Chapter 551: Preparations for Battle: The Surge of Dragon-Spine Continent

White Crow Sector, asteroid belt surrounding White Crow Floating-land.

Vrrrmmm!

The deafening roar of countless engines filled the asteroid belt, sprawling billions of kilometers around the third-tier White Crow Floating-land, turning this stretch of space into a raucous sea of sound.

But for the residents living right in the heart of White Crow Floating-land, this noise was nothing new. Anyone who’d spent decades—or even centuries—here could only become numb to it.

At the belt’s center, tens of thousands of interstellar mining ships busied themselves, hauling in asteroid after asteroid. Each one was drawn in, processed, then loaded onto massive transport ships waiting nearby.

Off in the distance, a unique starship cruised quietly toward a kilometer-long cruiser.

“Sir, the latest batch of asteroids have been loaded. A thousand heavy transport ships are ready to depart at your command!”

Inside the starship’s command center, Song Tiemin reported respectfully to the middle-aged man on the comms screen.

Even though both of them belonged to the Song family and looked similarly middle-aged, only Song Tiemin knew just how vast the gulf between them truly was.

He was just an ordinary, side-branch Song family member who had yet to awaken any talent, while the man before him—despite his youthful looks—was already over four hundred years old, ancestral generation to be precise.

“Alright.”

Song Lin replied in a low voice. A second later, he sent out a mental command.

Almost instantly, a message echoed through every control center across the thousand transport ships.

“All transports, follow me! Set out now!”

With that, the fleet of fully loaded transport ships fired up their engines, following Song Lin’s cruiser toward the side of the belt where a short-range stargate waited.

Once they reached the stargate, it activated, drawing all thousand ships through in a flash. The asteroid belt quickly went quiet as the fleet disappeared.

Even after the ships had vanished, Song Tiemin stood staring after them, lost in thought.

He’d heard that these endless shipments of asteroids were all being sent to the Song family’s main branch. Word was, one of their top-tier living floating-lands was about to undergo advancement, and this was to prepare for its increased diameter after breakthrough.

Supposedly, whenever a floating-land advanced, the resulting energy surge would boost many Torch Battleships, even helping them strengthen and evolve.

Song Tiemin had always envied these stories. But reality was harsh—no matter how much he dreamed, nothing ever changed for a powerless, unawakened commoner like him.

But that was the old Song Tiemin. Over the last two years, he’d channeled all that longing and envy into drive and determination.

“With this job done, I’ll have enough contribution points to trade for a few doses of body-tempering liquid. Xiao Hao’s heading to the main branch next year for the Torch awakening. If I take advantage now, maybe I can finally break my Guiding Technique through the bottleneck at level 6 and reach level 7. Once it’s there, his chances of awakening soar!”

…

Outside White Crow Floating-land, Song Lin emerged from the stargate with a thousand transport battleships, the void shimmering with the aftershock of spatial ripples. Without pausing, he and his fleet pressed on into the distance.

After passing through a screen of illusion, a massive Zhulu-class cruiser, three kilometers long, came into view.

“Elder Xuanfeng!”

Inside the warship, Song Lin greeted respectfully.

“Alright, you may go.”

With permission granted, Song Lin led the fleet deeper into the illusion space. Soon, a vast swirling spatial vortex opened ahead.

He’d traveled this route so many times he barely batted an eye, piloting the fleet straight into the wormhole.

Dinghai Sector, Dragon-Spine Continent.

Burningfall Plains.

Within an enormous combined illusion space, dozens of neatly arranged spatial wormholes hung above the heavens, each one shimmering with power.

From time to time, entire fleet squads would burst out and, upon landing, be surrounded by waiting loader vehicles that worked in tandem with the transport ships to unload the new asteroids.

This wasn’t just happening inside the illusion space. Beyond the borders of Dragon-Spine Continent, Song family Torch Captains were carrying out identical operations all over.

