Chapter 592: The Hidden Stronghold

Once their discussion wrapped up, Song Yan didn’t linger. Together with the Heavenly Ruin’s Mirror Warship and using the Stealth Component, he quietly slipped away from the fleet. No one noticed as they headed straight for the northern reaches of the Chipan Galaxy.

Warship Magnetic Communications Group Chat

“Big bro, what level is your Guiding Technique now?” Song Chi messaged.

As their two warships cruised through the void, Song Chi suddenly spoke up.

He remembered how both of them had reached the Sixth-Tier Guiding Technique nearly at the same time. With the aid of the Full-Attribute Cultivation Chamber, he’d just barely managed to reach Level 62 after decades, even using unique boosts like the Deep-Sea Pearl. Advancing after Sixth Tier was getting tougher and tougher.

Song Yan’s reply came fast.

“Level 63.”

“What? Seriously?” Song Chi gawked in disbelief.

He couldn’t make sense of it. Even after using exclusive aids like the Deep-Sea Pearl, plus the Full-Attribute Cultivation Chamber for tens of years, he’d barely broken through two levels since. Wasn’t that already fast enough? How was bro already at three?

He’d thought his own speed was pretty much maxed out. So what was going on with Song Yan’s Level 63?

Noticing his confusion, Song Yan didn’t hold back. He explained clearly:

“The reason I’m improving so quickly isn’t just because of that previous Covenant of Flame component. It’s also because of something else inside me.”

“Back when I discovered the Flame God Clan’s ruins and accepted that peak eighth-tier inheritance, the other party used a legendary relic that evolved my body into a special ‘Flame God Body.’ With this body, my efficiency in absorbing fire energy is way beyond normal. It helps just as much in Law Comprehension and secret techniques related to fire.”

Hearing that, Song Chi finally understood.

They kept chatting and before they knew it, half a year had flown by.

Because they needed to stay absolutely hidden on their journey, both warships could only travel while the Stealth Component was active. Making things trickier, the entire Chipan Galaxy was crawling with raiding fleets. This made traveling even slower for the pair.

And so, after a full half-year, they finally arrived at their destination.

In the pitch-black starry sky, the two Dreadnoughts stayed hidden in the void, their gazes locked on a floating-land drifting ahead.

This landmass was only a few hundred lightyears across. Even among Sixth-Tier floating-lands, it was tiny and easy to overlook. That was precisely why no force in the Tianpan Galaxy would ever have guessed that the last remnants of the Doomstar Race—once driven to desperate flight—would choose to hide right here.

By normal logic, after surviving a genocidal war, these battered fugitives would only feel safe under the shield of a high-grade floating-land. The more powerful the place, the more likely they’d regain a sense of security.

But in reality, the Doomstar survivors had done exactly the opposite.

If it weren’t for the Destiny Compass component and its Trace to Source ability revealing—time after time—that all the Doomstar survivors they’d ever let go, whether Fourth, Fifth, even a Sixth-Tier one, had gathered here, none of the Song Family would’ve believed it either.

“So, big bro, any ideas for sneaking into the floating-land without alerting the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons or the Doomstar Race inside?”

Eyeing the Sixth-Tier Floating-Land Shield covering the surface, Song Chi frowned in thought.

Song Yan clearly didn’t have an answer either and just gave his head a quick shake.

Both of them instantly thought of Mirror Princess and Mirror Lake. Back when they’d infiltrated the Star Spirit Tribe’s city, it was thanks to the Mirrorfolk duo’s unique abilities that they’d slipped in undetected.

“How about we try something similar this time…”

They discussed it for a while and finally settled on a plan.

Two days later.

Vrrrm vrrrm vrrrm!

A surge of spatial waves erupted in the starry sky outside the Sixth-Tier Serpentlight Floating-Land, forming a giant swirling portal. Then, a dreadnought over 100,000 meters long shot out of the warp tunnel.

