Chapter 525: Descent into the Star Core City

With the mirrors’ light at work, both Torch Battleships shifted in appearance, finally settling into the forms of two completely ordinary starships.

Changing their look was just the first step. More importantly, both the Heavenly Ruin and Scarlet Sea-Boiler got another layer of concealment. Alongside the two Mirror Prism Shuttles, all four ships now blended almost perfectly into the surrounding void, making them nearly impossible to spot.

With their engines quietly igniting, the four battleships shot straight toward Star Core City in the distance.

Of course, while this concealment was impressive, it wouldn’t necessarily fool a Dominator-level being. Song Chi and the others made sure to keep well away from the Dominators’ battlefield above them.

Even the Star Spirit Dominator overhead hadn’t noticed them, so the lesser star spirits certainly wouldn’t. The four ships reached the edge of the city’s core shield without drawing a hint of attention.

“Get ready to trigger spatial shifting. Don’t resist it, and remember, it only lasts for twenty minutes—don’t waste time!”

On the fleet’s group line, the Mirror Princess reminded everyone. She drew on all her sixth-level energy, flooding her Mirror Prism Shuttle with mirror light until all four ships were wrapped in its glow.

Deep inside the grand formation of the Star Core, a corner of the heavens went unnoticed. There, the void seemed to turn into a translucent pane. For a moment, a sharp gleam flashed across it, but then it was gone.

In truth, no one knew exactly when, but the Heavenly Ruin and the other three ships passed silently through the star core shield above, materializing within the city’s inner boundary.

Even now, the cloaking light hadn’t faded. No one in the city below noticed a thing.

Song Chi’s heart skipped a beat at such uncanny ability.

He found himself wondering—if this could work on the Floating-land’s protective shield, then the Mirrorfolk really were terrifying. The last line of defense for countless civilizations would be meaningless in the face of power like this.

Almost as if he’d read Song Chi’s thoughts, Song Yan chimed in privately:

“There are a lot of limits to this spatial shift. The Star Spirit Dominator here only rose to power recently, and the city’s grand array is just peaking at the sixth level. The Mirror Princess also has a high-grade spatial oddity backing her up.”

“Otherwise, a single sixth-level Mirrorfolk couldn’t shift space this easily—especially not against something like the Floating-land shield. That’s on a whole different scale.”

Hearing this, Song Chi felt a bit more at ease. If it were otherwise, things would be ridiculous.

All this happened in a heartbeat. Once inside Star Core City, the group wasted no time—their window was only twenty minutes, after all.

“Follow me!”

Song Yan piloted the Scarlet Sea-Boiler down toward the city. He’d already stashed several backup plans here and knew the layout well. He directed them straight to the Star Spirit Tribe’s vault.

The four ships moved at a cautious pace. They didn’t dare go fast, as droves of fifth- and sixth-level star spirits kept appearing nearby. A single misstep would get them spotted.

Fortunately, each ship had a short-range blink capability. After using this ability once, they made it safely to the vault’s towering entrance.

Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz!

Just as they tried to breach the building, they suddenly triggered a small-scale starlight shield.

The abrupt change drew the attention of the many star spirits around them. An instant later, furious glares locked on and beams of stellar light rained down from every direction.

But these weren’t ordinary ships. Despite a barrage, they took little damage. Still, the attack shattered their cover, their hulls fully exposed beneath the swarm of star spirits.

This only fueled the star spirits’ rage. Above, a primordial star formed, swelling as it was flooded with starlight.

In a blink, the star grew from hundreds, to thousands, to tens of thousands of meters across, until it was a colossal phantom in the sky.

Song Chi didn’t care about its size. What mattered was the immense threat radiating from it—even inside his ship, every hair on his body stood on end.

He trusted his instincts and pushed his Dual Pupils to full power.

“No wonder. Any group that’s lasted ten thousand years on the Red Star Continent won’t be easy to handle. That shield wasn’t here before—those sixth-level star spirits must have set it up after the Dominator left!”

On the group line, Song Yan’s face was grim.

Song Chi’s voice suddenly cut in.

“That primordial star overhead is loaded with the core power of two golden oddities. Add the reinforcement from this city and over a dozen sixth-level star spirits—the thing’s got the power of a seventh-level strike. Break down that starlight shield fast. I’ll hold them off outside!”

