Chapter 483: Secret Bargains beneath the White Jade Tree

“How is this possible? Ever since the Frontier War ended, almost all high-level resource sites were taken, the Yin Family of Tianzhu from Xianqin have been gone for ages. Without the Xianqin Supervisory Office, who could possibly notice something happening in our Star Domain so quickly?”

After their brief shock and suspicion, everyone from the Song Family found themselves thinking the same thing.

Though Song Chi and Song Wujian were the first to notice the behemoth lurking beyond the spatial rift, it was shrouded in an intense, pitch-black energy shield. They couldn’t make out the ship’s exact shape.

Through the magnetic wave comms group chat, the three Song family members exchanged glances before nodding together.

Hiss—

The Calm‑Sea Dragon‑Xiang’s hatch slid open. From inside burst the Three-Eyed Clan Imperial Flagship, the very ship that had made a brief but stunning appearance at Calamity Star Floating-Land.

Once fully out of the Calm‑Sea Dragon‑Xiang, the Imperial Flagship began to expand at a dizzying pace.

A kilometer.

Ten kilometers.

…

In the blink of an eye, it returned to its peak—over a hundred thousand kilometers long.

They knew all too well the rule: “No Torch battleship or higher may participate in internal strife of any kind.” Decades ago, this Venomspider Sector had joined the Torch Human Civilization. Still, you could never be too careful.

With the Imperial Flagship now summoned, plus the Market Projection Token Song Chi already gripped inside the Heavenly Ruin, the Song Family’s confidence got a serious boost.

While the Song Family readied themselves, the unidentified Star-Annihilator-class Ship overhead finally broke through the rift, its massive hull—tens of thousands of kilometers—completely revealed before the four from the Song Family.

But this time, something was different. The ship didn’t hide its identity. Through the outer energy shield, they spotted a distinctive, ferocious armor plating—and the unmistakable Morningstar insignia.

“Rosetta, it’s you!”

Song Wujian’s voice rang out from within the battleship.

At the same time, the Song Family pretty much figured out exactly what had gone wrong. Most likely, when they reported to Song Lihai through the Torch Network, someone at the Morningstar Kingdom’s Torch Main Bureau intercepted the message.

All of them could only sigh helplessly.

That’s how the Torch Network worked—those with higher authority could monitor everything beneath them. No wonder each family pushed so hard to develop their own private communicators.

And you really couldn’t blame the clan member who reported the incident. It was urgent. If they hadn’t used the Torch Network, who knew how long it would’ve taken? By the time Song Lihai got here, that secret realm might’ve been cleaned out by the Golden-Rift Spiders.

Rosetta Morningstar, inside the Morningstar Traverse, didn’t bother responding to the Song Family’s hostility. Instead, his gaze drifted—just a bit wary—toward the Imperial Flagship, which dwarfed the Morningstar Traverse by several times.

Torch warships were famous for their brutal solo firepower, but a flagship from a Starsea overlord-class civilization wasn’t exactly ordinary either. And Rosetta himself had only just advanced to Star-Annihilator captain. The modules on his ship weren’t exactly comparable to veteran Star-Annihilator captains. Head-to-head with their Imperial Flagship? Who could say who’d win.

Of course, this was just a theoretical matchup. Bound by the rules of the Four Great Super Empires within Torch Human Civilization borders, it was little more than a what-if.

Rosetta snapped back to the moment, eyes narrowing as he glanced down at the Song clan ships.

Once secure comms were established between the two sides, Rosetta spoke in a cold, flat voice:

“Song Wujian, I hold no ill intent. This Timeworld Tree is a top-tier resource. Your clan alone can’t keep it secure.”

He paused, as if to prove his sincerity.

The Morningstar Traverse’s main hatch opened and, before the Song Family’s eyes, nearly a hundred corpses of Tier 3 and Tier 4 Golden-Rift Spiders were dumped out.

Down below, by the Song Family’s ships.

When the words “Timeworld Tree” left the other side’s lips, Song Chi, Song Wujian, and Song Shiyuan all felt their hearts sink to rock bottom.

They’d already guessed as much the moment Rosetta appeared, but having it confirmed out loud—it still stung.

This was the Timeworld Tree. A super-secret realm resource. Just one Tier 4 Timeworld Tree could support a Tier 5 House for generations. And a Tier 6 Timeworld Tree could serve as the core foundation even among Immortal Houses, massively lowering the risk of losing their bloodline inheritance.

