomstar warriors unleashed their power, wiping out the swarming Goldsplitter Spiders nearby. Even the ones numbering in the thousands barely lasted ten minutes before being slaughtered with ease.

With all the Goldsplitter Spiders cleared out, Song Chi recalled the Doomstar troops and hurried over to the side of Song Lihai’s battleship.

[Hull armor damaged: 86%. Hull structure damaged: 81%. Major repairs required before full recovery!]

Hearing this update from the Sky-Domain AI, Song Chi frowned slightly.

“Elder…”

He’d just started to speak when Song Lihai cut him off. The clan elder, over a thousand two hundred years old, managed a faint smile and waved his hand, saying,

“Don’t worry about this old man, Xiaochi. You got here just in time. The Four Seas Depart the Heavens may be out of commission, but it’ll be back in action after some repairs. Go straight to the secret realm. If the Goldsplitter Spiders have been exploring there for a while, time’s ticking!”

Song Chi nodded. He understood what was at stake—the ancient secret realm ahead had to be their top priority.

Still, he didn’t leave right away. Instead, he left the Fifth-Tier Firebreather Dragon to guard Song Lihai and the damaged ships, then led a force of several hundred combat-ready clansmen, plus nearly a thousand others from the Heavenly Ruin, speeding straight toward the secret realm.

But before setting out, Song Chi had everyone from the Heavenly Ruin—over nine hundred people—disembark and board other cruisers. These didn’t require the Ember Battleship Crew License anymore.

These people would all need to enter the ancient secret realm once they reached the entrance. But first, they had to lift the suppression on their energy cores and restore their combat strength.

Doing this inside the Heavenly Ruin would have burned through millions of Fifth-Tier Floating-Land Origins. Even Song Chi’s wealth couldn’t cover the cost, but simply using Second-Tier or Third-Tier Origins was far more manageable.

……

The next day, the Heavenly Ruin, a few cruisers, and escort ships rushed onward, finally reaching their destination.

A lower-level star sector, now swarming with Goldsplitter Spiders.

Staring at the densely packed spiders ahead, the Song clansmen all felt a chill running down their spines.

It couldn’t be helped. Many of them had fought in the Pioneering Wars, but facing spiders in the hundreds of thousands was enough to make anyone’s scalp tingle.

Among them all, only Song Chi aboard the Heavenly Ruin stayed calm. He caught himself thinking, with a sigh, ‘If only we’d had this many Goldsplitter Spiders during the warship promotion quest back then.’

But that passing thought faded as quickly as it came. Song Chi’s attention swung back to the secret realm entrance ahead.

Even though the entrance was hidden under a sea of spiders, he focused his Dual Pupils and locked onto a spatial vortex surrounded by Goldsplitter Spiders.

“That’s it—the secret realm entrance!”

Certain of this, Song Chi didn’t hesitate. The hatch flew open, and hundreds of Fourth-Tier or higher Doomstar warriors surged out again.

After the Doomstar host, both the Flamewrath Giant and the One-Eyed Troll were sent out from the warship.

With these three formidable Sixth-Tier enslaved beasts—the Sixth-Tier Doomstar, the Flamewrath Giant, and the One-Eyed Troll—the Goldsplitter Spiders, numbering over 100,000, finally began to stir restlessly.

Only then did Song Chi’s voice beam through the magnetic comms to all nearby ships.

“Alright, everyone—summon your ships in an orderly fashion!”

Hearing this, some Song family members couldn’t help hesitating. With hundreds of thousands of Goldsplitter Spiders nearby, who wouldn’t feel nervous summoning their own vessel right now?

But the moment they glimpsed the Heavenly Ruin’s colossal 14,000-meter-long hull, their anxiety eased. Finally, led by Song Hao and Song Baiyi—both current-generation elites—they stepped out, boarded their own ships, and prepared for action.

A few minutes later, the procession behind the Heavenly Ruin swelled from several hundred to well over two thousand.

