Chapter 513: Domination at Dragon Spine: The Awakening of the Starry Sky Dragon Shark

After returning to Dragon-Spine Continent, Song Chi wasted no time and rushed straight to Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain. With a Sovereign-level enslaved beast in play, he couldn’t afford a moment’s delay.

Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain, Ancestral Hall of the Dragon Whale.

Recently, the Family Ancestral Hall had activated the ‘Chaotic Mist’ more times than in the past hundred years combined. But each time it was used, it signaled a momentous event for the entire family—never for trivial matters.

……

Above the grand hall, three golden thrones shimmered, each seat taken by an imposing figure—one woman and two men.

“Chi, you can speak now!”

As soon as Song Wujian finished, Song Shiyuan, Song Shixing, and Song Xingru, seated upon their golden thrones, turned their eyes down to Song Chi below.

Whenever Song Chi personally requested the Chaotic Mist, what followed always shook the entire family. Since this request came from Song Chi, and since all three on the thrones weren’t physically present on Dragon-Spine, their curiosity was already piqued.

Song Chi didn’t waste time. He gave a straightforward, concise account of his recent expedition to the Outer Domain.

After he finished, the hall fell into silence for a full half a minute. Only then did the voice of the Prime Ancestor break the stillness.

“Chi, are you absolutely sure that Starry Sky Dragon Shark is completely exhausted?”

“Absolutely.”

Song Chi answered simply but firmly.

Hearing that, the elders, who knew his character well, had no more doubts. Their faces grew grave.

A Sovereign creature—and one so weakened. If they could truly enslave it, the Song Family would be breaking new ground.

Whether it was for the future promotion of the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, the security and resource output for the Hidden Vein’s base on the Red Star Superdimensional Continent, or the upcoming refining of the Seventh‑Tier Floating-land Origin Core—every aspect of the Song Family would benefit massively.

“So, Chi, you mean…”

Before the Prime Ancestor could finish, Song Chi had already listed out the properties of the Celestial Authority Ring.

“Once upgraded to level 70, this golden slave component—with its extra authority boost—meets the basic requirements to enslave a Sovereign, at least in theory!”

Looking over the attributes Song Chi displayed, Song Shixing spoke up, voice tinged with excitement.

Even with three thousand years of experience, he couldn’t help but lose his composure when confronted with such an exceptional slave component.

Still, Song Wujian and Song Shiyuan both knew a fair amount about Song Chi’s warship loadout. Their eyes flickered with surprise, but they weren’t caught off guard.

After exchanging a glance, Song Wujian spoke:

“Shiyuan and I have seen a unique silver component before. That one could further boost slave component success rates. There’s no rush—Xingru, head back to Storm Calamity Floating-Land right away to keep watch. Shiyuan, see if you can arrange to borrow that part, even temporarily.”

With that, Song Wujian turned to Song Chi:

“And to ensure this works, we should help you strengthen the Celestial Authority Ring to level 79. The family’s future for the next several centuries depends on this—we can’t allow any mistakes.”

After quickly talking it over, the elders pooled together some resources.

By the end, Song Chi had received four Dominion Souls and twenty thousand Titanite Crystals.

The elders actually intended to gather eight Dominion Souls and a hundred strands of Seventh‑Tier Floating-land Origin, but Song Chi knew the family’s limits. Their resources weren’t endless, and he still had a fair amount in reserve, so he only asked for four Dominion Souls and twenty thousand Titanite Crystals.

Once the topic of enslaving the Starry Sky Dragon Shark was settled, conversation shifted to the massive insect swarm.

With a Middle Ancient Brood Queen at the center, no one could deny the appeal of that swarm—it promised a steady output of high-grade, even top-tier, energy crystals.

But the Song Family knew themselves well enough. With four Sovereign swarm-guardians lurking nearby, there was no way they could make a move right now.

“As for the swarm, we’ll shelve it. Even with the Starry Sky Dragon Shark under our control and the Three-Eyed Clan’s flagship helping, it’s still not enough. Only after the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang upgrades to a Star-Annihilator-class Ship will we have a shot.”