But as the nearly hundred Golden-Rift Spider corpses hit the field, the Song Family exchanged looks. They didn’t need words to understand.

Obviously, these Golden-Rift Spiders were stragglers from before—the very ones that exposed the Timeworld Tree’s existence. Still, the Song Family had to admit, with so many spiders, a few slipping through was pretty much inevitable.

Honestly, they owed Rosetta Morningstar a thanks. By cleaning up those last threats, he’d shut down any chance of rumors spreading about the Timeworld Tree.

After a moment of thought, Song Wujian spoke up:

“Your Majesty, you’re suggesting our two families work together to contain all news about this secret realm—then split all the Timeworld Trees inside, fifty-fifty?”

Song Wujian’s words were smart—and quick. He knew things were already set in stone. No point dwelling on what-ifs. Now the focus was getting the best deal he could for the Song Family—starting with splitting resources down the middle.

After all, whether in strength or status, the Song Family was at a huge disadvantage. Fifty-fifty was more than fair.

But Rosetta was a veteran captain who’d survived eight thousand years. When it came to cunning, he was no pushover.

“Fifty-fifty? Song Wujian, with our two families’ power, do you really think that’s fair?”

He let the silence draw out for a couple beats before continuing:

“Sixty-forty—sixty for Morningstar, forty for Song.”

On hearing this, Song Chi and the rest of the Song Family felt a bitter frustration.

Song Wujian responded coldly:

“Your Majesty, it was my Song Family that discovered this realm. If you won’t agree to fifty-fifty, then we’ll blow the whole thing open. Neither of us gets anything!”

In the Morningstar Traverse’s control room, Rosetta’s eyes glinted coldly, but he didn’t budge.

“No need for these childish threats. Would your Song Family really dare?”

With that threat getting him nowhere, Song Wujian narrowed his eyes even further:

“So Rosetta, you’re really willing to fight our Song Family right here in the Venomspider Sector? I guess we’ll see if the Torch Judgement Court punishes our Imperial Flagship or your Star-Annihilator-class Ship!”

Every syllable made Song Chi’s heart pound. He could hear the unyielding determination in his ancestor’s voice.

It seemed Rosetta Morningstar could sense it too.

But what Rosetta didn’t see: within the Song Family’s encrypted chat, Song Wujian secretly signaled Song Chi with a subtle look.

Song Chi instantly understood.

Inside the tightly sealed Heavenly Ruin, a faint ripple of spatial energy flashed—Song Chi quietly vanished.

Seconds later, he reappeared for just a split second, leaving behind a Voidform Avatar. Then he slipped away once more.

Omniverse Market, Traveler’s Inn.

Song Chi pulled out two Market Projection Tokens and quietly handed them to Song Hao, who he’d summoned in.

“The Morningstar Family’s Star-Annihilator King has already arrived. Time’s running out. Go all in. If you find any White Jade Tree even close to a kilometer tall, don’t hesitate—use a Market Projection Token!”

“Understood, Uncle Chi!”

Having received the instructions, Song Hao immediately returned to the secret realm.

Meanwhile, the outside negotiations wrapped up. Seeing Song Wujian’s real intent to fight, Rosetta agreed to the fifty-fifty split.

With talks over, the doors of the Morningstar Traverse opened and three thousand Tier 2 and Tier 3 Morningstar Family captains were pulled out.

These Morningstar captains still had their powers sealed. It would be at least a day before they could recover.

Song Wujian and Song Shiyuan both breathed a little easier. This meant Song Chi and his team had a full day’s head start.

The two elders were thinking the same thing.

Fifty-fifty split?

That only counts after we’ve had our first sweep.

Just as this crossed their minds, Rosetta Morningstar’s voice rang out over the group chat again.

“Song Wujian, with the Timeworld Tree and Timeworld Fruit at stake, wiping out the Golden-Rift Spiders won’t be enough. I have a gold-quality contract module that can bind five thousand people per contract. Once all our people are out, have them all sign a nondisclosure. That’s the safest bet.”

He then posted a property panel in the chat.

Galactic Oath, lv70

Quality: Gold

Trait: Galactic Oath

Trait 2: Starry Sky Maxim

Trait 3: Single Contract Binding x5

…

“Agreed!”