Under the intimidating presence of hundreds of Fourth-Tier Doomstar warriors, the fleet began slowly advancing toward the secret realm entrance.

And not a single Goldsplitter Spider dared stand in their way.

For Song Chi, this was only natural—after all, three Sixth-Tier enslaved giants weren’t just for show. But for the younger generation, it was a sight they’d never forget, even after centuries.

To intimidate over 100,000 Goldsplitter Spiders alone—with nearly ten Fifth-Tier elites and a single Sixth-Tier among them—was truly unbelievable. Most wouldn’t believe it even if you told them. Yet here it was, unfolding right before their eyes.

As they pushed forward, it wasn’t long before Song Chi spotted the enormous Sixth-Tier Goldsplitter Spider, its body over 120,000 meters long.

In that first instant, Song Chi’s eyes narrowed. Its size was as expected, but his instincts screamed this beast wasn’t a simple newcomer to the Sixth Tier.

That went completely against the theories he and Song Wujian came up with earlier.

Before setting out, they’d guessed the Goldsplitter Spider race had only just produced a Sixth-Tier at best. The last time the spiders fled the Chaos Sector, no such tier had appeared among them.

Song Chi shook his head, setting the puzzle aside. Whatever the case, the beast didn’t seem interested in starting a fight.

Right now, exploring the ancient secret realm came first.

“Listen up! That spatial vortex ahead is the entrance to a secret realm. Everyone is free to enter and explore—grab as many rare resources as you can. If you run into Goldsplitter Spiders inside, don’t hold back. Kill if you can, run if you can’t, but put your own safety above all else.”

No sooner had Song Chi finished than several of the thousand-plus clansmen began piloting their warships toward the vortex.

It was an ancient-level secret realm—meaning treasures beyond imagination. Who could resist that kind of allure?

Inside the Haomiao’s control room, Song Hao narrowed his eyes.

“A primal secret realm, huh? Dangerous, sure, but that just means huge opportunities. If I can take advantage of this…”

The light in his eyes turned steely.

Thanks to the neutron star wreckage acquired early on, the Haomiao far surpassed his peers’ ships. Years of dedicated effort had brought Song Hao enormous rewards in the Pioneering War.

Now, the Haomiao boasted two Red Epic Components and several Orange-Tier Components, its fighting power extraordinary.

Even more, his Torch Seed had just advanced to Orange-Tier—not to mention his ship itself—giving Song Hao boundless confidence.

But just as he fired up the orange engine and surged towards the secret realm vortex, he heard a voice:

“Hold up!”

Song Hao’s eyes lit up, instantly obeying—because the voice belonged to Song Chi.

The message reached Song Baiyi inside the Daylight, too.

Half a minute later, a strange light appeared in Song Chi’s eyes.

“Both the neural imprint and the Mind-Bridge are completely blocked!”

To get a clearer read on this unknown secret realm, Song Chi had tagged three fighter ships from the second-tier clansmen with neural imprints, even enslaving a Third-Tier Doomstar beast with the Enslave Medal. But the moment they entered, every single contact was lost.

The realization made Song Chi’s pulse race as a bad premonition surfaced in his mind.

This primal secret realm was anything but ordinary!

The reason was simple.

By now, Song Chi had explored quite a few ancient secret realms himself.

Whether it was the Dragon-Spine Secret Domain, the Spirit Beast Sanctuary, the Cultivation Sanctuary, or even secret realms inherited from the Doomstar race during the expansion wars, nothing like this had ever happened.

That one fact alone proved this secret realm was truly extraordinary.

Pushing aside the swirling thoughts, Song Chi cleared his mind.

A flash of golden light swept through the Heavenly Ruin as he activated the Destiny Compass. In the next instant, the Neural Remote Control System was dismantled back into its base components.

He planned to lend this part to Song Hao. If the secret realm blocked signals from the outside, communication inside might still be possible. With it, Song Hao would be able to explore much more effectively.

He also retrieved two silver components from the Torch Ancestral Orifice—a silver energy shield and a silver hull plating.