Knowing the situation was dire, Song Yan and the Mirror Princess didn’t argue. Both agreed instantly.

They were a well-practiced team, at least the three of them were. Seeing Song Yan accept the plan, the others knew Song Chi wasn’t just showing off—he really could handle it.

Back in the Scarlet Sea-Boiler’s main control room, Song Yan’s mind raced as he activated a crimson component on the ship.

A beam of red light shot out from the ship’s hull, drilling into the starlight shield ahead. In moments, the shield dimmed by more than half, but it didn’t break.

Right after, a razor-sharp mirror prism blasted out from Mirror Lake’s Mirror Prism Shuttle.

Crack, crack, crack!

With a shatter, the already-fading shield broke to pieces.

“Go, Seven!”

The three ships barreled into the vault. Song Yan didn’t forget to yell back to Song Chi, but there was no time for more.

Above them, the primordial star finished coalescing, and a torrent of starlight rained down, laced with a Dominator’s authority and bearing down on the city.

Inside the Heavenly Ruin’s control room, watching the sky fill with endless starlight, Song Chi had a sudden idea.

With the Shield of Holy Light, Yin-Yang Counter-Phase Annihilation Shield, Black Hole Evolution Layer, and Neutron-Star Core Armor, the Heavenly Ruin might just tank the most dangerous blast. After all, it was only a pseudo-Dominator attack with seventh-level force, lacking any perfected law behind it.

Still, even if he survived that first blast, there’d be wave after wave of starlight, finding every crack and weakness. Once the shields and armor were gone, the ship would be in serious danger.

He could still use the Last Aegis trait to restore the shields and armor in a pinch, but the others wouldn’t have that option. With so many attacks pouring down, someone had to hold the line.

“You guys go loot the place. Stick to the schedule—don’t worry about me!”

“But since I’m covering the retreat, we get seventy percent of whatever we find this time!”

It was clear the Mirror Princess was decisive and bold. She hesitated for just a moment at this new split, then nodded in agreement.

“You’re right, your side is risking more—let’s do a thirty-seventy split!”

……

With that settled, Song Yan and the others didn’t pause. One after another, they dove into the depths of the vault.

Back outside, just as the raging seventh-level blast was about to strike the Heavenly Ruin, a dazzling golden light surged up from the ship.

As the holy light faded, the towering spirit form of the Angel King enveloped the whole ship.

With the protection of this eighth-level apparition, the would-be Dominator’s starlight was reduced by nearly eighty percent, leaving the Heavenly Ruin unharmed.

The falling starlight now couldn’t penetrate the Angel King’s spirit at all, unable to reach inside.

“Angels! How dare you invade my sacred Star Core City? You’ve signed your own death warrant!”

Seeing the enormous Angel King above the Heavenly Ruin, all the star spirits immediately pegged Song Chi as an angel.

Having shifted the blame so easily, Song Chi wasn’t about to deny it.

With more and more fifth- and sixth-level star spirits attacking, he didn’t even flinch. The Angel King’s Authority Wings were now boosted to level 70, making the apparition even more fearsome. Most average fifth- and sixth-level strikes were reduced by more than ninety percent.

Even what little was left wouldn’t wear through the Shield of Holy Light any time soon. The Heavenly Ruin was in no real danger.

Realizing their attacks were useless, the star spirits stopped firing.

Right then, a peak sixth-level star spirit soared up into the sky, radiant with starlight, and began linking itself to the primordial star overhead.

Once the link was complete, Song Chi saw it raise its right arm as if holding up the entire star.

He was still wondering what it was planning when the star spirit suddenly swung its arm, sending the star hurtling down like a blazing meteor, wreathed in starfire.

“Seriously, another self-destructing star? Does every star user know this move?”

That was Song Chi’s first thought and he couldn’t be blamed. Whether Doomstar Race or Star Spirit Tribe, they all seemed able to blow up their summoned stars. Even the Yaoguang Star Tower probably had something similar.

Grumbling aside, Song Chi reacted instantly.

Under his command, the Angel King’s phantom unfurled six wings, each glowing with immense holy power and the Law of Light. Together, the energy became a brilliant sphere, launching straight at the falling primordial star.

Boom!

Holy light and starlight clashed, sending a terrifying shockwave surging out from the point of impact.