Once he finished his handover with the Internal Affairs Hall’s steward, Song Lin excitedly piloted his battleship out of the illusion space.

He couldn’t hide his excitement—he’d just received word from the stationed family Zhulu-class Cruiser Captain. There was no need for further transfers right now.

After nearly four centuries of service as a cruiser captain, Song Lin wasn’t some clueless newcomer. The moment he heard the message, he instantly caught the underlying meaning.

“Dragon-Spine Continent is finally fully prepared to push for advancement to a Seventh‑Tier Floating-land!”

No more scraping up stray asteroid fragments or floating-land debris meant they’d gathered enough material around Dragon-Spine for what comes next.

Still, even with this guess, Song Lin couldn’t be sure. He activated his quantum comms wristband.

“Grandpa, is Dragon-Spine Continent about to advance?”

The reply from Song Mingsong came quickly, but not in private—it popped up in the Tenth Direct Line’s core group chat.

“The family is indeed pushing for Dragon-Spine’s advancement, but it’s not happening just yet. As soon as a final decision is made, I’ll let you all know first thing. In the meantime, don’t start any battleship upgrades and do not leak this outside. No one is to leave Dragon-Spine Continent during this critical period.”

“Understood!”

News like this was already circulating in Song family’s inner circles. By now, it wasn’t much of a secret, and any rival force hoping to stir up trouble was already too late.

…

Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain, Dragon Whale Hall.

Shrouded in chaotic mist, several figures gathered inside the great hall.

Song Wujian, Song Shiyuan, Song Shixing, Song Xingru, Song Dingbang, Song Tianhao, Song Tianshu, Song Tianmang, Song Xuancang, Song Chi, Song Yan.

Four Dreadnought Captains and seven Battleship Captains, both from the main and hidden veins. Crucially, all eleven were present in person—not just as projections.

“Since Xiaochi has returned, it’s time for the family’s grand plan to officially begin!”

Song Wujian spoke from the hall’s center, kicking things off.

Without missing a beat, Song Shixing followed up:

“Over on Red Star Continent, we’ve identified four ideal Origin Core extraction points. The question is: how many people should we send to back up the operation?”

“Too few, and we might not hold off the wave of foreigners that’ll be drawn by the commotion. Too many, and places like Dragon-Spine, Dragon Abyss City, and Dragon Shark City will be left short-handed.”

The hall went quiet at his words; no one was quick to speak.

Because, honestly, it was a real headache.

On paper, the more high-level power the better—the whole success of snatching even a scrap of Red Star Continent’s Floating-land Origin Core determines whether Dragon-Spine’s advancement can proceed.

And improving Dragon-Spine isn’t just about status. It ties directly into the odds of upgrading the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang to a Star-Annihilator-class ship—currently the Song family’s absolute priority.

After a long pause, it was Song Chi who finally broke the silence.

“My suggestion: everyone goes. All in.”

The other ten turned toward him, waiting patiently for his explanation rather than arguing.

Song Chi’s reasoning was unusually direct.

“I can leave a Market Projection Token at each of the three key sites. The odds of something going horribly wrong at all three, right as we act, are incredibly low. Even if an emergency crops up, a Dominion Projection from the Market is more than enough to subdue it instantly.”

“But taking the Origin Core from Red Star—an Eighth-Level Floating-land—will definitely stir up chaos. That’s where we need everyone at their best.”

No one objected to his argument. Only Ancestor Song Wujian had a follow-up.

“Xiaochi, if you leave Market Projection Tokens at Dragon-Spine Continent, Dragon Abyss City, and Dragon Shark City, plus one backup for our extraction team—do you have enough?”

Song Chi hesitated, then nodded.

“Don’t worry, Ancestor.”

He only had three Market Projection Tokens on hand for now, with the other two resting with his wife, Shen Youran, and the Night Elves. With things urgent, he’d have to recall Shen Youran’s temporarily. He trusted she’d understand.