Spotting the floating-land ahead, the dreadnought seemed surprised. In the next instant, blinding white light gathered at the prow—charging up its supercannon for a test shot to gauge the strength of the Sixth-Tier Floating-Land Shield.

Such a sudden event was instantly reported by the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon patrols to the high-ranking commanders on the surface.

Soon after, more than a hundred Fifth- and Sixth-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons gathered at the horizon.

The dreadnought hardly seemed to care. Once its supercannon finished charging, it fired straight away.

Inside the shield, several Eight-Armed Serpent Demons reacted. Giant arms forged from the Earth Law pierced through the shield, batting at the searing bolt of energy.

But as soon as the shot exited the shield, the land’s source protection was severely weakened. With the dreadnought’s golden supercannon clearly powered up to the eighth tier, the outcome was obvious.

Even with so many serpent demons intervening, they couldn’t fully block the burning bolt. Flames roared as it slammed into the floating-land’s protective shield.

Vrrrm vrrrm vrrrm!

Waves rippled wildly across the land’s shield.

Meanwhile, clear on the floating-land’s opposite side, the concealed Heavenly Ruin’s Mirror Warship activated the Skybreaker Drill. Its beam shot out and precisely struck the shield’s surface, setting off distortions and even leaving a faint crack where the drill made contact.

This disturbance was significant, but the commotion caused by the blazing bolt on the other side kept all attention distracted.

Inside the Mirror Warship’s command room, Song Chi saw the Skybreaker Drill’s first strike hadn’t worked as planned. But he didn’t look disappointed. He simply triggered the Pusa Zen Seal, unleashing its Time Acceleration ability. The Skybreaker Drill instantly reset and fired again.

The second beam landed exactly on the previous spot. Crrrack… This time the shield split open and a small gap appeared where the hairline fracture had been.

Calling it ‘small’ was being generous—it was only a few dozen centimeters wide. No way a Mirror Warship 160,000 meters long, or even Song Chi himself, could fit through.

But Song Chi wasn’t bothered—in fact he was quietly thrilled.

The next moment, the warship’s hatch slid open and a miniature form of the Sixth-Tier Flamewrath Giant darted out.

The Flamewrath Giant didn’t enlarge itself, simply slipping through the tiny opening.

Meanwhile, the Mirror Warship—since Song Chi himself wasn’t aboard and the ship couldn’t be absorbed back into the Ancestral Torch Orifice—should still have been stuck.

But let’s not forget—the Mirror Warship’s Mirror Image Split component not only recreated things like the Pusa Zen Seal and Neutron-Star Core Armor, but even supreme black components like the Tome of Divine Will.

And right now, the warship’s Tome of Divine Will was bound to the Flamewrath Giant.

With a single mental nudge, the Flamewrath Giant activated the remote recall, pulling the Mirror Warship through.

Just like that, the warship faded into a flash of light and was summoned inside the floating-land, right alongside the giant.

Once that was done, the Flamewrath Giant reentered the warship. Only then did the Scarlet Sea-Boiler stop its bombardment and vanish from the floating-land in a shimmering jump.

To the Fifth- and Sixth-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons witnessing all this, it just looked like the Scarlet Sea-Boiler had failed to break the floating-land’s shield and had given up.

Even so, the unexpected attack put all the serpent demons on high alert.

Thousands of lightyears away, the Scarlet Sea-Boiler—just out of the warp passage—received a transmission from the hidden Mirror Warship.

Long-Range Communication Disk · Sub-Disk:

“All set. You can teleport over now!”

At that, Song Yan didn’t hesitate. He focused on the High-Dimensional Portal beside him.

This component was one of the precious golden parts they’d seized from the Doomstar Race—the same one that used to belong to the Unmoving Vajra. For this mission, Song Yan had borrowed it for convenience.

As Song Chi activated the portal and locked onto the transfer mark inside the Mirror Warship’s engine room, Song Yan and the Scarlet Sea-Boiler vanished into the silent stars.

Serpentlight Floating-Land, Serpentlight Mountains.