Both had been acquired in market trades over the past decade, originally meant for exchange at the Star Tower Mall, but now they were just right for giving the younger generation a much-needed power boost.

Plus, he had two Red Main Cannons as well.

Handing these five components, plus enhancement resources, to both Song Hao and Song Baiyi, he explained the special nature of this secret realm and reminded them to be careful but give it their all.

Song Chi watched as they both entered the realm.

Ten minutes later, more than 1,500 of the Song family’s second- and third-tier members had poured into the unknown realm.

After making sure everything was ready, the Heavenly Ruin—flanked by its enslaved beasts—settled down to wait with the colossal Sixth-Tier Goldsplitter Spider.

In the command center, Song Chi cast a sidelong glance at the massive spider in the distance, his gaze uncertain.

His original plan had been to attack as soon as the others entered the secret realm. After all, if this was just a normal Sixth-Tier spider with no special rules on its side, the Flamewrath Giant and the others should have been able to take it down.

But after hesitating for a long while, Song Chi finally shook his head and let the thought go.

There was something about this beast—a strange aura—that made him deeply uneasy. And with so many Fourth- and Fifth-Tier spiders in the area, picking a fight now wouldn’t be simple or safe.

He could have used the Market Projection Token, but until he knew what rare resources this place held, burning such a precious item just didn’t sit right with him.

So, in the end, they reached a strange, silent truce—each maintaining a wary, watchful balance.

……

After weathering a violent spatial shift, Song Hao recovered from the aftereffects of teleportation, his face pale.

Ever since advancing to Third-Tier with his Guiding Technique, he’d never suffered such severe backlash—not even while dropping into the Outer Domain.

Shaking it off, Song Hao forced himself to focus, scanning the area around him.

“Where’s Baiyi? Was it a random teleport?”

He and Song Baiyi’s Daylight had entered at the same time, yet now there was no sign of the ship. A knot of worry twisted in Song Hao’s chest.

Turning to the ship’s orange navigation radar, he saw its detection range had shrunk to only 100,000 meters, putting a grim look in his eyes.

“Just as Uncle Song Chi said, this realm is nothing like the usual ones.”

He glanced at the newly installed Neural Remote Control System component, but it was still cooling down. Song Hao had no choice but to keep the Haomiao flying low and quietly pressing forward.

Fortunately, the ship still had a purple Fourth-Tier Void Shroud. As long as he didn’t attack, Haomiao remained hidden, making detection unlikely. Without it, he’d never dare roam around so boldly.

After several hours of flight, the Haomiao had covered a considerable distance. But seeing nothing but endless gray-blue wasteland outside, Song Hao couldn’t help frowning.

To avoid broadcasting his location, Song Hao purposely held back the ship’s speed. Still, several hours added up to well over a thousand kilometers traveled.

He had no idea how big the realm was, but knew for sure a few thousand kilometers was no small distance, especially in a place like the Dragon-Spine Secret Domain.

And yet, in all that time, through thousands of clan members and tens of thousands of spiders, he hadn’t seen another soul.

Song Hao knew what that meant—the scale of this place could be far beyond anything they’d expected.

Just as he wondered about this, the ship’s radar finally pinged with an alert.

He looked in the direction indicated by the screen and soon spotted a thousand-meter-long Goldsplitter Spider. But what caught his eye wasn’t the spider—it was the strange creature fighting it.

“What the… is that?”

Ahead, a humanoid figure barely a hundred meters tall, with three heads and six arms, battled the spider. Song Hao gaped in disbelief.

He racked his brain but nothing in his memory matched this bizarre being.

“A unique lifeform, native to the secret realm?”

Even as he wondered, the fight up ahead hit its climax.

The three-headed, six-armed creature suddenly swelled in size, soon matching the spider’s stature. Waves of bloodlust rippled from its body, and with a flurry of six arms, it pummeled the Third-Tier Goldsplitter Spider to death on the spot.