One look at the property panel, and Song Wujian didn’t hesitate. He’d been planning to use his own silver-quality non-disclosure before, but with Rosetta presenting a gold contract module—securing the secret even more tightly—he gladly agreed.

…

Deep inside the secret realm, under the control of Song Hao’s neural imprint, two Shadow Clan Terracotta Warriors each led dozens more, charging into two separate underground spaces—plunging the place into utter chaos.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Song Hao activated a blue remote-deployment ship module, sending two Market Projection Tokens to the coordinates of the two Shadow Clan Terracotta Warriors underground.

In a burst of space ripples, the Market Projection Tokens materialized beside the Shadow Clan Terracotta Warriors.

With Song Hao controlling them via neural imprint, the warriors instantly snatched the gold tokens.

But even moving at top speed, the flash of spatial ripples and golden light still caught the attention of the nearby Three-Headed Six-Armed Creature.

Song Hao didn’t care. He drove his Terracotta Warriors at full sprint, no hesitation.

Ten-odd minutes later, he memorized the warriors’ current positions, then remotely de-summoned them.

The Neural Remote Control System’s duration had ended—he’d have to wait for it to recharge.

As for the two Market Projection Tokens, the warriors had already brought them back to the Market Projection Room—then, through Song Chi, they returned to his hands.

Now all he could do was wait for the Neural Remote Control System to finish cooling down.

While waiting, Song Hao managed to contact Song Baiyi using a comms module. Communications were heavily suppressed inside the secret realm, so their success was mostly down to luck.

“You found a White Jade Tree too?”

As they chatted, Song Hao learned that Song Baiyi had also spotted a White Jade Tree.

“Baiyi, how tall was the tree you found exactly? Did you see any White Jade Fruit on it?”

Song Baiyi didn’t know much about the Timeworld Tree. Surprised by Song Hao’s excitement through the comm hologram, he still replied:

“Didn’t really check, but it had to be over a kilometer…”

“A kilometer? Baiyi, that’s huge! You really scored big!”

Hearing those words, Song Hao’s face lit up, unable to hide his joy.

But then Song Baiyi added one more thing.

“But I didn’t see any White Jade Fruit.”

Song Hao’s smile instantly froze.

“No White Jade Fruit…? Wait a sec.”

…

Market, Traveler’s Inn—hearing Song Hao’s report, Song Chi arched a brow.

“No fruit? Could it be that Tier 6 Timeworld Tree already got raided early by the Golden-Rift Spiders?”

Muttering to himself, Song Chi quickly left the inn and made a trip to his battleship outside.

Returning in moments, he held both a red-quality top-tier Celestial Spirit Earth and some Azure Spring Essence from the Azure Spirit Spring.

“Take these. Once you and Baiyi find that kilometer-tall White Jade Tree, sprinkle this spirit earth and this spring water carefully at its roots. Then try digging up the entire tree—to bring into the Market.”

Song Hao’s eyes sparkled. He hadn’t even considered such a move.

But he trusted Song Chi completely. No hesitation—he hurried back into the secret realm.

“Baiyi, it’s ready. Show me the way to that White Jade Tree!”

Baiyi still didn’t really understand what made the Timeworld Tree so special. But he kept quiet.

The two cruisers met up and set course straight for the towering White Jade Tree.

Two hours later, hurrying all the way, the two ships finally reached their destination.

“A kilometer-tall White Jade Tree, just as I thought! We really did it. Hurry, let’s go!”

The two ships carefully drew up alongside the White Jade Tree. Song Baiyi finally voiced the question on his mind.

“Second Brother, do you know what the White Jade Tree really is?”

“No idea. Uncle Chi said there’s a lot at stake here. For now, it’s best we don’t know.”

“Then how does Uncle Chi even know? Did you already step outside and back in?”

Because of the nondisclosure contract, Song Hao couldn’t answer. He shook his head.

“Don’t ask. Uncle Chi and I are under a binding oath. You’ll find out eventually. Right now, let’s work fast. The Morningstar Family patriarch’s already here—we don’t have much time!”

…

“What’s going on? We can’t pull it out at all! Dozens of terracotta warriors and several Tier 3 Doomstar slaves are all pushing—nothing’s working!”

Inside the White Day’s command room, Song Baiyi’s brow furrowed tight.

Across the comms, Song Hao reappeared—now holding a gold-glowing token.