Spanning north to south, this colossal mountain range ran the entire length of the floating-land, stretching over a hundred lightyears and home to countless strange beasts and creatures.

In one section of the mountains, just above the ridgeline—

The Mirror Warship cloaked itself in its Void Shroud, remaining perfectly hidden in another dimension. With its boosted Stealth Authority, even after the Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl’s mirage ended, no creature had picked up its presence.

Inside the warship, a ripple of spatial energy appeared and Song Yan materialized. The moment he arrived, starlight flickered between his brows—the sign that the Scarlet Sea-Boiler had just automatically returned to his Ancestral Torch Orifice.

As soon as he landed, Song Yan noticed the dark energy in his body still circulating. That caught him by surprise.

“Huh, my energy wasn’t sealed? Chi, does this mean it’s actively burning the Sixth-Tier Floating-Land Origin, or is it that the Mirror Warship doesn’t block other Torch Captains from entering like normal battleships?”

Even though Song Chi was tens of thousands of lightyears away, he answered instantly with a telepathic message:

“That’s one of the Mirror Warship’s quirks. It doesn’t block other Torch Captains.”

“That’s awesome. The Mirror Warship already has the Heavenly Ruin’s full arsenal, and without the restriction on who can board, it could be a real asset in the coming battles.”

…

“So, all the Doomstar survivors are hiding down in these mountains?”

After talking warships for a bit, the pair turned their attention to the slopes below.

The Destiny Compass’s Map Disk clearly showed the Doomstar remnants hiding somewhere in this mountain range. But even after careful checks with Dual Pupils, neither Song Yan nor Song Chi could find the hiding place.

All they found were a few suspicious tunnels burrowing deep into the mountains or vanishing underground—but the passages twisted so much, it was impossible to tell just by looking if they were really the entrances to the Doomstar lair.

Sending terracotta warriors inside would just tip off the enemy, so that was a no-go.

“Let’s just wait. Looks like these Doomstar folks are hiding even from the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons. With no one else around, we’ve got all the time we need to play this out.”

“True, but we can’t wait forever. This star domain is within the Yaohan Liu Family’s sweep zone—if we take too long, their main fleet might show up.”

“Alright, we wait a year at most. If there’s any sign of Doomstar movement by then, great. If not, we just lock down the mountain and do a grid search.”

…

Time ticked by. Nine months went past in a blink.

You had to admit—those Doomstar survivors were patient. After the Scarlet Sea-Boiler made its appearance, Song Chi figured they’d at least react, but after nine months, nothing.

He and Song Yan were getting ready to act in three months, when a surprise popped up in the very last two.

Half a month later, the Sky-Domain AI chimed in with an alert.

[Alert: Level-Five life energy detected in Cave T-12.]

Song Chi had programmed the AI to flag all new life signs—just in case.

Both brothers instantly glanced at the cave marked ‘T-12’.

Excitement flashed in their eyes.

“A Fifth-Tier Doomstar—this has to be the right entrance. T-12 must be their hideout’s gateway.”

Even with this clue, they didn’t act rashly. After coming this far, patience was key.

Under their watchful eyes, the Fifth-Tier Doomstar crept from the tunnel, glancing all around before darting off into the mountains, cautious as could be.

The Mirror Warship tailed it, staying completely hidden until it had left the Serpentlight Mountains. Only then did the warship strike.

It wasn’t really a fight—more like an instant takedown. A warship modeled after the legendary Heavenly Ruin, loaded with all those high-grade parts, could crush a Fifth-Tier Doomstar in a blink.

Then came the enslaving process, using the Slave Component.

With the Celestial Authority Ring powered up to the eighth tier, enslaving it was hardly a challenge.

After that, the two brothers questioned their captive.

Once they’d learned everything it knew, Song Yan and Song Chi exchanged surprised glances.

Because according to this Fifth-Tier Doomstar, their hiding place wasn’t deep inside the mountains or underground—it was actually in a secret realm.