……

The elders moved quickly. Barely half a month later, the Prime Ancestor and Elder Shixing returned silently to Dragon-Spine Continent via a spatial wormhole.

Meanwhile, Song Chi finally saw that unique silver auxiliary slave component.

Bio-Affinity Device, Level 60

Quality: Silver

Trait: Reduces the chance of being attacked by wild creatures by 40% when installed on a warship.

Trait 2: Increases success rate of actively enslaving creatures by 50%.

……

Song Chi was more than satisfied with this part. With that 50% boost, plus the innate quality and upgrades on the Celestial Authority Ring, his odds of success were now extremely high.

The Song Family was never one for hesitation. With everything ready, three of them boarded the Heavenly Ruin, and with Song Chi at the helm, they soon arrived at the tier-three resource floating-land chosen by the Starry Sky Dragon Shark.

Song Shiyuan and the others made no move to leave Heavenly Ruin. Instead, they waited inside as the ship slowly descended toward the floating-land below.

Too many warships would only alert their target.

Still, with the Starry Sky Dragon Shark in deep slumber, the odds of a mishap were slim. Better safe than sorry, though.

Under the double concealment of Mirage and the Void Shroud, Heavenly Ruin slipped quietly through the underground tunnel left by the Starry Sky Dragon Shark, gradually entering the core of the third-tier floating-land.

They crept forward for dozens of minutes. When a colossal black star appeared at the edge of their vision, Song Chi and the elders knew they’d arrived.

No denying it—the Dragon Shark’s regenerative powers weren’t half-bad. In just over ten days, even though its life force still seemed drained, many of its wounds had already healed, and the Sovereign blood caked on its body had dried.

Inside the ship’s command module, Song Chi traded glances with the elders. Seeing Song Wujian and the others give a nod, he took a deep breath—then activated the level 79 Celestial Authority Ring.

A golden brand of enslavement erupted from the warship, shooting straight into the Starry Sky Dragon Shark below.

A moment later, Song Chi shook his head under the expectant gazes of the elders.

The first attempt had failed.

Without pausing, Song Chi immediately fired off a second golden brand.

Another miss.

A low, muffled groan echoed from the sleeping dragon shark below, its nose and jaws trembling as if it sensed something.

Undeterred, Song Chi unleashed a third, then a fourth attempt.

Finally, on the fifth try, golden light began to bloom inside the creature. Song Chi felt an intangible connection snap into place with the Starry Sky Dragon Shark.

“It worked!”

As those long-awaited words left Song Chi’s mouth, the others, tense beyond words, let out a collective sigh of relief. Their delight was impossible to hide.

“Ha! Outstanding! Heaven truly favors our Song Family!”

Three simple words, but they paved the way for the Song Family’s future. They could almost see their progress accelerating at every turn.

Before, two centuries had seemed barely enough for the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang’s evolution. But now, with the Starry Sky Dragon Shark in hand, preparations across the board would move faster—no more worries.

While everyone was caught up in their thoughts, Song Chi activated the Celestial Authority Ring again. The massive dragon shark shrank rapidly, finally transforming into a palm-sized, miniature version of itself.

Even so, it was clear the Starry Sky Dragon Shark remained drained and exhausted.

Watching this, Song Chi cracked open the hatch, carefully reeling the dragon shark into the ship. As he did, something came to mind, so he turned and asked the elders:

“Elders, do any of your ships have high-grade medical pod components?”

The Life-System Medical Repair Pod on Heavenly Ruin was only of red quality. That wouldn’t cut it for a badly wounded Sovereign. That was why Song Chi asked.

He wasn’t disappointed—Elder Shixing promptly replied:

“My ship has a silver-grade Multi-Function Medical Pod. After we return to Dragon-Spine I’ll have it safely transferred to you!”

Grinning, Song Chi nodded. Silver, multi-function, and effective for both internal and external injuries—it was a clear upgrade over the standard repair pod.

