Chapter 548: Blood War Relic: Shadows Over the Star Coffin

Vrrrm—

The battleship pushed on, cutting through space as it sped toward the second golden Blood War Stele, nestled within a coffin adrift in the starry void.

But as the ship drew within ten thousand miles, the once-still coffin suddenly shook with violent tremors. Not long after, a projection of the Bloodwar Clan—bathed in brilliant gold—condensed in the air above it.

Judging by its towering form, stretching for over ten thousand kilometers, there was no doubt this was a true Dominion-tier projection of the Bloodwar Clan.

“Dominion-level Bloodwar Clan spirit remnant. I’ve been waiting for you!”

Shang Jie wasn’t surprised at the appearance of the spectral guardian. He had long expected it—after all, his older brother had faced another Dominion-grade Bloodwar Clan spirit at a previous coffin.

Otherwise, why would they have only taken one stele so far?

As the battleship’s hatch slid open, a Level-Six enslaved creature burst out onto the void.

Right after, Shang Jie, inside the warship, activated one of his flagship’s enslaving modules.

Almost at once, the six-stage Abyssal Dragondemon’s aura rocketed upward, its body expanding by the second.

Moments ago, this Abyssal Dragondemon had only been at the peak of Level Six. Now, its strength broke through into the seventh stage.

No doubt about it—Shang Jie’s activation was a burn-it-all boost, likely something akin to Enslave Seal: Berserk, burning away life for a one-time surge.

With its power now at Level Seven and the clock ticking, Shang Jie wasted no time. He ordered the Abyssal Dragondemon to charge straight at the Bloodwar Clan’s Dominion remnant.

Dominion Power collided. A torrent of destructive energy ripped through the closed starfield.

Luckily, the coffins floating in the void were far enough apart not to be heavily affected.

But at the end of the day, the Abyssal Dragondemon had been forcibly elevated to Dominion rank, and simply couldn’t match the true dominion force of the Bloodwar Clan’s spirit. It was soon completely overpowered. With no outside intervention, this battle could only tilt further and further toward the spirit remnant.

But don’t forget—there’s still a battleship flanking the field.

As the son of an elite Star-Annihilator-class captain, Shang Jie’s ship was decked out to the max. Even if it couldn’t join the direct fray, it could still provide serious fire support.

The Abyssal Dragondemon might have borrowed power by burning itself out, but the Bloodwar Clan’s spirit remnant wasn’t in much better shape. It was the soul fragment of a Dominion who’d fallen untold eons ago. Both combatants were rootless, barely hanging on.

Shang Jie’s goal was to disrupt the remnant’s attacks and boost the Dragondemon, letting it eat away more of the already dwindling spirit energy.

“Destiny Shell” – Destiny Domain!

“Winds of Renewal” – Revitalize!

“Frostcrown” – Icy Bind!

…

With each module activating in turn, the Dragondemon managed to hang on for a good ten-plus minutes.

But that was as far as it could go. Artificial dominion could never truly match the original. Even with all Shang Jie’s efforts, by the fifteenth minute the Bloodwar spirit had brought its massive blade down and finished the Dragondemon.

The Abyssal Dragondemon was utterly destroyed. At once, the spirit remnant turned its seething rage on Shang Jie’s flagship. Strangely, he showed no fear—if anything, a grin started to form at the corner of his mouth.

Because right then, the Bloodwar Clan spirit remnant had grown visibly dimmer. Anyone could tell it was running on empty.

Still, Bloodwar Clan fighters were born warriors. Even as mere spirit remnants, their battle instincts endured.

Sensing its time was short, the spirit’s dominion eyes flashed ghostly bright. No telling what forbidden trick it used, but Shang Jie’s ship was instantly locked in place, unable to move an inch.

Back in the command deck, Shang Jie’s earlier confidence faltered. Panic flashed in his eyes, but he was no fool—in a split second he triggered a red immunity module on the ship.

Though a Dominion-grade lock was far beyond what the red module could handle, it still bought the ship just the tiniest bit of freedom.

Taking the chance, Shang Jie activated another module.

“Shadowmirror” – Phantom Shift!

Out behind the battleship, thousands of kilometers away, a spectral projection suddenly appeared. It began to turn solid in moments, while the flagship started flickering and fading in return.

Watching from the distance, the Heavenly Ruin finally made its move.

“Now’s the time. Let that spirit remnant deliver the final strike so nobody notices Heavenly Ruin’s involvement. That’s the best outcome.”

Resolved, a subtle golden beam tore through the void.