“Good. Then everyone, go prepare. We move in one month!”

With Song Chi’s firm reply, Song Wujian wrapped it up and turned to Song Shixing.

“Shixing, what about the Hidden Vein? Is the armory open to everyone?”

This war would define the Song family’s future for millennia. When Song Chi first warned them, the Hidden Vein got the same orders: prepare for total war.

The Hidden Vein was a crucial part of the Song family’s strength. They’d be fighting shoulder to shoulder with the main branch for more power and independence. Song Wujian wouldn’t let them stay shadowed now.

Of course, all this hinged on the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang advancing successfully. If it did, the Song family would break into the Immortal Houses at last.

Among the Torch Human Galaxy Cluster, Immortal Houses were the absolute apex. In that league, there’d be no need to keep the Hidden Vein a secret.

Their business finished, just as everyone prepared to leave, Song Chi produced a storage capsule packed with over a hundred Blood War Stele.

“These are special anti-control components I collected at Star Tower. They’ll be a big help dealing with the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon.”

These Blood War Stele weren’t even his full haul from the Blood War Secret Realm—he’d already set aside five red ones and ten orange ones.

One went to Shen Youran, with the rest kept in the Tenth Direct Line for family.

A glance at the stele’s detailed stats, and old Song Wujian and the others immediately grasped how terrifyingly valuable they were.

But with family, no one said anything like “thank you so much.” They simply committed the gesture to heart.

Crucially, there were three silver Blood War Stele. As usual, Ancestor Song Wujian and Prime Ancestor Song Shiyuan took one each; no arguments there. But the last one sparked a bit of debate.

By merit, Song Shixing should’ve gotten it. But Song Xingru, as a newly promoted Dreadnought Captain, was just as qualified.

In the end, both declined and took a red one each, leaving the silver for Song Yan.

By everyone’s reckoning, Song Yan and Song Chi were hands down the brightest talents of the past three millennia. They would lead the family to new heights—so Song Yan was the obvious choice.

Song Wujian agreed wholeheartedly.

After the three silver Blood War Stele were distributed, the others each got a red one before leaving the hall.

…

Time flashed by, and a month later, they stood once again in the ancestral hall atop Dragon Spine Sacred Mountain. The core eleven were present.

“Xiaochi, all set?”

“I’ve handed one Market Projection Token to Grandpa. If anything goes wrong on Dragon-Spine, we can summon help instantly.”

“Good. No sense delaying—let’s move!”

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Flashes of light shot through the air. In moments, Song Chi stood alone in the ancestral hall—everyone else had entered the Dimensional Spatial Stone’s internal space.

A heartbeat later, Song Chi projected himself through the Market, arriving at the Hidden Vein outpost on Red Star Continent.

Previously, when he reclaimed the Timepiece Chessboard, he’d deleted the old Spatial Anchor at Saintlight City, leaving only the one in Dragon Abyss City active on Red Star.

He arrived in Dragon Abyss City unnoticed, and all eleven left quietly through a transfer chamber in the city’s west outer district.

On the battleship’s comms group chat, Song Shixing unfurled a gigantic topographical map.

This map was different from the two crafted by the Hidden Vein—it was a full sweep of the Eighth-Level Red Star Continent floating-land, and couldn’t be too detailed.

Pointing at the map, Song Shixing spoke up:

“The ideal extraction site is 80,000 lightyears west of Dragon Abyss City: the Scorching Sun Sand Sea. It’s a desert spanning a thousand lightyears, so harsh that barely any foreigners dare approach. When we extract the core, no matter how big the fallout, we won’t draw too many foes in the short term.”

Song Wujian and Song Shiyuan studied the map and nodded in agreement.

“Alright, that’s the spot.”

With the plan set, the group set out at once.

As the Song family’s very best, equipped with cutting-edge warship jump drives, they moved at an incredible pace and soon reached the Scorching Sun Sand Sea.

PS: Only one chapter today!