……

After that, the group observed the distant insect nest thousands of light-years away through the Eyes of Heaven. Seeing that everything matched Song Chi’s earlier report, they returned to Dragon-Spine Continent.

The first thing they did when they got back was transfer the silver medical pod from the Calm-Sea Rising Dragon to Heavenly Ruin, upgrade it to level 70, then immediately place the Starry Sky Dragon Shark inside for comprehensive treatment.

With all that finished, peace settled once again over the Song Family.

To the average clan member, things seemed as uneventful as ever. Only the family’s core few knew that within half a month, they had enslaved a Sovereign and added another peak force to their ranks.

Time passed. In the blink of an eye, twenty years went by.

During this time, the Song Family continued to thrive. In just these two decades, they gained four more Zhulu-class Cruiser Captains. Meanwhile, Dragon-Spine Continent’s diameter broke through seven hundred light-years, racing towards the thousand-light-year mark required for a sixth-grade floating-land.

And there was even better news—Song Tianshu successfully completed his seclusion and advanced Guiding Technique to tier five, officially joining the ranks of the fifth-tier Battleship Captains.

So, the Song Family continued to boast five publicly known Battleship Captains:

Song Dingbang, Song Tianhao, Song Tianshu, Song Xuancang, and Song Chi.

It’s also rumored that Song Dingbang has begun the final preparations to challenge for the Dreadnought.

Not only the family, but Song Chi himself had changed a lot over these years. The Martial Heaven’s Eye secret art had become nearly proficient enough to host a Law of Origin, and with several newly harvested thousand-year Deepwater Pearls, he’d pushed Guiding Technique from level 52 to level 54.

Thanks to the Light Divine Crystal, his Law of Light comprehension reached 55%, finally surpassing the average among Battleship Captains.

……

Some distance from Dragon-Spine Continent, in a small nondescript debris field in the former Dinghai Sector, a Zhulu-class Cruiser three thousand two hundred meters long, escorted by three thousand-meter patrol cruisers, stealthily slipped inside.

After winding through the outer debris fields, the four ships disappeared into the central composite illusion space, vanishing from outside detection.

Inside this illusion, the four ships immediately spotted another Zhulu-class Cruiser, equally massive.

“That’s Elder Xuanfeng our guardian here at the teleportation channel. Shouldn’t you pay your respects?”

As the channel group chat activated, three clan juniors—all finalists in the family’s succession contest—respectfully spoke up:

“Greetings, Elder Xuanfeng! I am Song Yiming (Song Hang, Song Yichuan).”

With a gentle smile, Elder Song Xuanfeng nodded at the three exceptional juniors, then glanced at the Zhulu-class Cruiser Captain who’d escorted them.

“Bei, don’t get careless. That region is crawling with high-ranking outsiders. Even in your year, with the Patriarch escorting, it nearly ended in disaster.”

Inside the Northern Star River, Song Bei nodded solemnly.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Xuanfeng!”

Though Northern Star River had only reached Zhulu-class within the last century, with a guiding elder at his side and two centuries of adventures, Song Bei had confidence in his ship’s fighting strength.

Elder Xuanfeng nodded, satisfied, and said no more.

One by one, the four ships entered the teleportation passage. The illusion space once again fell silent.

Meanwhile, light-years away in the sector containing the Bodhi Inheritance Tower, Northern Star River and its three escort cruisers materialized.

As they neared the distant Bodhi Inheritance Tower, the four received some good news—the next round of the tower challenge would begin in just ten days.

Ten days later, Song Bei took out three orange oddities, and the family’s three escort cruisers were promptly sent into the Bodhi Inheritance Tower.

No one knew how long this challenge would last. Song Bei shifted his attention to the many trading posts scattered around.

Maybe it was luck, maybe not, but soon his eyes were fixed on a particular trading post.

Just then, that familiar elderly voice sounded in his ear.

“Bei, that’s a tier-seven Silver Apple!”