Far off, Shang Jie went completely rigid inside the flagship.

“Impossible! A second round of control tech—?”

Terror filled his eyes, but before he could think further, his mind went blank.

Outside, the Bloodwar Clan’s dominion spirit raised a blade of golden light and brought it crashing down.

A full-force Dominion strike.

The battleship couldn’t even raise a shield before it hit.

The ending was inevitable.

Crack!

Without a pause, the dominion strike cleaved Shang Jie’s flagship clean in two—like slicing through tofu.

In an instant, the ship’s lights guttered out. Shang Jie in the command seat perished alongside, falling in the stars forever.

Even at the very end, he never figured out two things: how the spirit remnant managed two control techniques back-to-back, and how someone with his bright future could just die here in this forgotten shadow.

Finally, at the starfield’s edge, the Heavenly Ruin revealed itself.

But even more dazzling was the swirling violet thunder that had fully formed at the ship’s bow.

“Divine Thunder Cannon” – Ninefold Violet Heaven World-Ending Calamity Thunder!

As expected, in Star-Annihilator mode, the Ninefold Violet Heaven Thunder completely wiped out what remained of the Bloodwar Clan spirit.

At last, it was clear who had the last laugh—Song Chi had been the real winner behind it all.

But it was a bit early to celebrate. Guided by the Eyes of Heaven’s radar, the Heavenly Ruin raced straight for the coffin.

Before, the Eye of Spirit-Seeking had been blocked by a special outer curtain, unable to detect the golden Blood War Stele. But once Song Chi followed Shang Jie into the locked zone, he’d spotted the blinking golden icon on radar right away.

He stayed alert, though. With the spirit remnant nearby, caution was still called for.

Luckily, the spirit had been the last line of defense. After it fell, there were no more surprises for the Heavenly Ruin.

Using the ship’s tractor beam, the massive, ten-thousand-kilometer-long coffin floated open. A shaft of golden light shot out, revealing the golden Blood War Stele within.

Pulling it aboard, Song Chi quickly confirmed its identity—the legendary golden Blood War Stele.

No time to examine its properties or check for subtle differences from the silver one. The first thing Song Chi did was whip the ship around, racing back to the site of Shang Jie’s destroyed flagship, while unleashing a handful of Level-Six Bloodwar Clan puppets to clear out any remaining modules inside.

Normally, he’d just leave the scene as-is, letting it look like Shang Jie’s battleship fell to the Dominion spirit. But since Song Chi had already taken the golden stele, leaving clues behind felt wrong.

So, Song Chi changed tactics, unleashing even more Bloodwar units to scavenge the ship, masking the theft so the Shang Clan would think Bloodwar stragglers had gotten the prize.

In mere minutes, the looting was done.

Most modules get destroyed when a battleship is lost, so only a dozen survived intact.

He was in luck—among them was a golden module.

Song Chi didn’t check the loot yet. First, he activated the Isometric Shrink Module, shrinking Shang Jie’s flagship to the tiniest size before dropping it through the Market into the Void Sea, where chaotic spatial currents would erase every trace.

He was sure the Void Sea would wipe out any lingering evidence.

Bloodwar Clan scavengers looting and destroying everything just made the story more plausible.

Without another second’s pause, Song Chi, at the helm of a shape-shifted Heavenly Ruin, sped away from the star-sealed zone.

Once he was clear, the Heavenly Ruin fired up the Scarlet Vault Jump Drive, returning in a flash to the Secret Realm’s heart, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the scene.

In the command deck, Song Chi’s expression was unreadable, giving away nothing.

“That’s as flawless as it gets. Here’s hoping the Shang Clan doesn’t have some truly obscene trick up their sleeves.”

He might think everything was handled, but Song Chi never believed there was zero risk. The Sea of Stars was vast, full of oddities, and after all—after more than two hundred thousand years, it was only natural for the Shang Clan to have some unique tracking tech.

That’s why he never assumed his plan had been perfectly executed.

But if he said he was truly worried, that would be a lie. Shang Jie and the flagship were both atomized in the Void Sea. The dozen modules he’d recovered—including the golden Blood War Stele—would stay safely hidden in the Market for ages.

With the Omniverse Market’s protection, which put even the wildest dreams to shame, Song Chi knew the Shang Clan’s pursuit would be next to impossible. Half a year, a decade, even a thousand years—let them search.

And as long as he bought enough time, when the day came that the Shang Clan somehow pieced it together, neither he nor the Song Family would have anything to fear.